Emergent Literacy on the Web
by
Rebecca Pool
LIS 382L.3
Information Resources in the Social Sciences
Introduction Bibliography Pathfinder
The term “emergent literacy” appeared in educational literature in the mid 1960's and came to prominence in the mid 1980's because of the research of Elizabeth Sulzby and W.H. Teale. Emergent literacy is difficult to condense into a single sentence, but the Reading Pathfinder, a publication of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education describes it as “[t]he beginning stages of literacy that can be seen in a range of behaviors related to written language including those undertaken by very young children who depend on the cooperation of others and/or on creative play to deal with the material; reading and writing related activities and behaviors that change over time culminating in conventional literacy in middle childhood.”1 This definition highlights the interactive nature of acquiring literacy skills and acknowledges that it is a developmental continuum.
I designed this pathfinder to assist pre-service teachers at Northwest Indian College in Lummi, Washington in locating electronic resources that either define the principles underlying emergent literacy or provide instructional materials to foster emergent literacy. Because the Internet was a fertile source of materials on this topic, I limited the pathfinder to general sources on emergent literacy; accordingly, resources relating emergent literacy to specific topics like bilingual or special education are not discussed here.
The resources used in this pathfinder can be found on the Internet and are intended to supplement the Lummi Virtual Library that is currently under construction. These resources were located to answer the following questions: What is emergent literacy? What signs or behaviors signify emergent literacy? Who has done research on this topic and what are the results of this research? And how does one create a literacy-rich environment to encourage emergent readers and writers?
To select resources for this pathfinder, I examined the purpose, authority, currency and format of each resource. Resources must either define emergent literacy through research or practice or train teachers to foster a literacy-friendly classroom. For authority and reliability, I selected documents that originated from an educational or governmental body. Since this area of research tends to build on rather than outdating earlier sources, documents in this pathfinder date from 1990 to 2001. Finally, I chose sites that were easy to read and navigate, but did not require special devices to view them properly.
With these criteria in mind, I started my search in Google by entering the search term “emergent literacy.” I promptly located the University of Idaho’s Emergent Literacy Project, which lead me to the Department of Health and Human Service’ Head Start program. I searched this site using the term “emergent literacy.” Next, I found a variety of research documents by searching Google using the name “W. H. Teale” and the phrase {review of literature and “emergent literacy”}. The remaining resources in my bibliography were identified by hyperlinking from known documents or searching the ERIC databases using the phrase “emergent literacy”. The pathfinder is located at <http://www.gslis.edu/~vlibrary/pathfinders/pool.>
1 Glossary of The Reading Pathfinder. December 6, 2000. Internet On-line. Available from ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S. Department of Education. Available at <http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/> [Accessed February 18, 2001].
A Bibliography
This bibliography uses the following style manuals: Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996 and for electronic resources, University of Southern Mississippi. Turabian Style Guide. (June 13, 2000). Internet on-line. <http://www.lib.usm.edu/~instruct/guides/turabian.html> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
Print Resource
1. Tompkins, Gail E. “Emergent Literacy.” In Language Arts, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1998: 137-179.
The textbook, Language Arts, selected by
Dr. Susan Jensen, provides a good
discussion of how children acquire literacy skills and briefly reviews the
research literature. More importantly,
this book offers excellent curriculum materials to develop a literacy-friendly
environment and proposes lesson plans that help children acquire literacy
skills. The “Step by Step” instructions
and the “Teacher’s Notebook” provide concrete guidance for teachers seeking to
apply the principles of emergent literacy.
Electronic Resources
2. Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement at University of Michigan School of Education. CIERA. February 28, 2001. Internet on-line. <http://www.ciera.org/>. [Accessed March 2, 2001].
The Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) website provides an array of reading-related materials and reports. The “Publications” link contains comprehensive, full-text research reports inquiring into the problems in teaching and learning to read. These reports, which cover topics like policy, professional development, effects of technology on literacy, and emergent literacy, will be extremely useful to individuals seeking to understand the research being done on children’s acquisition of reading skills. Additionally, the site provides Online@CIERA, an electronic forum for CIERA’s latest research results, as well as numerous links to other literacy and educational resources.
3. “Curriculum in Head Start.” Head Start Bulletin #67. March 2000. Available from Head Start Information and Publication Center, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Internet on-line. <http://www.hskids_tmsc.org/publications/t_guides.htm> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
The March 2000 Head Start Bulletin will assist pre-service teachers in understanding the theoretical and practical aspects of curriculum as it relates to literacy. Head Start examines curriculum from the aspects of its goals, the experiences it provides children, the roles of staff and parents, the materials needed to implement the curriculum’s goals, and how it accords with sound child development principles. The section emphasizing the importance of tailoring the curriculum to meet the linguistic or cultural needs of a population makes this resource extraordinarily useful. The concluding sections provide information on Head Start program issues and a detailed bibliography of reading and writing resources.
4. Early Childhood Educators’ and Family Web Corner. October 28, 2000. Internet on-line. <http://users.sgi.net/~cokids/index.html>. [Accessed March 2, 2001].
This website collects links designed to provide teachers and parents with information about all aspects of early childhood education. The teacher’s page contains a number of useful links to articles on literacy and emergent literacy, as well as websites providing lesson plans and games for classroom use. This site also contains a useful message board and links to listservs concerning early childhood education.
5. The Emergent Literacy Project. [2001]. Internet on-line. <http://www.ets.uidaho.edu/cdhd/emerlit/emerhome.htm> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
The Emergent Literacy Project (ELP) provides an excellent explanation of the types of behavior encompassed by the phrase emergent literacy, as well as a succinct discussion of why emergent literacy should be a part early childhood education programs. The University of Idaho’s Center on Disabilities and Human Development developed this literacy project pursuant to a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start Agency. As part of the grant, ELP created training units or modules on the following topics: working with families, classroom environment and practices, emergent literacy in kindergarten and first grade, and emergent literacy and computers. The ELP website details the content of each module and offers the videocassettes for sale.
6. Emerging Literacy: Linking Social Competence to Learning. January 24, 2001. Internet on-line. National Training Guide available from Head Start Information and Publication Center, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. <http://www.hskids_tmsc.org/publications/tg_elit/cont_21.htm> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
The training guide entitled Emerging Literacy: Linking Social Competence to Learning focuses on helping people develop the skills to encourage children’s emergent literacy. Each module discusses its goals, key concepts, background information and provides activities to reinforce these concepts. Numerous handouts, which coordinate with the modules and activities, are available in conjunction with the training guide. This website will help pre-service teachers apply the concepts of emergent literacy, like storybook reading, to the classroom environment.
7. ERIC/AE Full Text Internet Library. 1999. Database on-line. Available from ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, National Library of Education, U.S. Department of Education. <http://ericae.net/ftlib.htm>. [Accessed March 2, 2001].
This database is prepared by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation and is directed by Department of Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation at the University of Maryland. The ERIC/AE Full Text Internet Library strives to identify and organize high quality electronic resources according to clearly defined selection criteria. Documents on emergent literacy can be located by doing a keyword search for the phrase “emergent literacy” in the internal search engine.
8. ERIC Clearinghouse for Reading, Communication and English. [2000]. Database on-line. Available from Indiana University. <http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/>. [Accessed March 2, 2001].
The Clearinghouse for Reading, Communication and English has placed a number of valuable and exciting resources on the Internet. The “Reading Pathfinder” is an extremely useful document for pre-service teachers seeking to locate resources on reading and literacy. Additionally, the “Literacy Education Resources” link the user to a vast array of electronic resources ranging from online journals to lesson plans.
9. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. February 21, 2001. Database on-line. Available from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. <http://ericeece.org/>. [Accessed March 2, 2001].
