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FOREWORD
Research studies and syntheses conducted over the past decade have helped us understand the importance of young children's experiences with oral and written language. The preschool  and kindergarten years are especially important for oral language development and initial experiences with reading and writing that link to later school achievement (Snow, Burns, and Griffin 1998; Morrow 2005; Whitehurst and Lonigan 1998).

In Assessing and Teaching Beginning Writers: Every Picture Tells a Story authors David Matteson and Deborah Freeman help teachers of young children focus on the intentional and appropriate planning of literacy instruction. I applaud the authors for dealing with this topic. What makes this book unique is that the authors have created an assessment tool called The Early Literacy Continuum for early childhood teachers to use in order to plan instruction. This approach to teaching literacy in the preschool and kindergarten set­ting makes the book extremely innovative. It is sound practice to teach based on what we know about the needs of children. The assessment continuum provides a way for teachers to identify what children need.

Quality early learning programs focus on language and literacy development and include standards for learning with outcomes described. These programs have teaching plans that are intentional and are developmentally appropriate for young children. This means that instruction is organized so it happens in small groups, in one-to-one teacher-child interactions, and in child-initiated experiences. Providing language and literacy experiences in these settings does not mean moving reading and writing instruction from the primary grades into the preschool or kindergarten, rather it means integrating appro­priate literacy activities throughout the traditional curriculum in a thoughtful way (Dickinson 2002).

In this book the authors use vivid examples of teachers working with students. These vignettes demonstrate teaching that is based on assessment and learning that is on a continuum. I would further elaborate that the examples offer an appropriate range of literacy exposure for¹:

•    oral language experiences that focus on gestural expression, verbal expression, vocabulary development, building background knowledge and listening to others talk to understand (Dickinson, Cote, and Smith 1993)

•    phonological awareness, that is, words are made up of individual sounds. Young children learn this in many forms of oral
language experiences (Adams 1990; Adams 2001; Carroll,
Snowling, Hulme,  and  Stevenson,  2003;  Strickland  and
Schickedanz 2004)

•    print conventions and book handling. This means that children
have experiences learning that there is a front, back, top, and
bottom to books. They learn that there is a left to right sequence in books, and there is a difference between the print and pictures. There are experiences to learn letter names, to identify letters visually, and to learn letter sounds

•   different types of text such as stories, informational books, poetry, folk tales, fables, and their own writing attempts help children to comprehend and develop an interest in books. The experience of reading to children is most valuable when accompanied by interactive discussions with adults and children to
  introduce new vocabulary and language structures. This conversation leads to understanding or comprehension of the story
  read (Morrow and Gambrell 2004; Storch and Whitehurst
  2002; Bus, Van IJzendoorn, and Pellegrini 1995; Wells 1985)

•    experiences with writing attempts by scribbling, making letter-like forms, using invented spelling, and writing in a conven­tional manner. Writing teaches children about letters, sounds, and the meaning of text (Schickedanz and Casbergue 2004).

The authors do more than discuss how to prepare programs for oral language, writing, comprehension, and knowledge about print; they talk about how to plan for instruction in these areas based upon assessing children's achievement. Assessing and Teaching Beginning Writers: Every Picture Tells a Story is packed with research and appropriate practice. It provides vignettes of real stories about stu­dent assessment and instruction. It deals with early literacy develop­ment in an interesting, caring, and innovative manner through the lens of assessment. It is a must read for all involved with teaching young children.

References

Adams, Marilyn J. 1990. Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Adams, Marilyn J. 2001. "Alphabetic Anxiety and Explicit Systematic Phonics Instruction: A Cognitive Science Perspective." In Handbook of Early Literacy Research. Edited by Susan B. Neuman and David K. Dickinson. New York: Guilford Press.

Bus, Adriana G., Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn, and Anthony D. Pellegrini. 1995. "Joint Book Reading Makes for Success in Learning to Read: A Meta-analysis on Intergenerational Transmission of Literacy." Review of Educational Research. Volume 65, number, pp. 1-21.

Carroll, Julia M., Margaret J. Snowling, Charles Hulme, and Jim Stevenson. 2003. "The Development of Phonological Awareness in Preschool Children." Developmental Psychology. Volume 39, number 5, pp. 913-923.

Dickinson, David K. 2002. "Shifting Images of Developmentally Appropriate Practice as Seen Through Different Lenses." Educational Researcher. Volume 31, number 1, pp. 26-32.

