76th Annual SECA Conference

Research indicates that writing in early childhood offers numerous developmental and educational advantages. Early educators are crucial in fostering emerging literacy among young children by providing regular chances for them to engage in writing activities. Through consistent opportunities to write, children improve fine motor skills, develop alphabet knowledge, enhance phonemic awareness, and acquire a variety of other skills. During this interactive session, we will trace the journey of Isabella, a pre-kindergarten student, over the course of a school year, examining samples of her writings and exploring how current HCS leadership team teachers, guide and support students' exploration of writing. Join us to learn supporting brain research and many developmentally appropriate activities to foster growth in your classroom.

In this session, we will share basics of coding in early childhood, computational thinking, and engineering. We will discuss methods of integrating literacy with these STEM disciplines. We will share methods that we used in our preschool classroom to integrate literacy with computational thinking and engineering, through lessons that included storytelling, problem solving, coding, and constructing. From activities ranging from coding a classmate to reach the Three Little Pigs house, sequencing familiar stories and creating our own, and engineering a boat for the Gingerbread Man that would float, students were able to explore STEM concepts through a literacy lens.

The science of reading has created motivation to examine early literacy practices at every level. This session will explore the important pillar of phonemic awareness in the science of reading and how it applies in the early years. Participants of this session will explore developmentally appropriate ways to ensure this skill is integrated into the early learning classroom through the vehicle of play.

"Apples, Alligators, and All That" will be a jam-packed fun and entertaining session! In the session we will gain knowledge of phonological awareness and its importance. We will sing and dance and learn new alphabet songs to use in the classroom to help your students to be strong in early literacy with definite letter recognition and confidence in letter recognition and letter sounds. Many door prizes and giveaways! Come join us!!

Literacy doesn’t start with children decoding and encoding text; rather it begins as children engage in functional and playful conversations and oral storytelling experiences supported and facilitated by their teachers and other caregivers. In this session, participants will better understand the role of oral language and storytelling in young children's literacy development. Session participants will learn effective ways to prompt children for language success and learn storytelling activities such as story acting, storymaking, and creating oral mentor texts. This interactive session will help participants plan playful, and developmentally appropriate learning experiences designed to build a literate foundation in young children.

You don’t have to be an artist to promote artistic expression by children. Books written for children provide a practical avenue for introducing young learners to artists, works of art, and art media. Integrating the visual arts with language development and early literacy allows children to learn about themselves and others in a creative, collaborative environment.

Consider how artists portray human figures, families, and nature. It is important to make connections with children’s funds of knowledge gained through their experiences of home, family, community, and culture. Using children's books as a starting point, teachers can provide young learners with opportunities to manipulate art tools and materials, represent their perspectives, express their personal interests, and build conceptual knowledge.

As teachers, we provide models of art talk. Terminology such as color, shape, texture, lines, patterns, and designs can be components of conversations about art processes and products. In addition, teachers can use open-ended questions to elicit children’s thinking and decisions about art making. Take a few minutes to practice art talk before or after you contribute to a group art project during the session.

You will come away with a list of recommended list of read aloud storybooks, art series for children, biographies for featured artists, and relevant resources for teachers. We hope that you will be inspired to plan creative explorations for children that will promote inquiry and investigation through hands-on activities and lively conversations.