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (EECE) provides a variety of education resources related to elementary and early childhood education, including listservs and a link to the National Parent Information Network. Through the “Resource Lists” link, this site also provides excellent bibliographies on topics ranging from “Native Americans: Recommended Books and Resources” to “Early Childhood Education Curriculum Models.” The “Native Americans: Recommended Books and Resources” suggests the appropriate grade level for each book on the resource list and includes a number of web resources.
10. ERIC Digests. February 6, 2001. Database on-line. Available from U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. <http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/>. [Accessed March 2, 2001].
The ERIC Digests, produced by the sixteen clearinghouses in the ERIC system, synthesize the most important and most recent research on a particular topic in the field of education. This web page provides a full-text, searchable database of over 2,000 documents. It also lists past digest issues by date. Digest articles on the topic of emergent literacy can be located by typing this phrase into the search engine.
11. Fisher, Bobbi. Reading and Writing in a Kindergarten Classroom. Bloomington, In.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, June 1991. Database on-line. Available from ERIC Digests, ED 331030 <http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed331030.html> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
Fisher, a kindergarten teacher, opens the digest with a description of the varying ways children exhibit literacy behaviors. The author describes a variety of behaviors that make children readers and writers. The remaining portion of this digest is devoted to conditions of learning, like practice/roll play and performance, that foster literacy. Fisher also describes the ways she creates a literacy-rich classroom.
12. Google. Google, Inc. 2001. Internet on-line. <http://www.google.com/> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
Google, a complex search engine that utilizes specialized software to deliver high quality, relevant websites, is a researcher’s best friend. It provides text from the website to show the context in which the search engine located the search query terms to assist the researcher in determining the usefulness of a particular document. A large number of relevant websites on emergent literacy can be found using the simple search query “emergent literacy.”
13. Gunn, Barbara, Deborah C. Simmons, and Edward J. Kameenui. Emergent Literacy: Synthesis of the Research. [2001]. Internet on-line. <http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech19.html> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
Gunn and her associates synthesize the research on emergent literacy and draw conclusions from the evidence gained from this research to address children’s divergent literacy backgrounds. This article forms a basic primer to understand the concepts underlying emergent literacy. Three particularly useful features of this article are its cogent definition of terms associated with emergent literacy, its discussion of various methodologies used in emergent literacy research, and its survey of the areas of literacy knowledge considered part of emergent literacy.
14. Johnson, Debra. “Critical Issue: Addressing the Literacy Needs of Emergent and Early Readers.” Pathways to School Improvement, North Central Regional Education Laboratory. 1999. Internet on-line. <http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li100.htm> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
Johnson’s article combines a review of the literature with concrete suggestions for preparing curriculum materials to suit a child’s level of emergent literacy. The article considers literacy development by age and includes audio snippets that discuss topics important to emergent literacy, like development of phonemic awareness and the importance of reading aloud to children. This document’s importance in the field of emergent literacy is increased by three factors: first, it is a recent document; second, the hyperlinks embedded in the article provide an amazing amount of additional information to the reader; and third, Johnson collaborated with Elizabeth Sulzby, a preeminent research in this field in its preparation.
15. Maehr, Jane. Encouraging Young Children’s Writing. Urbana, Il.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, January 1991. Database on-line. Available from ERIC Digests, ED 327312 <http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed327312.html> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
Maehr’s digest discusses the High/Scope’s approach to emergent literacy, especially writing. This article provides curriculum suggestions on encouraging emergent writing and how to avoid discouraging writing with overly structured exercises before children are ready for them. The article emphasizes the importance of interaction between the adult and the child and the importance of creating a literacy-rich environment where children can see convincing reasons for learning to read and write.
16. McEacher, William Ross. Supporting Emergent Literacy among Young American Indian Students. Charleston, W.V.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small School, March 1990. Database on-line. Available from ERIC Digests, ED 319581. <http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed319581.html> [Accessed March 2,2001].
