Content and engagement:
Participants will learn ways to connect play-based literacy strategies with digital tools (e.g., Book Creator, Hideout: Early Reading, ai tools) and with instructional processes based in the science of reading. Hands-on and virtual experiences provide the source for reading and writing decodable texts (e.g., in virtual and real space, children hop to a shop to pop pop-corn; drop pop-corn in a slot in a pot, let pop-corn hop to the top of the hot pot, and stop the pop-corn). These experiences are then co-constructed and read using systematic phonics and spelling procedures and interactive and shared reading and writing strategies. Thus, science of reading processes that support decoding and spelling are interwoven into the presentation along with uses of tools for creating personally relevant digital texts.
Participants will also learn how to adjust their instruction to meet the needs of children at different developmental levels and cultural backgrounds. Experiences that children read and write about pertain to their content knowledge. Information will be provided regarding implementation of the approach in dual-language (Spanish-English) settings. Ways to assess children’s engagement, participation, and literacy performance will be shared.
15 minutes – overview of science-based and dual language literacy instruction; participation in and playful activities
15 – participation in ways to connect hands-on activity plans to Hideout app, virtual ai-assisted activities, and decodable eBooks
15 – demonstration of ways to select language and literacy targets to fit children’s diverse needs; illustration of play-based literacy tasks and texts in Spanish and English; participation in strategies to support decoding and spelling
15 – decision making exercises regarding implementation of the instruction; co-construction of eBooks using interactive and shared writing strategies; discussion and sharing of ideas
Process:
• Participants will engage in playful phonics-based interactive activities implemented with simple paper props (fans, shovels, caps, cones).
• Participants will observe the creation of interactive texts, based on their activities, and their construction as decodable eBooks via Book Creator.
• Presenters will demonstrate ways to place target words into theme-based contexts and arrange for frequent opportunities for children to practice skills within the activity and during the creation of the eBook.
• Participants will be challenged to consider ways to adjust supports to meet children’s diverse needs.
• Examples of controlled eBooks based on play-based activities will be provided with strategies for employing ai tools to create quality, decodable texts and extension activities.
• Participants will review displayed web-based resources (SEEL website and Hideout: Early Reading app) and activity plans.
Attendees will be able to:
• Connect and interweave child-created, personalized e-books with experience-based and systematic early literacy instruction
Apply strategies to generate ai-assisted decodable texts and literacy extension activiteis
• Evaluate digital tools aimed at young children for pedagogical soundness and developmental appropriateness.
• Monitor children’s skill attainments, engagement, and interactions within hands-on activities and the creation of eBooks.
• Access a web-based resource for free literacy activities that can be turned into phonetically-controlled eBooks via teacher-child interactions.
• Create developmentally appropriate, playful and engaging early literacy activities that can be turned into decodable, digital texts in Spanish and/or English
• Acknowledge and respond to children’s contributions to maintain topically-related reciprocal turn taking within the instructional context
Culatta, B., Setzer, L. A., & Hall-Kenyon, K. (2022). Incorporating digital literacy materials in early childhood programs: Understanding children’s engagement and interactions. In Carol-Ann Lane, (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Acquiring 21st Century Literacy Skills Through Game-Based Learning (pp. 671-696). IGI Global.
Culatta, B., Kenyon-Hall, K., & Bingham, G. (2016). Five questions everyone should ask before choosing early literacy apps. Joan Ganz Cooney Center https://joanganzcooneycenter.org/2016/01/07/five-questions-everyone-should-ask-before-choosing-early-literacy-apps/
Culatta, B., Hall-Kenyon, K., & Black, S. (2013). Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy. San Diego: Plural Publishing.
Hyson, M. (2008). Enthusiastic and engaged learners: Approaches to earning in the early childhood classroom. NY: Teachers College Press.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2012). Technology and interactive media as tools in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8.
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions
Nelson, K. (2022). Breakthroughs: Realizing our Potentials Through Dynamic Tricky Mixes. NY; Morgan James Publishing.
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