Early Literacy Development: Skill Growth and Relations between Classroom Variables for Preschool Children.

An Annotation by Andrea Wondra

This study suggests that children who are behind in early emergent literacy skills when starting kindergarten will remain behind and possibly be labeled as children with special needs during later years in school.  Areas addressed include phonological awareness (rhyming, alliteration), vocabulary, letter naming and word manipulation.  These early skills are related strongly to later skills in phonics and pre-reading skills.

This article is relevant to my research because it stresses the importance of pre-literacy skills when starting kindergarten.  I teach four-year-old kindergarten, and have an inclusive classroom of typically developing children and children with special needs.  I think intentional teaching for the development of rhyming skills will enhance literacy skills in the coming years of education.

This is a high quality resource because it is from the Journal of Early Intervention, which offers articles related to research and practice in early intervention for infants and young children with special needs and their families.

Missal, K. N., McConnell, S. R., & Cadigan, K. (2006). Early Literacy Development: Skill Growth and Relations between Classroom Variables for Preschool Children. Journal Of Early Intervention, 29(1), 1-21.