Genisio, M., & Drecktrah, M. (1999). Emergent Literacy in an Early Childhood Classroom: Center Learning to Support the Child with Special Needs. Early Childhood Education Journal, 26(4), 225-231.
Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 26, No. 4, 1999
Emergent Literacy in an Early Childhood Classroom: Center
Learning to Support the Child with Special Needs
Margaret Genisio1,2 and Mary Drecktrah1
A child with special needs will flourish and benefit from an early childhood environment that
empowers learning. Center learning empowers a child to be actively engaged in self-directed learning
based on strength, ability, and interest. Center learning can enhance interactive language, story
response, art, reading and writing-like behavior, collaboration, buddy activity, and independence.
All of these empowering areas of development are strongly related to the child's emergent literacy
development. The variety of center learning experiences is limited only by the imagination; this article
provides a selection of start-up ideas for the early childhood educator.
INTRODUCTION
Choice, engagement, experimentation, risk taking,
opportunity to see and use print, and hear and use language,
are all closely linked early childhood education
components related to emergent literacy development in
the young child (Allen & Mason, 1989; Teale, 1986).
The child with special needs requires scaffolding crafted
to empower the child to progress towards personal literacy
fulfillment (Salinger, 1996).
Center learning is one way to offer a personally nurturing
and stimulating environment that scaffolds learning,
sometimes taking it beyond the classroom walls and
into the home.
The child with special needs is one who learns in
different ways and at different rates. Children ages 3 to 5
years with disabilities must be educated in the least
restrictive environment according to Public Law 99-457,
which means that today's classrooms will enhance learning
opportunity for all children (Wood, 1993).
Although many educators use the broad term of
developmental delays to categorize young children with
disabilities, we use particular categories with specific
1College of Education and Human Services, The University of
Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901.
2Correspondence should be directed to Margaret Genisio, Department
of Reading, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 800 Algoma
Boulevard, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901.
characteristics to help define the type of child for which
our suggestions would be suited. The following are areas
of special need (Tompkins, 1995, pp. 59-61), with a
range of suggestions for early childhood educators
(Ysseldyke & Algozzine, 1995). Center learning is one
positive, empowering option that can effectively address
the suggestions that follow:
Students with Specific Learning Disabilities
(Tompkins, 1995). These children are capable of learning,
but demonstrating significant problems in one or
more of the following areas: listening, speaking, reading
(reading-like activity), writing (writing-like activity).
Suggestions for Teachers of Students with Learning
Disabilities
• Help youngsters focus on important activities
• Use concrete examples when demonstrating new
ideas
• Provide more experiences for practice than necessary
for classmates
• Allow youngsters to progress at their own speed
• Modify activities to compensate for learning problems
Students with Mental Retardation (Tompkins,
1995). These children have below average intellectual
functioning, coupled with limitations in two or more of
the following areas: communicating, self-care, home living,
social skills, self-direction, health, safety, and play.
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KEY WORDS: emergent literacy; early childhood; special needs.
226 Genisio and Drecktrah
Suggestions for Teachers Working with Mental
Retardation
• Use varied and concrete examples when demonstrating
new ideas
• Break activities into smaller parts
• Provide more experiences for practice than necessary
for classmates
• Give corrective and supportive feedback more
often than for others
• Repeat teaching and experiences more often than
necessary than for peers
Students with behavior disorders (Tompkins, 1995):
these children exhibit frequent frustration and find it difficult
to communicate frustrations to another either verbally,
in art or in drama. The limited ability to communicate
may make this child feel uncomfortable at school.
Suggestions for Teachers of Students with Emotional
Disturbance
• Establish rules and consequences for behavior
with the youngsters
• Teach appropriate behaviors, modeling and practicing
often
• Praise and reward youngsters for appropriate
behaviors
• Be consistent with all youngsters
• Help youngsters monitor their own behavior
Students with language disorders (Tompkins,
1995): This area includes children with needs in listening
and speaking; the child finds difficulty in using language
to express ideas, interest, feelings or to engage in conversation,
descriptions, retelling or made up stories.
Suggestions for Teachers of Students with
Speech/Language Disabilities
• Encourage youngsters to talk to each other and
adults
• Provide good speech models
• Integrate language activities into all centers
• Value speech and language diversity
• Be aware of developmental language levels, use
areas of strength
Students who are gifted (Tompkins, 1995): These
children demonstrate the need for more challenge, are
able to engage in more advanced reading and writing
activities, can communicate ideas and stories and can
activate conversation at an advanced level.
