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An instructional strategy useful during and after reading a book is called “dialogic reading” (Talking is Teaching, p. 5).  Dialogic reading’s goal comprises “engag[ing] a child in a dialogue and keep it going so the child has the opportunity to learn new concepts and words, practice using words, and form longer ph[r]ases and sentences” (Talking is Teaching, p. 5).  The basic steps in dialogic reading follow the acronym CAR: “Comment and Wait, Ask questions and Wait, Respond by adding a little more and Wait” (Talking is Teaching, p. 5).  When introducing and reading a new book, dialogic reading begins with the introduction of the book, follows through the reading of the book, and the discussions after reading the book.  The six steps of dialogic reading are:

1.      Show the book and ask children to make predictions about the story.

2.      Point out key words or ideas to help get the children ready for the story.

3.      Read the book from beginning to end and use as much expression and gesture as you can.

4.      Ask children to play an active part by making predictions along the way, answering questions, and pointing to or making comments about pictures, letters, and words.

5.      The next time you read the book, and each time after that, let the children tell more and more of the story.  Notice new words, interesting ideas, and silly actions and talk about them.

6.      Ask “thinking questions”. One easy way to remember how to ask thinking questions is called CROWD. That stands for:

a.       Completion questions (ask children to fill in the blank)

b.      Recall questions (ask children if they remember something about the story)

c.       Open-ended questions (encourage more than one word answers)

d.      WH- questions (ask children who, what, where, when, how and why)

e.       Distancing questions (ask children to make connections between the story and their own personal experiences) (Talking is Teaching, p. 5)

Reading is an essential element in Pre-K instruction.  Reading allows the students and teachers to interact one-on-one versus the different areas of the classroom usually used in a Pre-K classroom with stations.  Using age-appropriate books and the dialogic reading instructional strategy, teachers incorporate students' imagination and use directed questioning to increase vocabulary and critical thinking skills.  The interaction between teacher and students while reading the book also encourages active listening.  Dialogic reading introduces all of these teaching goals in a subtle, interesting way and engages students in the learning process.

Reference

Talking is Teaching. (n.d.). Talk, read and sing together every day: Tips for preschool teachers & other early childhood education program providers. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/documents/early-learning/talk-read-sing/preschool-en.pdf

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Gardening as a teaching strategy has applications in science, math, and art.  Gardening curriculum can be as simple as a bean sprout in Pre-K to an elaborate community garden in high school.

Students who participate in gardening have a considerable increase in grade point average, utilize new learning styles, and develop their perspectives and ways of learning to incorporate critical 21st-century skills such as "curiosity, flexibility, open-mindedness, informed skepticism, creativity, and critical thinking." (Stayer, 2015, para. 4)

At the Pre-K level, students begin learning about science when the lesson is introduced.  Throughout the growing cycle of the selected plant, lessons tailored to learning the parts of the plant introduce new vocabulary terms and discussing the purpose of plants in the environment introduces the element of bees and nutrition (KidsGardening.org, n.d.).

Incorporating a science element into a Pre-K classroom begins with a garden.  Students benefit from learning about nutrition, bees depending on plants, growth cycles, and the sun.  The garden also provides a routine “by setting aside a time to regularly check up on the plants’ progress with your pupils” (Heinrich, 2017, para. 11).  Planting a garden benefits the classroom through a natural element and decoration.

References

Heinrich, A. (2017). 7 teaching strategies to consider for your ECE classroom. Retrieved from https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/7-teaching-strategies-for-ece-classroom/

KidsGardening.org. (n.d.). Lesson plans. Retrieved from https://kidsgardening.org/lesson-plans/

Stayer, K. (2015). Garden-based learning. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/garden-based-learning-kristin-stayer

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Students see symbols and logos daily and their understanding of the meanings provides a fundamental step in reading comprehension.  Symbol and logo recognition and understanding shows students are “learning that a “picture” can convey a message” (Winter, 2017, para. 2).  The step “translating from picture to word helps in language development” (Heinrich, 2017, para. 5).  Teachers use common logos and symbols found throughout the community or school ensuring students have exposure and prior knowledge when using this teaching strategy.

Teachers begin these lessons by touring the school and taking pictures of logos and symbols or ask parents to take pictures of logos and symbols found in the home.  The lessons focus on determining the meaning behind the logos and symbols and associating words to the photo (Heinrich, 2017, para. 6).  As the photos are of readily found logos or symbols in the school or community, any logo or symbol unfamiliar to a student will allow the student to learn about their environment and how the logo or symbol affects their daily life.  This teaching strategy also benefits students in “pre-literacy exercises” (Winter, 2017, para. 11).

References

Heinrich, A. (2017). 7 teaching strategies to consider for your ECE classroom. Retrieved from https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/7-teaching-strategies-for-ece-classroom/

Winter, E. (2017). Pre-reading activities: Signs and symbols. Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/elaine-winter/2017/Pre-Reading-Activities-Signs-and-Symbols/

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Teaching preschoolers to expand their vocabulary and imagination requires alternatives to thin conversations.  Thin conversations involve asking a question and receiving an answer.  Using the thick conversation instruction strategy, teachers use this opportunity in “giving children many chances to speak and communicate, asking open-ended questions, encouraging them to think and imagine, and having many back-and-forth exchanges” (Talking is Teaching, p. 2).  The four elements of thick conversations are:

1.      Encourage back-and-forth exchanges

2.      Extend children’s language

3.      Invite children to talk about what they are doing

4.      Encourage higher-level thinking (Talking is Teaching, p. 2)

Thick conversations may seem difficult, but only require continuing a conversation on the student’s level.

The thick conversation strategy becomes useful in adding new descriptive words and vocabulary to a conversation.  A student may state they saw a cow on the way to school.  To “thicken” the conversation, the teacher responds by asking if it was a brown, black, or red cow, thus introducing color to the conversation.  With the response, the teacher might ask if the cow was in a pasture or a field, thus adding vocabulary words.  Encouraging the element of higher-level thinking simply involves asking the student a question or series of questions following the topic of conversation.  In this instance, the teacher might ask the student to imagine what the cow is thinking.

Reference
Talking is Teaching. (n.d.). Talk, read and sing together every day: Tips for preschool teachers & other early childhood education program providers. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/documents/early-learning/talk-read-sing/preschool-en.pdf

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When speaking with a student, they might use simple words to describe an item, event, or situation.  The instructional strategy of expanding on children’s words involves seven activities:

1.      Expand phrases so they are complete.

2.      Make phrases more complex.

3.      Add novel and interesting words.

4.      Summarize their thoughts.

5.      Relate to their lives and prior knowledge or experiences.

6.      Explain your thinking.

7.      Connect new and familiar concepts (Talking is Teaching, p. 3).

This instructional strategy introduces students to expanding their conversation skills.  Teachers must remember to respond appropriately by expanding the statement made by the student.

With this instructional strategy, a student stating they rode to school with their brother requires the teacher to respond with an expanded response incorporating the students phrase.  The teacher could state back to the student:  You rode in the vehicle with your mother and brother, John, visiting from Austin?  This example introduces a new word and expounds further on the occupants of the vehicle completing the phrase.  Students in Pre-K benefit from the introduction of new vocabulary words in relation to their current thought processes.

Reference
Talking is Teaching. (n.d.). Talk, read and sing together every day: Tips for preschool teachers & other early childhood education program providers. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/documents/early-learning/talk-read-sing/preschool-en.pdf