M.Ed on Education and Innovation: EDUECE3 :Language, Literacy, and Arts in Early Childhood

Week 1

Language development in early childhood

• Language development theories and developmental milestones

• Components of language (receptive and productive)

• Reading, writing, listening and speaking as interconnected aspects of literacy

Required readings

• Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2021). How languages are learned (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. (Chapter 1)

• Machado, J. M. (2016). Early Childhood Experiences in Language Arts Early Literacy (11th ed.). Cengage Learning. (Section 1)

Week 2

Emergent literacy

• What is emergent literacy for English Language Learners? Emergent biliteracy? (linguistic and non-linguistic forms of communication- multimodal)

• Domains of language (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics)

Required readings

• Cregan, A. (2019). Promoting Oral Language Development in the Primary School. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (pages 2-6). https://ncca.ie/media/4677/promoting-oral-language-development-in-the-primary-school-1.pdf

Recommended readings

• Konishi, H., Kanero, J., Freeman, M.R., Michnick Golinkoff, R. & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2014). Six principles of language development: Implications for second language learners, Developmental Neuropsychology, 39(5), 404-420, https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2014.931961
• Machado, J. M. (2016) Early Childhood Experiences in Language Arts Early Literacy, 11th Edition. Cengage Learning. (Section 1).

Week 3

Literacy pedagogy 1- strategies and activities for diverse learners

• Phonological awareness
• Phonics
• Reading fluency
• Including sustainable development principles through play

Required readings

• Block, M.K. and Duke, N.K. (2015). Letter Names Can Cause Confusion and Other Things to Know About Letter–Sound Relationships. Young Children, March, 84-91.https://ga.dyslexiaida.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2022/11/Block-Duke-2015-Letter-Names.pdf

• Chookah, H. A., Agbenyega, J. S., Santos, I. M., & Habak, C. (2024). Play affordances of natural and non-natural materials in preschool children’s playful learning tasks. International Journal of Early Childhood, 56(3), 585-603.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-023-00348-z

Recommended readings

• Dillon, A. M., Hojeij, Z., Perkins, A., & Malkawi, R. (2020). Examining the text quality of English/Arabic dual language children’s picture books. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(8), 888-901. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1415867

• McMahon Giles, R. & Wellhousen Tunks, K. (2010) Children Write Their World: Environmental Print as a Teaching Tool. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 38(3), 23-30. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ945685
• Teaching practices for reading and viewing (education.vic.gov.au)

Week 4

Literacy pedagogy 2- strategies and activities

• Vocabulary and comprehension
• Emergent writing for ELLs

Required readings

• Mackenzie, N., & Veresov, N. (2013). How Drawing can Support Writing Acquisition: Text Construction in Early Writing from a Vygotskian Perspective. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 38(4), 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/183693911303800404

Recommended readings

• Worthy, J., Maloch, B., Pursley, B., Hungerford-Kresser, H., Hampton, A., Jordan, M. & Semingson, P. (2015). What Are the Rest of the Students Doing? Literacy Work Stations in Two First-Grade Classrooms. Language Arts, 92 (3), 173-186. https://doi.org/10.58680/la201526344

Week 5

Assessment of early literacy
(practical session on administering different types of literacy assessment tools??)

• Early identification of literacy-related learning disabilities (SLD’s)

• Early prevention and intervention

Required readings

• Concepts of print (education.vic.gov.au)

Week 6

Literacy across the ECE curriculum drawing on the arts

• Content and language-integrated learning (CLIL)

• Conceptual development through visual art, music, drama, math, and science, with a focus on Emirati values

• Literacy play centers (practical hands-on session)

Required readings

• Baker, F. S. (2018). Shaping pedagogical approaches to learning through play: A pathway to enriching culture and heritage in Abu Dhabi kindergartens. Early Child Development and Care, 188(2), 109-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1204833

• ‘What is CLIL ’with David Marsh.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wXRa_iVgqw (Part 1), 

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk31pi4C6Y4 (Part 2)

• Cinganotto, L., Benedetti, F. and Guida, M. (2019). Guidelines on CLIL Methodology. CLIL for STEAM (Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Recommended Readings

• Mardell, B., Ryan, J., Krechevsky, M., Baker, M., Schulz, S., & Constant, Y. L. (2023). A Pedagogy of Play. Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/PoP%20Book.pdf