Dickinson, David K., L. Cote, and M. W. Smith. 1993. "Learning Vocabulary in Preschool: Social and Discourse Contexts Affecting Vocabulary Growth." In The Development of Literacy through Social Interaction: New Directions in Child Development. Edited by Colette Daiute. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Morrow, Lesley M. 2005. Literacy Development in the Early Years: Helping Children Read and Write, 5th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Morrow, Lesley M. and Linda B. Gambrell. 2004. Using Children's Literature in Preschool: Comprehending and Enjoying Books. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

National Early Literacy Panel Report. 2004. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy; National Family Literacy Association.

Schickedanz, Judith A. and Renee M. Casbergue. 2004. Writing in Preschool: Learning to Orchestrate Meaning and Marks. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Snow, Catherine, M. Susan Burns, and Peg Griffin. 1998. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Storch, Stacey A. and Grover J. Whitehurst. 2002. "Oral Language and Code-Related Precursors to Reading: Evidence from a Longitudinal Structural Model." Developmental Psychology. Volume 38, number 6, pp. 934-947.

 

The National Early Literacy Panel (2004) studied research to identify abilities of chil­dren from birth through age five that pre­dict later achievement in literacy. The abili­ties identified were: oral language develop­ment, phonological/phonemic awareness, alphabetic knowledge, print knowledge, and invented spelling. Researchers have also found that experiences with storybook reading, discussions about books, listening comprehension, and writing are crucial in early literacy development (Bus, Van IJzendoorn, and Pellegrini 1995; Wells 1985).

PREFACE
The audience for this book is early childhood educators and adminis­trators who are interested in refining assessment and teaching prac­tices and who see early childhood as fertile ground for young stu­dents to move along a literacy continuum. In particular prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers will find this book useful in under­standing the developmental needs of beginning readers and writers and the instruction that supports them. First-grade teachers will also benefit from looking more closely at this developmental perspec­tive for students who are not making satisfactory progress.

This book takes an in-depth look at an assessment and teaching tool that supports teachers in developing students' control of oral lan­guage and attention to picture detail through developmentally appropriate practices—both of which build a solid foundation for a child's later literacy experiences. In our work as teacher coaches in many prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms, it was obvious that teachers had an understanding of literacy development but needed a tool with which to better focus their assessing, planning, and teaching while documenting student progress. As a result of these needs, the examination of many samples of young students' work, and extensive observation in classrooms, we developed The Early Literacy Continuum. The Early Literacy Continuum is a tool that will help teachers use observation of daily classroom activ­ities in a systematic and ongoing way. The Early Literacy Continuum is also a convenient and effective way to structure district or state early literacy objectives within an organized and developmental framework. The continuum will aid curriculum developers as they align these objectives to the bigger picture of the entire district and as they work to meet those objectives in all areas of curriculum.

While the examples in this book mainly focus on the pictures or drawings made by the students, the continuum should be used to support the student's work in any area of the classroom. This might include a structure that a child builds at the block center, an object the child creates with modeling clay, or the natural conversations a child holds with others. Those experiences need the same attention to detail and oral language that is given to a picture, and they can be assessed the same way. The more that the continuum is used within the different areas of the classroom, the more closely students will attend to detail within their work and develop the ability to converse about any of their work.

HOW THE CONTINUUM DEVELOPED

We developed the continuum as a tool to support the teachers with whom we worked. Before the development of this continuum, in one school, teachers were required to have every student write every day. Here is how one teacher described her attempt to meet that writing requirement: "I had all of my students write at one time. My assis­tant and I rushed from student to student so that we could get dicta­tion from everyone. While attempting to take dictation I was dealing with a lot of off-task behavior as students waited for my assistant or me to take dictation about their writing and drawing. Students showed little or no progress in their writing and drawing or oral lan­guage development. Student work at the end of the year varied little from their work at the beginning. As most prekindergarten teachers do, I had always roved the class, taking anecdotal notes, but I never quite knew what I was looking for or how to apply the information I had gathered to my teaching. Have you ever known that things weren't right, but couldn't determine why?"