This ERIC digest focuses on encouraging literacy in Native American students. Specifically, McEacher suggests ways to tailor standard curriculum materials to meet the educational needs of the Native American population, so that the material will be culturally relevant and thereby increase listening comprehension. He emphasizes locally produced materials and proposes that teachers bring in visitors to tell stories. He then suggests that these stories be recorded and transcribed to create a “library” of local materials. This document is an excellent example of both the specific focus of many ERIC documents and the concrete curriculum ideas they offer.
17. Pathways to School Improvement. February 14, 2001. E-journal on-line. Available from North Central Regional Education Laboratory. <http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
The website serves as an e-journal designed to collect essays entitled “Critical Issues” in the field of education. These issues are designed to improve education and cover areas like literacy, assessment, parent and family involvement, and technology. Each Critical Issue discusses the research in the area, gives a set of goals to be accomplished, proposes action options and warns of possible pitfalls. Two outstanding feature of this website are the hyperlinks within each document to other resources on the topic or to expanded definitions of terms and the search engine, which allows the user to pinpoint resources on a specific topic using keywords, like “emergent literacy.”
18. The Reading Pathfinder. December 6, 2000. Database on-line. Available from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. <http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
This document, available on the home page of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication, is designed to assist parents, teachers, and other interested people in locating resources that help children become readers and writers. This resource is extremely comprehensive and current, covering topics like reading to children and childcare and literacy. It also provides a glossary of terms and a search engine for locating titles or keywords within the document. The user can find the search engine using the link entitled “Reading Pathfinder database.”
19. Schickedanz, Judith A. “Myths About Literacy Development.” Of Primary Interest. Summer 1999, Vol.6 No. 3. E-Journal on-line. Available from <http://ericps.crc.uiuc.edu/naecs/opi_nl/volume6/number3.html> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
Schickedanz provides a good, brief introduction to the concept of emergent literacy by juxtapositioning myths about literacy with evidence of how children actually acquire literacy skills. This article is excerpted from a longer work written by Schickedanz entitled Much More Than ABCs: The Early Stages of Reading and Writing. The article contains a bibliography of resources for further research.
20. U. S. Department of Education. February 15, 2001. Internet on-line. <http://www.ed.gov/> [Accessed February 18, 2001].
The U.S. Department of Education provides a comprehensive education website that includes links to current research and statistics, ERIC Digests, and publications and products available from the department. This site is searchable using an internal search engine. The information on the ERIC database accessible through this site is particularly useful.
21. U.S. Department of Education and Syracuse University. AskERIC. 1999. Internet on-line. <http://ericir.syr.edu/> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
AskERIC is a comprehensive website that allows the user to search the following databases simultaneously: journal articles and ERIC digests, AskERIC lesson plan database and the AskERIC question archive. User retrieves either full text documents or abstracts of documents with order information. By searching the combined databases using the term “emergent literacy” the user will find, among other things, excellent lesson plans specifically designed to enhance emergent literacy skills. Additionally, AskERIC allows the user to submit an education-related question and receive a personal e-mail response within two business days.
22. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Head Start, Administration for Children and Families. January 8, 2001. Internet on-line. <http://www2.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/hsb/index.htm?/index.htm> [Accessed February 18, 2001].
The Head Start website provides a plethora of resources for teachers in the areas of literacy and childhood development. The “Head Start Information and Publication Center” contains a number of full-text documents that can be search used the HSIPC search engine. Documents covering emergent literacy can be found using the search phrase, emergent literacy. This website includes both theoretical materials as well as concrete curriculum suggestions.
