Answer to Question 1
Children learn the dominant language of their home. When these homesbe they English-speaking, Spanish-speaking, or Arabic-speakingprovide a literate model, typically the young children who live in them are eager to engage in talking, writing, and reading in the home's dominant language, so early literacy across languages looks quite similar. Some cultures and families place emphasis on oral storytelling in addition to reading and writing. Adults in these homes share stories with their young literacy learners and with each other. Of course, children from families whose dominant language is not English will enter school using the language that works for them in their home environment. A quality program that supports these children's emergence as readers and writers is important.
Answer to Question 2
1. Provide purposeful exposure to new words; teachers should decide in advance to teach selected words to children, using high-utility root words.
2. Intentionally teach word meaning. Select words that are important for comprehension and useful in everyday interaction.
3. Teach word-learning strategies. In order for young children to develop the mental tools to infer word meanings from context, they need to be taught how. This is best accomplished when the teacher models through a think-aloud.
4. Offer opportunities to use newly learned words. Often, these targeted words are connected to other parts of the academic curriculum.
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