ECE 231: Early Language and Literacy Development

Course Description

This course serves as an introductory methods course in early childhood language and literacy development. Students explore the development of language from birth-age 8 and learn effective strategies for promoting language in the early childhood years. Students plan and implement developmentally appropriate activities to support language development for all children.  Students also learn how to create literacy-rich environments for the purpose of supporting young children in developing listening, speaking, reading and writing skills that will support them in developing into capable and competent communicators prepared to enter elementary school grades.  Field experience required: 10 hours. (3 credits)

Prerequisites

• ECE 101: Introduction to Early Childhood Education
• ECE 176: Health, Safety and Nutrition: Birth to Eight
• ECE 210: Observation and Assessment in ECE Program
• ECE 217: The Exceptional Learner
• ECE 222: Curriculum for Young Children - Methods and Techniques or ECE 261: Infant / Toddler Care: Methods and Techniques
• ECE 247: Child Development: Birth to Eight

Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

At the Associate of Science level, students will: 

1. Promote Child Development and Learning- understand how young children develop and learn and how to use developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful, supportive and challenging learning environments inclusive of all young children (NAEYC, Standard 1).
2. Establish Family and Community Relationships- understand and support diverse family and community characteristics and engage with families and communities through respectful, reciprocal relationships (NAEYC, Standard 2).
3. Observe, document and Assess- utilize a variety of assessment tools to observe and document development and to plan for future instruction respective of each child’s developmental needs (NAEYC, Standard 3).
4. Utilize Developmentally Effective Approaches- develop positive relationships and supportive interactions with young children and using effective strategies and tools for teaching and learning in early education, (NAEYC, Standard 4). NAEYC, Standard 3).
5. Use Content Knowledge to build Meaningful Curriculum- develop experiences within environments that are safe, healthy, inclusionary and culturally pluralistic and reflect understanding of developmentally appropriate practices, (NAEYC, Standard 5).
6. Develop as a Professional- engage in continuous reflective and collaborative learning and identify oneself as an emerging professional within the early childhood field (NAEYC, Standard 6). 7.
7. Engage in Field Experiences to support learning with various age groups and across multiple early childhood settings (NAEYC, Standard 7).

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

1. Describe current best practices in language arts instruction for children birth-age 8 (NAEYC, Standard 4, 5). 
2. Explain the interrelatedness of listening, speaking, reading and writing in preparing young children to become capable and competent communicators (NAEYC, Standard 1).
3. Describe the teacher's role in promoting emergent literacy (NAEYC, Standard 4, 5).
4. Create activities for young children, utilizing Early Learning & Development Standards related to language and literacy development. (NAEYC, Standard 3).
5. Create literacy experiences for young children (NAEYC, Standards 4, 5).
6. Plan and implement developmentally appropriate literacy experiences (NAEYC, Standards 4, 5).
7. Apply dialogic strategies when reading to young children (NAEYC, Standards 4, 5).
8. Analyze literacy materials for appropriateness, complexity and bias (NAEYC, Standard 6).
9. Analyze the developmental stages of writing and its association with the alphabetic principle (NAEYC, Standard 6).
10. Describe strategies for working with the bilingual learner and students with special needs (NAEYC, Standard 4, 5).
11. Apply reflective practices (NAEYC, Standard 6).

General Education Outcomes (GEOs):

Please check the applicable GEOs for this course, if any, by outcomes at GEO Category Search, or by subject area at GEO Discipline Search.

Course Activities and Grading

Required Textbooks

Please note that there is not a required textbook assigned for this course. 

Week 1

• Learning to Read and Write, NAEYC.  Retrieved from: https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/WWSSLearningToReadAndWriteEnglish.pdf

• CT Early Learning and Development Standards; www.ctearlychildhood.org/uploads/6/3/3/7/6337139/cteldsoct2013.pdf

• Roskos, K.A., Christie, J.F., & Richgels, D.J., (2003).  The essentials of early literacy instruction.  Young Children, NAEYC. (Course Documents)

Week 2

• Dickinson, D.K., & Tabors, P.O., (2002). Fostering Language and Literacy in Classroom and Homes.  Young Children. NAEYC. (Course Documents)

• Hart & Risley, (2003), The Early Catastrophe, the 30 million word gap by age 3.  Retrieved from https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/TheEarlyCatastrophe.pdf.

Week 3

• McGee, L.M. & Schickendanz, J.A., (2007).  Repeated interactive read-alouds in preschool and kindergarten. International Reading Association. (Course Documents)

• Santoro, L.E., Chard, D.J., Howard, L. & Baker, S.K. (2008).  Making the very most of classroom read-alouds to promtoe comprehension and vocabulary.  International Reading Association. (Course Documents)

• Whitehurst, G.J., Dialogic Reading: An effective way to read to preschoolers.  http://www.readingrockets.org/article/dialogic-reading-effective-way-read-aloud-young-children

Week 4

• Wanless, S.B. & Crawford, P.A., (2016).  Reading your way to a culturally responsive classroom. (Course Documents)

• Hoffman, Teale & Yokota, (2015).  The Book Matters!  Choosing complex narrative texts to support literacy discussion.  NAEYC. (Course Documents)

Week 5

• Yopp & Yopp. (2000). Supporting phonemic awareness development in the classroom.  The Reading Teacher, Vol. 54, No. 2. (Course Documents)

Week 6

• Byington, T.A., & Kim, Y. (2017).  Promoting preschooler's emergent writing.  Young Children, NAEYC. (Course Documents)

• Cabell, Tortorelli & Gerde, How do I write…” Scaffolding preschooler’s early writing skills, The Reading Teacher, Vol 66, No. 8.  Retrieved from: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/how-do-i-write-scaffolding-preschoolers-early-writing-skills

Week 7

• Gerde, Bingham & Wasik, (20120).  Writing in Early Childhood Classrooms:  Guidance for Best Practices. (Course Documents)

• Literacy Rich Environments. Retrieved from: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/literacy-rich-environments.

Course Schedule

* Key Assessments:  Students enrolled in the Associate of Science or Bachelor of Science degree program in Early Childhood Education must successfully complete one assignment in each class that is designed to demonstrate knowledge of the key competencies required of early childhood teachers. The key assessment for this course is the Interactive Read-Aloud. Students will submit the interactive read-aloud experience plan, video of their storytelling and reflection on the experience. For additional field experience hours, students will also submit an analysis of a child’s writing and then create an effective literacy environment in their classrooms that they will take pictures of and upload for grading onto Blackboard.

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.