Our Early Reading First (ERF) of Wyandotte County project builds upon an existing collaboration among two local urban preschool programs with early literacy researchers at Juniper Gardens Children’s Project of the University of Kansas and Project EAGLE of the University of Kansas Medical Center. The purpose of the ERF is to substantially increase the intensity of language and literacy instruction so that Kansas City, Kansas children who may face multiple risks improve academically. ERF has nine classrooms, 24 teachers, and 160 children from local Head Start and El Centro preschools.
The project integrates the intensity-rich tiered model of implementation, research-based literacy materials, summer and monthly professional development, and data-driven instructional decision-making. In order to increase intensity of instruction, each classroom has a maximum 1 to 7 teacher/child ratio. Each mentor coach provides instructional support to three classrooms and an intervention coach provides additional support for tier-two intervention implementation. The Wy-ERF two-tier model focuses on differentiated instruction through data-driven decision-making. These two tiers substantially increase the intensity of pre-literacy and oral language development instruction and help to prevent later reading difficulties.
KEY EMERGENT LITERACY SKILLS
- Print Knowledge
- Phonological Awareness
- Oral Language
PROJECT GOALS
- To integrate research-based instructional materials and literacy activities
- To increase the use of evidence-based instructional strategies and activities
- To raise the level of environmental support
- To provide and support professional development based on scientifically-based reading research that will enhance preschoolers’ language, literacy and pre-reading development
- To increase the use of screening and progress monitoring reading assessments that will effectively identify children at-risk for reading failure and lead to improved instruction for individual children
RESEARCH-BASED FOCUS IN OUR CLASSROOMS:
- Three hours of daily focused literacy and oral language instruction through Circle, Small Group, Center, and Storybook reading times.
- Research based curriculum: Scholastic Early Childhood Program.
- Print Knowledge (alphabet knowledge, concepts of print, phonics) strategies that:
- Focus children’s attention to upper and lower case letters throughout the instructional day with explicit instruction.
- Increase the amount of print
- Create and extend writing centers
- Increase the number and variety of available books
- Increase instruction in letter/sound correspondences
- Phonological Awareness strategies that:
- Provide explicit instruction in word and syllable division, rhyming, alliteration, first and last sound skills.
- Emphasize phonological awareness throughout the day including transitions and non-literacy instructional segments of the day
- Oral Language strategies that:
- Increase the length and number of adult/child and child/child conversations
- Increase time spent reading and talking about books
- Develop literacy-enriched play settings
- Build a breadth of vocabulary knowledge by focusing children’s attention on the names a wide range of available concrete objects (e.g., play animals, food, furniture, plants, etc.)
Early Reading First Disclaimer:
Information on this website is available for noncommercial use only. You may use the information provided and link this website from your personal Web site provided that:
(a) you do not modify or delete any content;
(b) you do not redistribute content without identifying the website as the source of content;
(c) the use of content does not suggest that our ERF project promotes or endorses any third party causes, ideas, Web sites, products or services.
For additional permission requests, please contact Dr. Mary Abbott, mabbott@ku.edu.
