Joyful Reading and Writing with Young Children
Research to Practice Guidance
These resources share practical strategies for teachers to promote joyful reading experiences and support language and literacy development for multilingual learners ages 3–8, with a particular emphasis on dual language learners and English learner students. The resources are based on the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide, “Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade,” the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition teaching practice brief, “Integrating Language Into Early Childhood Education,” and other research-based guidance.
Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade
Integrating Language Into Early Childhood Education
Webinar Videos
Scaffolding Emergent Reading, Oral Language, and Writing for Dual Language Learners/English Learners in PreK–1st Grade
Learn about practical ideas for engaging young children with complex texts and supporting them to talk and write about the texts.
Language & Literacy Development in PreK–1st Grade: Words and More
Explore how teachers can build language-rich classrooms to cultivate young children’s language development.
Joyful Reading at School and at Home: A storybook reading routine
Delve into a routine for interactive read alouds using culturally affirming storybooks, which can be used by teachers, families, and caregivers.
Joyful Reading at School and at Home: Creative expression activities
Learn how to expand on the joyful reading routine with creative expression activities and how to implement them in partnership with parents and families.
Educator Resources
The resources below provide ideas for engaging young multilingual learners in joyful reading and supporting their language and literacy development. The reading activity guides can be shared with parents, families, and caregivers to strengthen school-home literacy partnerships.
Instructional Videos
A Teaching Routine for Academic Vocabulary in Grades PreK–1
This video walks viewers through a 3-step routine for teaching new vocabulary to young children that includes lots of opportunities to practice using the new word in different ways.
Interactive Read alouds: Learning from books together
This video shares tips for asking effective questions for both on-the-surface and deeper-dive discussions of books, models the read aloud process, and introduces a writing task and a read aloud planning template. Download the related lesson planning template, which includes step-by-step instructions for planning your own interactive read alouds.
Interactive writing instruction online with young children
This video demonstrates how to facilitate an interactive writing lesson with kindergarteners and first graders in a distance learning environment. Watch Professor Nell K. Duke from the University of Michigan as she teaches children how to collaboratively write a letter using an online interactive whiteboard.