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 7–9 are included in this PowerPoint presentation.

Video 1: Building a Network of Words

Key Points About the Video

• Our mind stores words in networks (words that are related to each other and to a larger topic of interest). New words are remembered and retrieved more easily when they are connected. You can visualize a spider's web connecting many related words.
• It is important to build a network of words prior to teaching vocabulary so you know which words to teach. When you teach words from a network of words, you are intentional about teaching vocabulary as opposed to teaching random words that are not connected to each other. Building and teaching from a network of words help children learn new words that connect to words they already know. Networks of words help children more quickly remember and recall words that are associated with the same topic.

Video 2: Dialogic Reading with Narrative Text

Key Points About the Video

• The teacher asks labeling questions. Many of the labeling questions are followed by a color, shape, or function question to help children more deeply understand the concepts and the meaning of the words.
• The children did not know the label for placemat. They called it a mat. The teacher prompted by asked, "What kind of mat?" When the children still aren't sure, the teacher labels the object and prompts everyone to say placemat. The teacher should not prompt the children to guess the label for an object. This could lead to other children misunderstanding the correct answer/label. For dining room, the children said, "table." The teacher asked a clarifying question, "What kind of room is this where they are eating?"
• Examples of follow-up questions the teacher asked: What shape is the placemat? What do we use a refrigerator for? What is a menu used for? What do we use a booster seat for? What color is the spinach?
• When the children point to a picture in Session 4, she prompts them by saying, "What is that?" She says, "Use your words." If the children just provide a one-word answer for what they see, the teacher can say, "Tell me more about that object."
• In session 4 the children have more freedom to talk about what they know and what interests them. This can be a good time to encourage more reluctant speakers.
• The plot of the story influences questions asked in session 5.
  • The teacher asked plot-related questions: "What happened after D.W. pounded her fist on the table?" The teacher rereads part of the text in session 5 to help children remember parts of the story, such as how D.W.'s mom felt when D.W. pounded her fist on the table in a restaurant.
  • The plot also leads to a discussion about children having tantrums in restaurants. One child asks what a tantrum is, which provides an opportunity for the teacher to teach the children another new word.
  • When the mother in the story asks the waiter for the recipe, the children begin a discussion about using recipes with their families at home.

Video 3: Dialogic Reading with Expository Text

Key Points About the Video

• During session 1 of Dialogic Reading, the teacher reads the entire book verbatim. She may pause to ask a couple labeling questions, but the main task is to read the entire story.
• Teachers can ask follow-up questions after the initial labeling questions in Sessions 1–3. Follow up questions can include color, shape, or function questions. These questions help children more deeply understand the concepts and the meaning of the words.
• Dialogic Reading with an expository book is different than Dialogic Reading with a narrative book, or a book that tells a story. Instead of plot-driven questions, questions/prompts for expository text may include cause and effect or sequencing type questions, particularly in Session 5. If the book is longer than a typical shared reading book, the teacher may decide to read half the book in one session and the other half in a second session later that day.
• In Session 4, the teacher asks open-ended questions. The teacher can choose one of the listed objects or items and prompt the child to tell her more about that one item. The teacher could also let the child choose by saying, "You just named a lot of things. Which item do you want to tell me more about?"
• The teacher reinforces target words by continuing to use the target word in her conversations with the children. She uses the target words when she is modeling answers on various pages.
• In Session 5, the teacher asks recall questions, distancing questions, and retell prompts such as "What happened next?"
• As the children progress through each of the sessions, their responses get longer and begin to include target words introduced or encountered in Sessions 1–3.

Video 4: Play-Based Interactions with Teacher Guidance

Key Points About the Video

• The teacher prepares centers to encourage the use of target words: Paint to blend at the art center; dairy products at the kitchen center; cheese (dairy) at snack time; cows at the blocks center while building a dairy farm; blending mud and water to make mud pies outside.
• The teacher asks questions that require the use of the target word to answer. She makes comments during play that include the target words. Examples: What do we need to do with the water and dirt to make a mud pie (blend)? What word do we use when we think something tastes really yummy (delicious)?
• The teacher engages in conversation with each child. She keeps each child actively engaged. She works in small groups. She asks each child questions to elicit the target word.
• The teacher prompts the child by saying the first sound in delicious. "How does it taste? /d/"
• The teachers smiles and has fun with the children. She focuses on the activity—painting, making mud pies, shopping at the kitchen center.
• Children can initiate/direct the play. Play-based does not use the I Do, You Do, We Do instructional routine.

Video 5: Explicit Instruction for Specific Words

Key Points About the Video

• Evidence of explicit instruction includes the teacher providing simple, child-friendly definitions, opportunities for children to say the word multiple times, and activities that actively engage children.
• The teacher prompts the children to say the word multiple times asking the children to say the target word when she provides an example.
• The teacher keeps the children actively involved by using thumbs-up or thumbs-down, sorting objects, and turn and talk.
• An example of how the teacher scaffolded instruction is when the child was trying to determine whether raisins were dairy or nondairy. The teacher shows milk and reminds the child that things made from milk are dairy products.