Teaching Language and Literacy: Preschool Through the Elementary Grades

How children acquire language and literacy knowledge in many different contexts―and how teachers can effectively promote the development of oral and written language―is the focus of this highly regarded resource. Readers get an authoritative look at how children acquire language and literacy in a variety of contexts and how teachers can effectively promote development in oral and written language.

Teaching Language and Literacy integrates a constructivist/emergent literacy perspective with scientifically-based instructional practices that are successful in supporting children’s reading, writing, listening and speaking development. This new edition features the work of a new author, Kathleen Roskos, and includes numerous up to date references, examples, and hands-on activities for putting theory into practice in today’s classrooms.

James Christie is a professor of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University, where he teaches courses in Family and Human Development. His research interests include early literacy development and children's play. Dr. Christie has co-authored Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy, 3rd ed. (2008) and Play, Development, and Early Education (2005). He has served as co-director of Early Reading First projects in San Luis and Somerton, AZ; Bullhead City, AZ; and Gallup, NM.

Billie Jean Enz is an emeritus professor of early childhood education at Arizona State University, where she taught and served as an administrator for 25 years.  She has co-authored several texts on mentorship and new teacher development and is the founder of the Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) program.   Her research interests include language and literacy development and family literacy. Dr. Enz has co-authored Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy, 4^th ed. (2011) and Assessing Preschool Literacy Development (International Reading Association, 2009). She also served as the founding executive director for Educare Arizona.

Carol Vukelich is the L. Sandra and Bruce L. Hammonds Professor in Teacher Education, Director of the Delaware Center for Teacher Education, and Deputy Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Delaware. Her research and teaching interests include children’s early literacy development and teachers’ professional development, specifically coaching strategies. Dr. Vukelich has served as President of the Association for Childhood Education International and the International Reading Association’s Literacy Development in Young Children Special Interest Group. She was a founder of the Delaware Writing Project, and serves as one of its co-directors. In addition to this book, other books by Dr. Vukelich include Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy, 3rd ed. (2012); Building a Foundation for Preschool Literacy: Effective Instruction for Children’s Reading and Writing Development, 2nd ed., (2009); and Achieving EXCELLENCE in Preschool Literacy Instruction (edited with Laura M. Justice, 2008). She has served as a co-director of three Early Reading First projects. 

Kathleen Roskos is a professor of educationat John Carroll University, where she teaches courses in reading assessment and instruction. Formerly an elementary classroom teacher, Dr. Roskos has served in a variety of educational roles, including director of federal programs in the public schools, department chair in higher education and Director of the Ohio Literacy Initiative at the Ohio Department of Education from 2000-2002. She has developed and coordinated numerous educational grants, most recently Early Reading First projects in Lorain, OH and Akron, OH. Dr. Roskos studies early literacy development, teacher learning and reading curriculum, and has published articles, chapters and books on these topics. Her current research examines the use of ebooks in early childhood literacy education. She was one of the lead writers of the 2010 Educator Professional Standards of the International Reading Association. Other recent books by Dr. Roskos include The Early Literacy Materials Selector (co-authored with Lisa Lenhart and Brandi Noll), Nurturing Knowledge (co-authored with Susan B. Neuman), and Designing Professional Development in Literacy (co-authored with Catherine Rosemary and Leslie Landreth).