Suggestions for Teachers of Students Who Are
Gifted and Talented
• Model higher-level thinking skills and creative
problem-solving
• Offer challenging activities in centers that generate
different types of thinking and solutions
• Encourage independent learning activities
• Provide advanced content through enrichment
activities
• Provide challenging instructional activities using
youngster's interest and preferences
Students who are visually impaired
Suggestions for Teachers of Students with Visual
Impairments
• Organize classroom so student knows where
things are
• Verbalize information along with pictures, videos
• Give students freedom to move close to areas of
interest and discussion
• Reduce distance between youngster and speaker
• Check that the youngster's glasses or other visual
aids are working correctly
SCAFFOLDING THE EXPERIENCE:
CRAFTING AN EMPOWERING
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Darlene Nugent, an early childhood educator,
described one parent's reaction to center learning:
Charlene frequently used baby talk and rarely conveyed
ideas or messages from school to home. She has been
enthusiastic about bringing home the class traveling
alphabet book in the special "ABC" tote bag. This is the
first time she has been able to tell us about her school
activity. In fact, she wants me to help her find print to
slip into each letter bag page in the binder. Last night
she completed two pages in the book. She placed a box
top from vanilla wafers in the "v" section, and an empty
package from hot chocolate in the "h" section. Later,
when I asked her to tell a story about the pages, she said
she has hot chocolate and vanilla cookies when she
comes home from school.
A center in the classroom that focuses on the alphabet
not only reinforces activity that is engaged in at home
between parent and child, but also extends this learning
into the classroom and perhaps back home once again.
An ABC Center, such as the one described below,
enhances this learning:
Emergent Literacy in an Early Childhood Classroom 227
ABC Center
Goal: To provide children with an opportunity to
interact with a variety of materials that depict letters of
the alphabet.
Number of Children: Four at one time.
Activity: In the alphabet center are magnetic alphabet
letters, both upper and lower case. These can be used
with individual magnetic trays, cookie sheets, or burner
covers purchased at variety store in sets of four. Children
experiment with letter combinations, copying words
from books. The center also contains letter picture cards,
alphabet stamps, jigsaw letter puzzles, and a traveling
alphabet book. A traveling alphabet book is a loose-leaf
binder, containing 26 clear plastic pockets, one for each
letter of the alphabet. Use an inexpensive supermarket
variety of an alphabet book that has been cut up, placing
each letter of the alphabet at the top of each page as a
guide. The book is sent home with a different child each
night. The child then inserts environmental print that
contains the featured letter of the alphabet within each
pocket. "Environmental print" is print that features
very familiar logos, such as "McDonalds." When the
book is brought back to class each child reads the logo
selection to the class, page by page.
Adaptation: A grabber that has a pincher on the end
of a stick that a child can operate offers a motorically
impaired child the opportunity to manipulate the letters
in this center. Another way to participate is to use a flashlight
to indicate which letters she/he wants a peer to
move to form a sequence. This provides an opportunity
for collaborative activity for all children. Wikki Stix are
colorful 6-inch lengths of bendable, wax-like strips similar
to pipe cleaners, that can be manipulated into letters
by all children, providing a different tactile experience.
Multisensory opportunities can encourage all students to
experiment with letter writing. Sugar or corn meal,
instead of sand for writing with their fingers, are environmentally
friendly to children with allergies or breathing
problems. Sandpaper letters and foam form letters
are other three-dimensional materials that may intrigue
children.
Nugent explained that Charlene's parent had been
provided with supporting directions to use as needed. A
main point of emphasis was to encourage Charlene's
efforts to tell what she planned to do with the alphabet
book she brought home. When Charlene was prompted
with key phrases and given time to remember what had
happened at school, she was able to tell her mother what
she planned to do. Phrases such as the following were
used to prompt Charlene: "This looks very interesting!
What will we do with this book? What could these pockets
be used for?" This language scaffolding was especially
prepared by the teacher for Charlene because she
had delayed language development.
"I give the children enrolled in my program time to
decide what they would like to do, and time to try it.
Center activity provides the backdrop for so much individual
learning," said Nugent. Nugent has 16 children
and 2 assistants in her Oshkosh, Wisconsin classroom.
