Everything a preschool teacher needs to participate in this PLC including: an overview of the sessions, the five-step process for each session, a session schedule, self-study readings, activities to complete during and between sessions, slides with space to take notes, reproducible materials, and a glossary.

Everything a facilitator needs to guide a team of preschool teachers through emergent literacy PLC sessions including delivery options, how to prepare for each session, a structured plan for each session, and slides with speaker notes. Given the rich content of emergent literacy instruction addressed in these materials, the ideal facilitator will be an educator with an understanding of emergent literacy, good communication skills, and the ability to relate well to adult learners.

Slides for the facilitator to project during each session. Slides for Sessions 1–3 are included in this PowerPoint presentation.

Video 1: Letter Knowledge and Decoding Connection

Key Points About the Video

• Print knowledge is a precursor to reading.
• Children need to learn the alphabetic principle, the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.
• Learning letter sounds provides children a foundation for learning how to decode words.

Video 2: Small-Group Explicit Instruction Using Sound Bags (M and S)

Key Points About the Video

• The teacher is teaching in a small group format.
• The teacher introduced the new letter S by telling children the letter and having them repeat the letter name.
• The teacher explained and modeled the concept.
• Each child was asked to say the letter name as she traced it.
• The teacher provided individual turns with scaffolding.
• Scaffold: When the child called the M a W, the teacher showed the child a plastic letter M and said, "This is the letter M." She asked the child to trace it and say M. She turned the letter upside down and explained that if was upside down it would be a W. Then she asked the child which bag the M should go in: the M bag or the S bag. This provided the child two more opportunities to practice the letter M.
• Scaffold: When the teacher asked if the M was lowercase or uppercase, she brought out both types of letters and discussed the differences.

Video 3: Implicit Print Knowledge Instruction in Multiple Contexts

Key Points About the Video

• Explicit instruction usually takes place in small groups. Explicit instruction usually follows the I Do, We Do, You Do instructional routine whereas implicit instruction does not. During explicit instruction, the teacher always scaffolds instruction. During implicit instruction, children sometimes practice skills without a lot of teacher scaffolding.
• Children practiced print knowledge skills during both explicit and implicit instruction.
• Explicit instruction is useful when introducing a new skill, like a new letter name. Implicit instruction is useful when practicing skills already explicitly taught.

Video 4: Small-Group Explicit Instruction Using Letter Sound Spinners

Key Points About the Video

• You would not use the same activity for every small group because you need to differentiate instruction. Implement different activities for different small groups based on their instructional needs.
• For a child who is struggling, you may reduce the number of letters to identify. You could also have the child say only the letter name instead of the letter name and letter sound. You could also work one-on-one with the child to provide more practice opportunities and scaffolding from you.
• For a child who is more advanced, you may have more letters from which to choose. You could also have the child write the letters and say their sounds as they write them.
• An obstacle to implementing small-group instruction might be determining what the other children are doing while you teach in small groups.
• A solution to that obstacle is to preplan engaging activities and have a teacher assistant monitor their implementation.

Video 5: Whole-Group Instruction Using Letter Sound Spinners

Key Points About the Video

• Small-group instruction was more effective for this activity because children received more opportunities to practice the letter names and letter sounds and received more specific scaffolding from the teacher.
• Children appeared to be more engaged in the activity during small-group instruction because each child had many opportunities to respond and engage with the teacher. During whole-group instruction, each child received only one turn.
• Teacher feedback during whole-group instruction was specific to each child. However, she was not able to provide extra practice to children who needed it.
• Small-group instruction provides more opportunities for the teacher to differentiate instruction because each child could get a turn to identify each letter, so the teacher could determine which children may need extra practice with certain letters and which have mastered certain letters.

Video 6: Scaffolding During Small-Group Explicit Instruction

Key Points About the Video

• When children thought a lowercase M was a W, the teacher turned it upside down and said, "If you turn it that way it is a w, but if you turn it this way, it is an m."
• When a child called the lowercase m an uppercase M, the teacher told him it was a lowercase m. Then, the teacher immediately asked the child the same question to provide an opportunity to practice again.
• When a child wrote a lowercase M instead of an uppercase M, the teacher asked him to name the letter and then asked him to write an uppercase M.
• At the end of the review of letter names, the teacher compares uppercase and lowercase M to show the difference and asks the children to name each again.
• While describing the building of the alphabet caterpillar, the teacher provided another practice opportunity with naming M for the child who had the most difficulty with M.

Video 7: Print Referencing During Read-Alouds

Key Points About the Video

• The teacher pointed (nonverbal) to the title as she read it (verbal).
• The teacher pointed (nonverbal) to the author and the illustrator as she read (verbal) their names.
• The teacher pointed to the first word on the page and left-to-right (nonverbal) as she explained (verbal) where to start reading and which direction to read.
• The teacher pointed (nonverbal) to an uppercase letter as she asked (verbal) the children if it was an uppercase or lowercase letter.
• Teacher pointed (nonverbal) to a sentence and asked (verbal) the children to count the words in the sentence.
• Teacher pointed (nonverbal) to each word as children counted (verbal) the words in a sentence.

Video 8: Small-Group Explicit Instruction for the Letter M

Key Points About the Video

• Visual aid: uppercase and lowercase M on letter card.
• Mnemonic device: uppercase and lowercase M with a picture of a mountain.
• Manipulatives: magnetic letters.
• Individualized instruction worked with one child at the end of the lesson.