Language Development
As the foundation of literacy and all learning (and social
competence), language development is crucial, particularly
academic language. Children’s language expands considerably
as they engage with texts and learn to discuss and communicate
their ideas and questions about texts, experiences, and
concepts. Language development is a high priority in
kindergarten.
In kindergarten, teachers do the following to support
language development, including the acquisition of academic
language:
- Use sophisticated, but not excessively challenging,
language in meaningful interactions with children. For
example, when greeting children in the morning, they say,
“It’s a spectacular morning, isn’t it?” When providing direction on how to fold a piece of paper,
they say, “Make a vertical fold,” instead of “Fold it hot dog style.” - Read aloud daily from a broad range of literary and informational texts, including those that
are related to content area curricula and those that reflect children’s interests. Some texts are
selected because they promote thinking and reflection and model rich language, and some
are selected because, after several readings, they can be retold by children when holding the
book or using props as memory aids. Some texts, such as poems or pattern books, are selected
because they allow children to practice the rhythm, tempo, and pauses of English as they read
along with their teacher. - Discuss language, including the interesting words, sentence constructions, and more extended
discourse structures in read aloud texts, thus building language awareness. - Provide ample time for children to interact in both teacher-directed and child-centered contexts
about texts, investigations, discoveries, and other learning experiences throughout the day. - Provide independent time in intellectually stimulating centers of children’s choice that encourage
language exchanges, such as hands-on science and art exploration centers. - Facilitate children’s collaboration in joint projects, such as organizing a center together for
future use by peers or working together to draw a map of the classroom. - Engage children in guided and self-directed
sociodramatic play, providing simple props, offering
occasional prompts to extend their language, and
modeling the use of puppets to retell or create stories. - Engage children in interesting learning experiences that
evoke questions and expressions of wonder. - Engage in multiple exchanges with individual children
daily, using decontextualized language (that is,
language focused on issues beyond the here and now). - Engage children in conversations about text, asking
high-level, text-dependent questions that elicit rather
than limit language. See figure 3.22.
Children’s language expands
considerably as they engage
with texts and learn to discuss
and communicate their ideas
and questions about texts,
experiences, and concepts.
Language development is a
high priority in kindergarten.Kindergarten Chapter 3 | 205