Margaret H. Cooney

An investigation into teaching phonemic awareness through shared reading and writing

This study examined teaching phonemic awareness by embedding sound talk within meaningful literacy experiences of shared reading and writing. Small groups of 5 and 6-year-old children were seen three times a week for seven weeks. Four phonemic awareness tasks ‐ first and last sound identification, sound segmentation and deletion ‐ were targeted in each session, with scaffolding fitting task difficulty and individual child ability. Results showed that such naturalistic instruction lead to gains in phonemic awareness compared to a no-treatment control group for both the treatment group as a whole and for a subgroup of children with lower literacy levels. Treatment-specific improvement was evident in three of the four phonemic awareness tasks: first sound identification, last sound identification, and sound segmentation. Additional observations of language and literacy benefits for this emergent literacy approach were also identified. Phonemic awareness, or the awareness of the sound structure of words, is a metalinguistic skill important to the successful acquisition of reading and writing. Controlled studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of phonemic awareness training in individual and classroom situations for typically developing children and children with language impairments (for example, Ball & Blachman, 1991; Byrne & Fielding-Barnsley, 1991; Fox & Routh, 1975, 1983; Gillon, 2000; van Kleeck, Gillam, & McFadden, 1998). Training procedures have followed developmentally sequenced mastery of skills in contrived activities apart from reading and writing contexts. While there has been strong support for explicit, systematic instruction in phonemic awareness (NICHD, 2000), there has been little investi

Men in Early Childhood Education: Their Emergent Issues.

Using a focus group approach, this study explored emergent issues for men in early childhood education. Preservice teachers, classroom teachers, and male professors identified 6 categories of issues including low salaries, family, and other influences on entering the field, teaching beyond the basics, improving preservice education, recruitment of males, and advantages and disadvantages of males in the field. Implications of the study focus on ways to create gender-fair classrooms.

Is Play Important? Guatemalan Kindergartners' Classroom Experiences and Their Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions of Learning through Play.

Abstract Five-year-old children in two socioeconomic school settings were observed in Guatemala City. Their parents and teachers were surveyed about perceptions of learning through play. The difference between the actual classroom experience for Guatemalan kindergartners and the perceptions about what should be their experience, according to their parents and teachers, is presented thematically in this article. The three themes are pedagogy and environment, benefits of play, and image of childhood. The conclusion discusses reasons for the differences between the survey and observational data in the two socioeconomic school settings, as well as the rich opportunities in Guatemala for professional development leading to curriculum change.

Blurring the Lines of Play and Work to Create Blended Classroom Learning Experiences

Researchers exploring children’s perceptions of play in a prekindergarten and a K/1 classroom found a new category of classroom activities that combined elements of play and work. These blended learning activities were characterized by blurred lines between play and work, shared control of classroom activities, and spontaneity present in the learning experiences.

From Hitting and Tattling to Communication and Negotiation: The Young Child's Stages of Socialization.

The importance of supporting the young childs socialization process is presented from the perspecitive of a teacher educator/researcher, a parent, and a caregiver. The article describes four stages of socialization and offers recommendations for corresponding spacial needs, play levels, adults role, group size, and activities/materials for each stage.

Documentation Making Assessment Visible

Rendi, the speech/language therapist at the Green River Child Development Center, routinely observed her preschool children in their classroom settings. She recorded the data from these observation...

The University of Wyoming Early Childhood Summer Institute: A Model for Professional Development that Leads to Changes in Practice.

One of the greatest challenges we face as an early childhood professional community is providing short-term, affordable professional development that results in depth of understanding and change of practice. The University of Wyoming Early Childhood Summer Institute is a model for professional development that fosters reflection, inquiry, and change in beliefs and practice for early childhood practitioners. The 3-day Institute has an innovative structure and constructivist quality that allows for intense, authentic learning among participants. The research reported in this article supports this claim and clarifies key components of the model critical to the transfer of knowledge gained through the Institute to application in the workplace. In a 6-month follow-up study after the Institute, participants, Institute facilitators, and keynote speakers describe how the Institute has continued to influence their beliefs and practice over time. Exploring a Plum I had to do an observation of a child for a class that was part of the Institute, so I chose my grandson who was about 13 months at the time. I had planned on giving him some really cool blocks and things. Instead (it was right after I went to the Institute), I was sitting there eating a plum trying to figure out how to set things up and I looked up and he was watching me so intently that I decided to do my observation on that. I introduced him to his first plum and sat back and watched him explore and discover it. I watched him, I took pictures of him and put the story and pictures together. I could really see what they were talking about at the Institute … just stepping back and watching. (T. D. Participant 6).

Teachers as researchers: Classroom inquiry initiatives at undergraduate and graduate levels in early childhood education

Abstract This article discusses the importance of including a teacher‐as‐researcher strand in college courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. It describes four competency areas that contribute to the ability to engage in classroom inquiry including frequent and quality clinical experiences, practicing data collection methods of authentic assessment, opportunities to learn reflective practices, and experience using the inquiry cycle. Two undergraduate courses in early childhood education and a masters degree program in teaching & learning provide illustrations for embedding the teacher‐as‐researcher strand into the teacher education program. The article discusses the potential for classroom inquiry to stimulate renewal in university and public school settings.

Documenting children's learning activities: Advancing professional development in early childhood teacher education

Abstract This article describes how our early childhood education undergraduate certificate program incorporates documentation into the course content. We explain our rationale for choosing documentation as an entry point to learn about the Reggio Emilia approach and how documentation supports our program goals. Then we discuss the process we use to teach the documentation concept including the guidelines and rubrics we developed. The conclusion section presents a set of provocations that have emerged as we reflect on documentation as a form of professional development.