Let’s get READY to READ!

12 months of tips to promote reading readiness for young children

201 9 CALENDAR

Let’s get READY to READ!

Studies have shown that the “word gap” in early childhood is stark—some children

hear millions more words by their fourth birth-days than other kids do. The message is clear: early language and literacy skills are critical to later school success, and nurturing them should be a top priority for programs that teach young children. In this calendar, you’ll find read-ing readiness tips excerpted and adapted from the Multitiered Interventions for Language & Literacy in Early Childhood (MILLIE™) family, products that prepare preschool children for reading by addressing oral language skills, vocabulary, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and comprehension. Together, the MILLIE products give you fun and effective new ways to address key elements of reading success and get all young learners ready to succeed.

2019JANUARY

S M T W T F S

30 31 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 1 2

New Year's Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Explore these featured products that promote early childhood literacy.

2019FEBRUARY

S M T W T F S

27 28 29 30 31 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 1 2

Presidents’ Day

Valentine’s Day

Adapted from Story Friends™ Teacher Guide by Howard Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, and Elizabeth Spencer Kelly, Ph.D., and PAth to Literacy by Howard Goldstein,Ph.D.,

CCC-SLP, Brookes Publishing Co.

8 strategies for teaching budding readers

Teach explicitly during storytime. Stop and teach vocabulary words by:

1. Giving a child-friendly definition

2. Using examples from the story

3. Making connections with children’s life experiences

Expand and enhance instruction. Increase the amount and intensity of literacy instruction by:

4. Using large groups, small groups, and one-on-one instruction

5. Providing more examples and feedback during instruction time

6. Adding additional sessions during the day or week

Focus on key skills. Identify key skills for language and early literacy success by:

7. Teaching vocabulary words that are useful in the classroom and at home

8. Targeting a small set of sounds (e.g., /m/, /s/, /p/, /b/) for phonemic awareness

2019MARCH

S M T W T F S

24 25 26 27 28 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24

31

25 26 27 28 29 30

Adapted from Assessment of Story Comprehension Manual by Trina D. Spencer, Ph.D., BCBA-D, & Howard Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Brookes Publishing Co.

How to promote story comprehension by asking questions

During reading activities with young children, you can use a range of questions to promote their comprehension.

Literal questions refer to content that is directly available in the story or illustrations. For example:

♣ What is this?

♣ What is he doing?

Inferential questions are designed to connect events in the story to information that is not directly available. For example:

♣ How do you think she feels?

♣ Why did he do that?

♣ What do you think he will do next?

For young children, this type of oral language promotion translates into stronger reading comprehension when they’re older.

Daylight Saving Time Begins

First Day of Spring

St. Patrick’s Day

2019APRIL

S M T W T F S

31 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 1 2 3 4

Adapted from Story Friends™ Teacher Guide by Howard Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, and Elizabeth Spencer Kelley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Brookes Publishing Co.

How can you tell if a young child is struggling with oral language skills?

Ask yourself if the child...

✽ Uses simple, grammatically correct sentences

✽ Produces sentences containing a variety of words, including nouns, verbs, and adjectives

✽ Tells short, understandable narratives about personal events and retells simple stories

✽ Identifies and labels most common classroom objects

✽ Correctly selects an object when described using color, location, or other descriptors

✽ Categorizes vocabulary and name words belonging to categories (e.g., vehicles, animals)

✽ Follows two- and three-step directions

✽ Answers explicit who, what, where, when, and how questions

✽ Understands implicit questions requiring inferencing or predicting what is happening in stories

If a child struggles with several of the items listed above, they may benefit from one-to-one instruction to help boost oral language skills.

Good Friday

Easter Earth Day

S M T W T F S

28 29 30 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31 1

2019MAY


4 ways to boost student engagement during storytime

1. Draw the child’s attention to the lesson.

When reading a key passage in the story, you might prompt by saying, “Oooh, listen!”

2. Redirect the child’s attention using nonverbal communication.

Because children need to listen to the instruction, minimize verbal redirection if children need to be redirected. Instead of saying, “Shhh,” you might use nonverbal communication, such as tapping your ears or moving your index finger to your lips.

3. Encourage children to participate by praising them using nonverbal communication.

“Clapping” silently or smiling and nodding when children respond encourages children to continue to participate.

4. Respond to the lesson prompts with children.

When you respond along with children, they become more comfortable responding. For example, if you ask children to “stretch their arms wide,” you should do so as well to model the response.

Memorial Day

Mother’s Day

S M T W T F S

26 27 28 29 30 31 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23

30

24 25 26 27 28 29

2019JUNE


The importance of language comprehension

Together with decoding, language comprehension is one of the key skills involved in reading comprehension. Language comprehension:

✸ Begins developing at birth

✸ Encompasses multiple elements, including vocabulary knowledge, inference making, knowledge of syntax and grammar, and background knowledge

✸ Is strongly linked to school achievement and later reading success

✸ Is often not measured or monitored in early childhood classrooms

Timely assessment in the preschool years helps ensure that young children receive the language interventions they need to prepare them for elementary school and prevent later reading comprehension problems. The Assessment of Story Comprehension (ASC™) tool can help you identify children who need supplemental language comprehension and vocabulary intervention and monitor children’s progress over time.

First Day of Summer

Flag Day

Father’s Day

S M T W T F S

30 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 1 2 3

2019JULY

Adapted from PAth to Literacy by Howard Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Brookes Publishing Co.

4 strategies to strengthen phonological awareness

1. Blending: Combining parts of words or sounds to make a complete word

Show children two pictures held apart—one of mail and one of a box, for example—and then join them to form the word mailbox. Children repeat the word parts separately and then together.

