In addition to affirming home language, creating a classroom with lots of opportunity to talk, share ideas and engage with text is key to supporting literacy development.

Essential Question 3:

How you can support a language- and print-rich environment where students are exposed to diverse and complex language?

Step 1: Explore

Take a moment to get curious about your classroom. Think about what resources might help you get new ideas or grow your language- and print-rich classroom. Select one or more of the following resources (Article, Videos, & Tips/Planning Tools) to learn more about strategies to build a language- and print-rich classroom.

Article

Read the article from Edutopia, Interactive Read-Alouds in the Early Grades by Kathy Collier in the link below.

Website - Interactive Read-Alouds in the Early Grades (Collier, 2023)

Videos

Video 1
Video 2

Collaborative Reading: Building Successful Readers Together

(5:10 min, CC) - Audio Described Transcript

(Edutopia, 2019)

Oral Language Development through Integrated & Designated ELD

(10:14 min, CC) - Audio Described Transcript

(San Bernardino City Unified School District, 2017)

Tips and Planning Tools

Review these two resources to learn more about tips and classroom planning on oral literacy.

Word - Planning Interactive Read-Alouds
PDF - Joyful and Affirming Storybook Selection Tips (REL West, n.d.)

Step 2: Reflect

In your journal, reflect on these questions.

What is something new you learned?
What is something that reinforced what you already do?
What is something you will try in your classroom to support a print and language rich learning community?
What is something you are still curious about and want to explore further?