Session 1 Teaching Language and Literacy in the Environment (2 hours)

When the environment is effectively established and utilized, it becomes an educator in its own right in the early childhood classroom. Using this explanation as a foundation, this session will focus on approaches to promote speaking, listening, reading, and writing in all aspects of the environment, including classroom design, intentional instruction, and facilitation of language and literacy by teachers and staff. Participants will walk away with tangible strategies and resources that can be easily implemented and used to improve language and literacy environments in their classrooms. Note: This session aligned to the Montana Learning Standards (MELS) for the domains of Physical, Communication, and Cognition.

Session 2 Oral Language Development: Making a Meaningful Difference for Children (2 hours)

You may have heard about the “30 Million Word Gap” but what does it truly mean for early childhood educators and how they address early language and overall development in all children in their classrooms? Incorporating a research-to-practice perspective, this session will explore the critical role that vocabulary, storytelling, and plain conversation play in the development of children’s oral language.

Session 3 Intentional Planning for Literacy: EVERY Child Successful EVERYDAY! (2 hours)

Training will focus on the phonological awareness continuum and the importance of these skills - and how to develop a curriculum that includes balanced lesson delivery. Instructional strategies will be introduced that provide children with a variety of opportunities to practice and reinforce those key skills during their daily routines. A wide variety of inclusionary practices will be discussed as well as developmentally appropriate knowledge and skill acquisition strategies that are applicable to increasing the access to the curriculum for all children. This workshop will provide practical research and evidence-based literacy activities and games, easily integrated into your daily routines, that will support the acquisition of literacy (speaking, listening, reading, writing) skills. Plan to join this training and learn some fun activities that will allow you to create engaging and positive literacy experiences for children!