Week 7

Individual factors influencing literacy development

• Supporting literacy development in the home environment

• Home-school connections

• Drawing on the full linguistic repertoire of the ELL within a translanguaging perspective

Required readings

• Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2021). How languages are learned (5th ed.), Oxford University Press. (Chapter 3)

• Machado, J. M. (.2016) Early Childhood Experiences in Language Arts Early Literacy (11th ed.). Cengage Learning. (Chapter 16)

Recommended readings

• Victoria Rodríguez, M. (2015). Families and Educators Supporting Bilingualism in Early Childhood. School Community Journal, 25(2), 177-194. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1085717.pdf

• Gallagher, K., & Bataineh, A. (2020). An investigation into the linguistic landscape of translingual storybooks for Arabic-English bilingual children. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 41(4), 348-367. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2019.1621326

Week 8

Balanced literacy vs. structured literacy pedagogy

• Promoting oral language as a basis for integrated language learning (listening comprehension, oral language vocabulary, speaking), reading, and writing
• Systematic and explicit phonics

Required readings

• Cregan, A. (2019). Promoting Oral Language Development in the Primary School. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (pages 24-39). https://ncca.ie/media/4677/promoting-oral-language-development-in-the-primary-school-1.pdf

• Setting Up the Balanced Literacy Classroom

Recommended readings

• Bowers, J. S. (2020). Reconsidering the evidence that systematic phonics is more effective than alternative methods of reading instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09515-y

• Buckingham, J. (2020). Systematic phonics instruction belongs in evidence-based reading programs: A response to Bowers. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 37(2), 105-113. https://doi.org/10.1017/edp.2020.12

Week 9

**GUEST PRESENTER

• Storytelling using the arts as a vehicle
• 2 week in-class project integrating music and movement, drama, and visual arts into storytelling with a focus on translanguaging.

Children’s literature emphasizing Emirati values and sustainability
Required readings

• Al Fahim, H. (2019). The Little Ghaf Tree. Makarem LLC. (in both English and Arabic)

• Ellis, G. and Brewster, J. (2014). Tell it Again! The Storytelling Handbook for Primary English Language Teachers. British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/pub_D467_Storytelling_handbook_FINAL_web.pdf

Recommended readings

• Rosen, M. (2016). We’re going on a bear hunt. Walker Books. 
• Carle, E. (1997). Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? Puffin.
• Maureen, I. Y., van der Meij, H., & de Jong, T. (2018). Supporting literacy and digital literacy development in early childhood education using storytelling activities. International Journal of Early Childhood, 50(3), 371-389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-018-0230-z

Week 10

2 week in-class project integrating music and movement, drama, and visual arts into storytelling with a focus on translanguaging.
Children’s literature emphasizing Emirati values and sustainability
Required readings

• Al Fahim, H. (2019). The Little Ghaf Tree. Makarem LLC. (in both English and Arabic)
• Ellis, G. and Brewster, J. (2014). Tell it Again! The Storytelling Handbook for Primary English Language Teachers. British Council.
• Rosen, M. (2016). We’re going on a bear hunt. Walker Books.
• Carle, E. (1997). Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? Puffin.

Recommended readings

• Al-Qaryouti, I. A., Ihmeideh, F. M., Al bustami, G. J., & Homidi, M. A. (2016). Evidence-based strategies to support children’s emergent literacy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 13(5), 545-562. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2015.1124038

Week 11

Integrating digital technologies and literacy in the early years

• The electronic language experience approach (eLEA)
• Multimodal literacy activities
• Digital text creation
• Digital storytelling

Required reading

• Oakley, G., Wildy, H., & Berman, Y. E. (2020). Multimodal digital text creation using tablets and open-ended creative apps to improve the literacy learning of children in early childhood classrooms. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 20(4), 655-679. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1468798418779171

Recommended readings

• Gillen, J., Marsh, J., Bus, J., Castro, T., Dardanou, M., Duncan, P., ... & Tafa, E. (2018). Digital Literacy and young children: towards better understandings of the benefits and challenges of digital technologies in homes and early years settings. https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/624237/
• Rahiem, M. D. (2021). Storytelling in early childhood education: Time to go digital. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 15(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-021-00081-x