When the children decide to spend time at a center they
are making a choice based on their interest at the time. I
encourage this. I want the children to enjoy themselves
as they activate personal learning. To help children's
experimentation and risk taking I suggest that they
rotate among my changing centers and explore each one
during free visit time. There is lots of opportunity for
experimentation and small group activity. Some of my
children have special needs or are developmentally
delayed. I closely observe to make sure they benefit
from the center time and can actively enjoy participating
with their peers. Enhancing the emerging literacy of
each child is the major goal of the center activity. I keep
each child's strengths and needs in mind as I use center
learning to promote literacy development.
What Nugent is stressing is based on sound educational
principles. She creates a nurturing and safe environment
by leading children through enjoyable activities
in language-based centers, and then encourages movement,
choice-making, and experimentation. This activity,
coupled with language interaction and negotiation, cooperative
learning, socialization, book handling, and reading-
and writing-like activity, form core basics in the
development of sound emergent literacy (Butler & Clay,
1979; Salinger, 1996; Teale, 1982).
EMERGENT LITERACY
Early childhood classroom environments that provide
the child with authentic opportunity to become
engaged in learning by listening, talking, reading, writing,
and playing, nurture emerging literacy. The term
emergent literacy (Clay, 1966) acknowledges children's
natural growth and awareness of print in the environment.
Literacy development is an ongoing, cumulative
activity. This means that the child becomes acquainted
with literacy in personally satisfying ways, building on
what is learned as time passes. We know that the early
childhood child in a literacy-rich home environment
acquires a lot of personally satisfying and useful information
about literacy through natural learning (Butler &
Clay, 1979).
Pretending to write a letter to a friend, telling a story
that is similar to one heard while holding the book and
228 Genisio and Drecktrah
turning pages, talking to stuffed animals, and engaging in
dramatic play are all literacy-related activities that begin
first as home-based endeavors for most children.
Observing parents and caregivers as they perform everyday
literacy-related activities, such as reading the newspapers,
or writing out a grocery list, contributes to the
child's natural learning about literacy.
Some children with special needs or disabilities
may not have had a literature-rich home environment.
The early childhood classroom may be their first
encounter with rhyming chants, dramatic play, telling
stories, or being read to in a nurturing environment. This
background presents a particular challenge to the early
childhood professional. Scaffolding and modeling techniques
used with center learning strengthen the opportunity
for learning success.
SCAFFOLDING AND MODELING FOR
THE YOUNG CHILD
Verbal interaction between teacher and child that
helps the child to solve a problem, carry out a task or
achieve a goal beyond efforts that are unassisted is
referred to as scaffolding (Applebee & Langer, 1983).
Talking about the way the Reading Center is used, and
then providing the child with an opportunity to use the
Center, is strong verbal scaffolding.
Modeling an activity at the same time scaffolding is
provided further enhances the learning opportunity.
Modeling involves physical demonstration, showing the
child what needs to occur, while demonstrating the activity
for the child. For example, if the activity involves
using a pointer to "Read the Room," the teacher demonstrates
holding the pointer, drawing it under words and
pictures in the room (modeling), while telling the child
I am going to start reading the room at the door. Even
though I may not be able to read like mom, dad or the
teacher, I can do kid reading, and I can say what I think
words are. The first thing I see is Susan's picture with
her name, "Susan" on it. When I use the pointer I hold
it at this end, and I can put the other end under the word
"Susan," and read it. When I come to words I cannot
read, I can say what I remember about them, until I have
read the room from here where I am standing at the
door.
A verbal framework and a physical demonstration
have been modeled and scaffolded, providing the child
with positive motivation to continue exploring literacyrelated
activity. For some children, the teacher may have
to lead them through the activity. The teacher may have
to help guide the pointer so words are not skipped, verbally
prompting the child with words.
CENTER LEARNING: ADAPTATIONS
TO ENHANCE EMERGENT LITERACY
Learning environments, such as the Center, enhance
opportunities to grow in emerging literacy and to interactively
use the communicative arts of speaking, listening,
reading, and writing. Centers are exciting learning
environments for the child. At once small groups of
friends gather to meet to share in an activity that has
become familiar through modeling and scaffolding. Yet,
there are some unresolved mysteries, choices, and a little
risk available for the child to consider. Here, the child
can anticipate success. Perhaps there are artifacts at the
center that are so intriguing that she/he wants to carry
learning beyond the classroom, sharing it with a parent or
sibling, as was the case with Charlene and the ABC tote