Date of Award
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education
Program
Early Childhood Education
Capstone Instructor
Kelly Sadlovsky
Second Reader
Kristin Goetz
Keywords
language and literacy, shared reading
Abstract
Language and literacy development is tremendously important for young children in the first year of life. The purpose of this capstone is to discover strategies to foster emergent literacy and implement those strategies. Towell, Bartram, Murrow, & Brown, (2021) suggested several strategies to help educators foster literacy development including lap reading, reading aloud, reading to children from birth, dialogic reading, establishing routines, creating books with children, asking questions, and making comments. According to Dowling, Shanty, Sonnenschein, and Hussey-Gardner (2020), it is never too early to introduce language and literacy skills. Infants learn best through responsive, playful interaction that occur in natural, everyday settings (Dowling et al., 2020). Gillespie (2019) also suggested several strategies for educators including making books readily available and a part of daily routines, read aloud in a casual, conversational manner, and find books that provide sensory experiences. According to Horst, Stewart & True (2019), quality matters and educators should re-read books.