23. Yaden, David B., Deborah W. Rowe, and Laurie MacGillivray. Emergent Literacy: A Polyphony of Perspectives. CIERA Report #1-005. June 15, 1999. Internet on-line. <http://www.ciera.org/ciera/publications/report_series/> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
Yaden, Rowe and MacGillivray have done an admirable job collecting, reviewing and assessing much of the research done in the various fields and subfields of emergent literacy. Authors describe the research that has been done, draw conclusions about the effectiveness of various types of emergent literacy programs, provide information about conflicting points of view, and suggest areas where further research is needed. This well-written and critical report will be useful to students wishing to understand the clinical side of emergent literacy or preparing to do research of their own.
A Pathfinder
By Rebecca Pool
March 5, 2001
Emergent literacy refers to the reading and writing behaviors that come before and ultimately become conventional literacy. The term emergent literacy incorporates several underlying principles. First, acquisition of literacy skills requires interaction and second, these skills are developed on a continuum rather than at a specific point in time. This pathfinder will assist pre-service teachers in locating electronic resources that define the concept of emergent literacy or provide curriculum materials that foster a literacy-rich classroom environment.
For a definition of emergent literacy, try
· The Emergent Literacy Project. [2001]. Internet on-line. <http://www.ets.uidaho.edu/cdhd/emerlit/emerhome.htm> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
For examples of literacy projects that implement emergent literacy practices, search
· Google. Google, Inc. 2001. Internet on-line. <http://www.google.com> [Accessed March 2, 2001] using the phrases “emergent literacy,” “W.H. Teale,” or “early literacy.”
Examples of such projects are:
· The Emergent Literacy Project. [2001]. Internet on-line. <http://www.ets.uidaho.edu/cdhd/emerlit/emerhome.htm> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
· Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement at University of Michigan School of Education. CIERA. February 28, 2001. Internet on-line. <http://www.ciera.org/>. [Accessed March 2, 2001].
For journal articles on emergent literacy, search
· the ERIC database through U.S. Department of Education and Syracuse University. AskERIC. 1999. Internet on-line. <http://ericir.syr.edu/> [Accessed March 2, 2001] using the phrases “emergent literacy” or “early literacy.
For a brief reviews of the research in this area, search
· ERIC Digests. February 6, 2001. Database on-line. Available from U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. <http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/>. [Accessed March 2, 2001] using the phrases “emergent literacy” or “early literacy.”
ERIC Digest documents include:
· McEacher, William Ross. Supporting Emergent Literacy among Young American Indian Students. Charleston, W.V.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small School, March 1990. Database on-line. Available from ERIC Digests, ED 319581. <http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed319581.html> [Accessed March 2,2001].
For a synthesis of the literature, search
·
Google. Google, Inc. 2001. Internet on-line. <http://www.google.com> [Accessed March 2, 2001] using the search phrase {review of literature and “emergent literacy”}.An example of a good literature review articles would be:
·
Yaden, David B., Deborah W. Rowe, and Laurie MacGillivray. Emergent Literacy: A Polyphony of Perspectives. CIERA Report #1-005. June 15, 1999. Internet on-line. <http://www.ciera.org/ciera/publications/report_series/> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
For training or curriculum materials,
· look at Emerging Literacy: Linking Social Competence to Learning. January 24, 2001. Internet on-line. National Training Guide available from Head Start Information and Publication Center, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. <http://www.hskids_tmsc.org/publications/tg_elit/cont_21.htm> [Accessed March 2, 2001] or
· search U.S. Department of Education and Syracuse University. AskERIC. 1999. Internet on-line. <http://ericir.syr.edu/> [Accessed March 2, 2001] using the phrase “emergent literacy” in the “Lesson Plans” database or
· consult the “Literacy Activities” guides located in Johnson, Debra. “Critical Issue: Addressing the Literacy Needs of Emergent and Early Readers.” Pathways to School Improvement, North Central Regional Education Laboratory. 1999. Internet on-line. <http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li100.htm> [Accessed March 2, 2001].
If you need further assistance researching this
topic,
contact the researchers at AskERIC or ask a reference librarian.
Last updated March 3, 2001 by Rebecca Pool