In an effort to support this teacher and others like her we began to examine the drawing and writing of young students. We noticed and began to categorize similarities. While some pictures included writing, it seemed that the picture held the meaning for the student. Some pictures were unidentifiable scribbles. Many drawings had some level of detail. Some were very detailed. Some students drew the same picture over and over but had a different story to go with each drawing. There was nothing to differentiate one picture from another. We explored what the students could tell about their pic­tures. As with the drawings, we found some commonalties in the lev­els of students' oral language as they talked about their pictures. Some students could not articulate what they had drawn. Others used one-word labels. Some changed their stories every time they told them. Others remained steadfast to the stories about their drawings. What became clear as we went through this process was that, by looking at the different levels in picture drawing and oral language development, we could see the next learning steps for each student.

Prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers needed a tool—a tool that would help them focus their anecdotal notes and ultimately their teaching. This is what teachers are saying about the Early Literacy Continuum. "As a preschool instructor of thirteen years, I have found the continuum to be the most practical, helpful, and con­structive tool that I have used to date. It has been my guide as I have worked to focus my literacy instruction. The continuum has been an important contributor to my success as a preschool teacher." Another teacher stated, "The continuum is a great teaching tool. It maps out the different stages that children go through in their literacy develop­ment. The Teaching Objectives section has helped me more accurately identify where students are working and what their next learning steps are as they develop their writing skills. As a result, I am much more focused in my writing conferences with students. Because of the continuum, I have become a much better teacher." This final quote from an administrator sums up the power of the Early Literacy Continuum. "Finally a tool that helps my teachers focus their efforts on literacy activities that are meaningful to young children. The use of this continuum supports the true reason for writing: self-expres­sion and the creation of meaning. This is a very empowering tool for teachers and their students alike."

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Each chapter begins with Guiding Questions for readers to think about in light of their own work in early childhood. These reflective questions are meant to inspire the reader to engage actively with the text as they put themselves into the detailed accounts of students and teachers at the important work of literacy assessment, teaching, and learning. The book is divided into two sections. Section I, Developing Theory about Early Literacy Experiences, consists of Chapters 1 to 3. This section explores the impact of theoretical per­spectives on teaching and learning, the need for a stronger connec­tion between prekindergarten/kindergarten and later school experi­ences, and the basis for early literacy instruction. Section II, Understanding How to Use the Early Literacy Continuum, compris­es Chapters 4 to 8. This section begins by introducing and explaining the use of the continuum as an assessment tool. It gives rich exam­ples of the continuum in action in order to clarify the distinct levels of student work and oral language. It also shows how to organize dis­trict or state teaching objectives to fit the broad developmental lev­els of the continuum. This section closes by looking at how two school districts in different states have used the continuum to organize for assessment and explicit instruction in early childhood classrooms.

Table of Contents:

Foreword by Lesley Mandel Morrow, Ph.D.
Preface
SECTION I DEVELOPING THEORY ABOUT EARLY LITERACY
                     EXPERIENCES
Ch 1  A Journey from Prekindergarten to Kindergarten

Ch 2 How Theoretical Perspectives Influence Assessment and
       Instruction

Ch 3 Exploring Characteristics of Emergent Readers and Writers

SECTION II UNDERSTANDING HOW TO USE THE EARLY LITERACY
                                   CONTINUUM

Ch 4  Using the Early Literacy Continuum

Ch 5  Implications for Developing Students' Work

Ch 6  Implications for Developing Students' Oral Language

Ch 7  Choosing Teaching Objectives

Ch 8  Collecting and Organizing the Data

APPENDICES

Appendix A   Classroom Summary Sheet for Arlington
Appendix B    Assessment Guide
Appendix C    Scoring Considerations
Appendix D   Individual Student Recording Sheet
Appendix E Classroom Summary Sheet for Cartwright

Appendix F Monitoring Notes Format
   References
    Index

Author Bio:

David Matteson uses his 20 years of diverse teaching and leadership experiences to make the most of his work with students, teachers, and school districts. He has been an early childhood classroom teacher and Reading Recovery® teacher and currently works with several districts, primarily focusing on assessing and teaching young children. He is also a coordinator of teacher and school development through The Learning Network®. David lives in Naperville, Illinois with his wife Angela and son Colin. His son Nicholas is currently attending Boston College.

Deborah Freeman is currently a prekindergarten teacher at Beckham Elementary in Arlington, Texas. Over her longtime career as an educator,  Debbie has taught a variety of grade levels and has served as a literacy coach for prekindergarten teachers in her district and through The Learning Network®. She regularly makes presentations at state, regional, and national conferences and provides inservice and staff development training to other educators.  She is the proud mother of two grown children, Angel and Danny. Being Grandma to Emily and Luke keeps Debbie and her husband, Ken, very busy.