Teaching Alphabet Recognition and Letter Sound Correspondence Using a 4 Blocks of Literacy Model for Children with Complex Communication Needs (CCN): Illustrated with a Single Case Study

There are numerous hurdles to literacy acquisition for students with severe and multiple disabilities, such as intellectual disability, complex communication needs including physical disability and autism. However, there is substantial body of research that suggests that these children can gain literacy skills, develop communication and language with effective literacy education, and with the support of assistive and augmentative alternative communication systems. The study describes an ongoing intervention for teaching alphabet recognition and letter-sound correspondence using the 4 blocks of literacy model with a 5.7 year old girl with multiple disabilities who use augmentative alternative communication systems for communication. Emergent literacy instruction for improving alphabet recognition and letter sound correspondence was taught applying the principles of the 4 blocks “Working with words” and “Shared book reading” over a period of eight months. Improvement noticed in alphabet recognition and letter sound correspondence was investigated. Emergent literacy instruction using 4 blocks of literacy model was proved to be an effective method in gaining the alphabet principles and phonics skills. The study provides insights to the rehabilitation professionals and budding therapists on how to implement emergent literacy instructions and strategies to be considered for children with complex communication needs. Key words: Emergent Literacy, Complex Communication Needs, Augmentative Alternative Communication, Multiple Disabilities, 4 Blocks of Literacy Model.

Bilingualism, Deafness, and Literacy

Deaf students commonly leave high school with no higher than a fourth-grade reading level. This commonality may prompt certain assumptions regarding deaf children's strengths and weaknesses, particularly relating to reading development as well as broader academic and professional endeavors. The following review examines reading development among deaf, native sign language users as a bilingual process. Specifically, four common assumptions surrounding deaf learners' potential for ASL-English bilingual development are addressed including those relating to phonological accessibility, English-based signed system efficacy, ASL-English transference of language proficiency, and strategies for emergent literacy development in young, deaf learners. Finally, suggestions for future research endeavors are posed by the author.

African American Parents' Perceptions of Early Literacy Strategies

Few research-based family studies have focused specifically on the perceptions of African American hearing parents' use of home literacy strategies. This study was conducted with a small group of African American families, taking into account family's individual literacy needs (African American hearing families with deaf/hard of hearing [DHH] children), African-American culture and language, emergent literacy research, American Sign Language (ASL), and parent-child book reading strategies. The purpose of this study was to document parental perception of the literacy process, while establishing opportunities for parents to practice under the guidance of mentors and within the home environment. Recordings documented parental progress and their comments about the reading process. Field notes were generated from the mentors' discussions with parents. This exploratory case study identified changes in parental perception of communication and literacy development during a nine-week intervention and records their reactions to those support strategies.

Kindergarteners building a library of their own

This study investigates how children can develop information literacy (IL) skills even before they learn how to read and write. In the project we used a combination of participatory observation and action research-inspired trialling of digital tools. Kindergarteners were given iPads and access to the app Book Creator to create their own digital stories. The electronic books were gathered and made available to the other children in the class, making a custom local digital library for the kindergarten. This article suggests a new way of considering IL as an emergent literacy, or even perhaps emergent information literacy.

The development and psychometric properties of a shared book reading observational tool: The Emergent Literacy and Language Early Childhood Checklist for Teachers (ELLECCT)

Shared book reading in preschool settings plays an influential role in supporting children’s oral language and emergent literacy skills. Early childhood teachers can provide high-quality shared book reading experiences using extratextual utterances (reading beyond the story text) to maximise these learning outcomes. We report on the development and psychometric properties of the ‘Emergent Literacy and Language Early Childhood Checklist for Teachers’ (ELLECCT) tool, a comprehensive observational checklist designed to document early childhood teachers’ extratextual oral language and emergent literacy strategies during shared book reading. The ELLECCT measures teachers’ dialogic reading prompts, vocabulary promotion strategies, responsive statements, print knowledge and phonological awareness. The ELLECCT also contains a rating scale examining paralinguistic and nonverbal strategies used by early childhood teachers to support engagement during shared book reading interactions. The psychometric properties of the ELLECCT were measured in a four-phase process. Content validity was tested using the Content Validity Index and a three-round Delphi process was used to measure face validity. Both intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were evaluated from a sample of 32 shared book reading observations. The study findings provide preliminary evidence for the psychometric properties of the ELLECCT, such that it is judged as suitable for evaluation of early childhood teachers’ use of extratextual and paralinguistic strategies while engaged in shared book reading. We describe the ELLECCT’s potential application in both classroom coaching and training, and as a research tool, to support early childhood teachers’ skill-development during shared book reading.

Entering Into the Story: Implications for Emergent Literacy

In this article we explore the ways in which three young children from a non-mainstream cultural group created stories with the assistance of their caregivers and siblings in the social contexts of their homes. We assert that these children’s oral narrations show us important dimensions of early experience with decontextualized content as practiced in their families that may offer suggestions for analysis of culturally sensitive experiences with literacy for all children. The dimensions we highlight are the tangibility of the elements around which the story is created, the interlocutor support children receive for beginning and continuing their stories, and the interaction between the storytelling process and the child’s self-interest. These three dimensions illustrate how children “enter” into stories and storytelling and broaden our understanding for fostering culturally sustaining pedagogy within schools.

Emerging School Readiness Profiles: Motor Skills Matter for Cognitive- and Non-cognitive First Grade School Outcomes

A promising approach for studying school readiness involves a person-centered approach, aimed at exploring how functioning in diverse developmental domains conjointly affects children’s school outcomes. Currently, however, a systematic understanding lacks of how motor skills, in conjunction with other school readiness skills, affect a child’s school outcomes. Additionally, little is known about longitudinal associations of school readiness with non-academic (e.g., socioemotional) school outcomes. Therefore, we examined the school readiness skills of a sample of Dutch children (N = 91) with a mean age of 3 years and 4 months (46% girls). We used a multi-informant test battery to assess children’s school readiness in terms of executive functions (EFs), language and emergent literacy, motor skills, and socioemotional behavior. During the spring term of a child’s first grade year, we collected academic and non-academic (i.e., EFs, motor skills, socioemotional- and classroom behavior, and creative thinking) school outcomes. A latent profile analysis revealed four distinct profiles. Children in the “Parent Positive” (29%) profile were rated positively by their parents, and performed variably on motor and language/emergent literacy skills tests. The second profile–“Multiple Strengths” (13%)–consisted of children showing strengths in multiple domains, especially with respect to motor skills. Children from the third profile–“Average Performers” (50%)–did not show any distinct strengths or weaknesses, rather displayed school readiness skill levels close to, or just below the sample mean. Finally, the “Parental Concern” (8%) profile was characterized by high levels of parental concerns, while displaying slightly above average performance on specific motor and language skills. Motor skills clearly distinguished between profiles, next to parent-rated EFs and socioemotional behavior, and to a lesser extent emergent literacy skills. School readiness profiles were found to differ in mean scores on first grade academic achievement, parent- and teacher-rated EFs, motor skills, parent-rated socioemotional functioning, and pre-requisite learning skills. The pattern of mean differences was complex, suggesting that profiles could not be ranked from low to high in terms of school outcomes. Longitudinal studies are needed to disentangle the interaction between emerging school readiness of the child and the surrounding context.