ACE3

Professional development modules for teachers working with ESL preschool students 

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Arizona centers for excellence in early education is a collection of 60+ video clips from a large scale early reading first project serving preschoolers in the border area of Yuma, Arizona. The video clip show preschool teachers using science-based instructional strategies to teach core pre-reading skills to English language learners: alphabet knowledge, concepts about print, oral language and comprehension, and phonological awareness.

Alphabet knowledge refers to the ability to identify and name the letters of the alphabet. When children begin to learn the names of the letters of the alphabet, this makes print more salient and accessible. Once they learn to identify letters and begin to develop phonological awareness, children can start to grasp the alphabetic principle that letters represent the sounds in words.

Concepts about print refer to knowledge the children gain about identity, functions, structure, and rules of written language. One of the earliest discoveries the children make about written language is the distinction between print and pictures. Once prints identity has been established, children begin to learn that print has meaning and can be used to get things done in daily life.

Children's oral language development lays the foundation for learning to read and write. Vocabulary, which refers to children's knowledge of the word meanings, has an especially important role reading acquisition. Research has shown that the size of the children's vocabulary at age 3 is strongly associated with the reading comprehension at the end of the third grade. Researchers also shown the direct instruction on comprehension strategies, such as predicting and summarizing, helps boost reading achievement.

Phonological awareness refers to the awareness of the sound structure of the English language. Research has clearly established the children's phonological awareness and kindergarten is a very strong predictor of later achievement in reading.