An update from one of the RELs – no K-12 distance, online, and/or blended learning items in this one.

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REL Southeast Director’s Email

October 2022 Greetings from the REL Southeast, Without question, children’s early educational experiences in preschool and pre-kindergarten prepare them for success in elementary school. The most recently released WWC Practice Guide, Preparing Young Children for School, offered seven recommendations for ensuring that all children are well prepared for school. Chief among them were early literacy skills. The importance of providing intentional, interactive, and culturally responsive opportunities to learn and develop knowledge about oral language, vocabulary, letter names, letter sounds, print, books, and the world cannot be overstated. Armed with a solid foundation in these early literacy skills, our youngest learners will be ready to read and ready to succeed in school. This month, the REL Southeast would like to offer resources designed to help educators, policy makers, families, and caregivers support students as they develop these critical skills. We hope you find these materials useful, and as always, thank you for helping to improve educational outcomes for every student in our region. With gratitude, Dr. Nicole Patton Terry Director, REL Southeast Preparing Young Children for School This practice guide, developed in conjunction with an expert panel, distills contemporary early childhood and preschool education research into seven easily comprehensible and practical recommendations, three of which focus specifically on early literacy. The guidance will help to prepare young children to benefit from the learning opportunities they will encounter in school. Click here to explore the practice guide. What does 20 years of research say about teaching language and literacy in preschool? This infographic presents effective strategies identified in the report, Effectiveness of Early Literacy Instruction: Summary of 20 Years of Research, and additional examples of activities that support five instructional areas that support early literacy: language, phonological awareness, print knowledge, decoding, and early writing. Click here to explore the infographic. Effectiveness of Early Literacy Instruction: Summary of 20 Years of Research This fact sheet draws on the systematic review, Effectiveness of Early Literacy Instruction: Summary of 20 Years of Research, and explains the methodology and key findings for early childhood educators and policy makers. Click here to explore the fact sheet. Joyful Reading and Creative Expression with Young Children: Planning Tips and Tools Joyful Reading and Creative Expression with Young Children: Planning Tips and Tools In this video, Dr. Pamela Spycher shares tips, tools, and resources for planning joyful reading and creative expression activities with young children in preschool through the early elementary grades. Teachers and teacher educators are guided to select culturally affirming and engaging storybooks, plan joyful and interactive read alouds, support children to talk meaningfully about the stories, highlight the language in the books, and engage them in creative expression activities. An accompanying Planning Guide contains tips, templates, and resources to help educators plan joyful read alouds. Click here to watch the video.

You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website or provided your information at a REL Southeast sponsored event. Our mailing address is: REL Southeast at Florida State University 2010 Levy Avenue Suite 100 Tallahassee, FL 32310