2. Segmenting: Breaking a word into parts or sounds

Show two pictures held closely together—one of a sun and one of a flower—as the word sunflower is spoken. After children repeat the word, pull the pictures apart, saying “sun” and then “flower” with a pause in between.

3. First-sound identification: Saying just the first sound of words

Show a picture of a ship and then model the first sound of the word for children: /sh/.

4. Letter-naming and letter-sound identification

Use letter and word cards to guide children in associating individual letters and letter combinations with their sounds.

Independence Day

S M T W T F S

28 29 30 31 1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

2019AUGUST


How can you determine if a preschool child might benefit from additional instructional support?

Ask yourself if the child…

� Follows directions without needing frequent prompting

� Is able to learn a new skill without the aid of multiple teaching strategies (e.g., modeling, extra prompting, repeated practice, rephrasing, manipulatives)

� Can complete a task without requiring high levels of positive verbal reinforcement

� Transitions between preferred and nonpreferred activities without difficulty

� Cooperates with peers (e.g., shares, takes turns, waits for turn)

� Initiates social interactions with peers adequately

If a child struggles with several of the items listed above, they may benefit from one-to-one instruction.

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 1 2 3 4 5

2019SEPTEMBER


How to manage your Story Friends listening center

Before each Listening Center session, be sure that…

і Children are in their assigned seats

і Each child has the correct storybook

і Each child has headphones on and is ready to begin listening

і Children have enough space to turn pages

і The facilitator is close enough to help children turn pages

During each Listening Center session, be sure that…

і The correct audio is playing

і Children are on the correct page

і Children are responding to questions

і Children are engaged and participating

Labor Day

Grandparents’ Day

Patriot Day

First Day of Autumn

Rosh Hashanah, Begins at Sunset

S M T W T F S

29 30 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 1 2

2019OCTOBER 5 strategies to optimize engagement and interaction when teaching phonics

1. Reward positive behavior.

Reward children for good listening and participation with stamps, stickers, game pieces on game boards, or another small token.

2. Defuse disruptive behavior.

Acknowledge that questions may be tricky, and create a nurturing atmosphere by encouraging children’s attempts.

3. Encourage physical responses.

When physical actions are required for lesson delivery, such as moving hands apart and closer together or holding up fingers, encourage children to participate.

4. Draw attention to visual materials.

Ensure that all children can see the visual materials. It may help facilitate attention if you hold cards, place them on a table, or clip them to a clipboard.

5. Allow time to respond.

Use your judgment to determine whether children require more time to respond.

Halloween

Yom Kippur, Begins at Sunset

Adapted from PAth to Literacy by Howard Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Brookes Publishing Co.

S M T W T F S

27 28 29 30 31 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

2019NOVEMBER Why assessment is important for language instruction

Assessment and regular monitoring are crucial to the success of language instruction (or any instruction). Results of assessment help early childhood educators identify children who would benefit from additional instruction, make adjustments when needed, and determine how a child is progressing in relation to the intervention.

Look for an assessment tool that is:

☛ Both reliable and valid. This means that the assessment measures what it intends to measure (validity) and can be repeated with the same result (reliability).

☛ Time-efficient and easy to use—especially important for busy preschool teachers!

☛ Sensitive to the effects of intervention and children’s development. As children’s skills improve, the assessment tool should be able to detect that growth.

Thanksgiving Day

Daylight Saving Time Ends

Veterans Day

Election Day


S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 1 2 3 4

2019DECEMBER


How can you tell if a preschool child has strong emergent literacy skills?

Ask yourself if the child can…

� Correctly identify all the letters from their name

� Name all the letters of the alphabet

� Identify the sounds associated with letters

� Identify words that rhyme

� Match words that start with the same sound

� Blend parts of words to make whole words

� Know how to hold and follow along with a book (e.g., position the book, turn pages, follow the words left to right and top to bottom)

� Pretend to write what looks like letters to form words

If a child struggles with several of the items listed above, they may benefit from more instruction and support to build their early literacy skills.

Christmas Day Kwanzaa Begins

Hanukkah, Begins at Sunset

First Day of Winter

Assessment of Story Comprehension (ASC™) By Trina D. Spencer, Ph.D, BCBA-D, & Howard Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Listening comprehension during shared storybook reading is a foundational skill—and an indicator that children are ready for the language demands of kindergarten. With the Assessment of Story Comprehension (ASC™), pre-K programs finally have a fast, easy way to

› Measure the story comprehension of children ages 3–5

› Identify children who may need language intervention

› Monitor the progress of children receiving intervention

› Determine when comprehension has meaningfully improved

A quick check that takes just 3 minutes to complete, the ASC is the sensitive, reliable tool that programs need to test the comprehension skills of all young learners and pick up even small improvements as the school year progresses. It’s an essential tool for assessing and monitoring a wide range of young children, including those with language impairments and developmental disabilities, children at risk for early literacy difficulties, and young English language learners (ELLs). Used on its own or in tandem with Story Friends™ and PAth to Literacy, the ASC is the key to assessing and improving an essential building block of reading success and school readiness.

Your fast & easy way to measure listening comprehension skills New

Learn more at www.brookespublishing.com/asc

Learn more at www.brookespublishing.com/millie

The MILLIE family of products featured in this calendar boost young children’s reading readiness by addressing oral language skills, vocabulary, phonological awareness,

alphabet knowledge, and comprehension. The MILLIE family currently includes:

Stay tuned for updates about other MILLIE products!

Assess young children’s listening comprehension skills in just three minutes

Build phonological awareness and alphabet skills through activities and word games

Boost young children’s word learning with fun and interactive animal-themed storybooks

Learn more about the products in this calendar at

brookespublishing.com/millie CAL19

1 · 800 · 638 · 3775

Documents

Let’s get READY to READ!