Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 This discussion should help you:
Unpacking ‘High Quality’:
Key Components of Everyday Contexts
that Support Early Learning
I. 
II. 
Communication and Language
Pre- and Early-Literacy
I-LABS
Aug 11, 2011
Starting Strong P-3 Conference, Spokane WA
Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP
Director of Translation, Outreach & Education (TOE)
lovetalkplay .org
zerotothree .org
developingchild .net
washington.edu /
earlychildhood
Tomas, age 7, is on a good track to reading if he can:
•  Articulate the importance and continuity of how experiences
in the first three years of life relate to academic learning
•  Learn specific research findings that are foundational to
children’s language and literacy development
•  Generate ideas on how research-based principles can
enhance your own everyday interactions with children
•  Identify ways in which social interaction, play,
language and literacy are related in young children
•  RELATIONSHIPS
•  Early Attachment: warmth, responsiveness, consistency
•  Social-emotional development & Infant Mental Health
•  COMMUNICATION
•  Non-verbal: turn-taking, joint attention, gaze following, gesture, imitation
•  Self-awareness, self-regulation, thinking reflected through play
•  LANGUAGE
•  Vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, narrative skills, pronunciation
•  Abstract concepts, relating language to experience
•  PRE-LITERACY
•  Sound & print awareness; familiarity with books & stories
•  Home & community literacy practices & routines
“Normal” is a Big Range!
Large Variability Exists in Every Aspect of Development
•  Use a sizable vocabulary
•  Match familiar written and spoken words
•  Identify segments within words like syllables,
onsets, rimes, and phonemes (individual sounds)
•  Pronounce most of the words he encounters
in children’s books
How does he get there?
Biology + Experience
What factors and experiences promote these skills?
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP 1 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Back To Basics: Relationships
‘High Quality Input & Interaction’
Language is a form of goal-directed,
or intentional behavior.
Language is used to have certain
effects on listeners.
Without healthy relationships,
communication suffers.
Glen Cooper, Kent Hoffman, Bert Powell, Robert Marvin
Infant perception of /ra/-/la/
100
% Correct
90
American
Infants
80
70
Japanese
Infants
60
50
0
6-8 months
Kuhl, 2004
Sensitivity to Speech at 7.5 months
Predicts Language Growth to 2 Years
Infant
Better Native perception
Werker & Tees, 1984; Kuhl et al., 2006
What makes good brain fertilizer?
Toddler
à
Better Non-native perception
10-12 months
Why
Who
Bigger Vocabulary
à
Smaller Vocabulary
Where
Differences of up to 400 words
Efficient “neural tuning” is associated
with more efficient learning
Kuhl et al., 2005, 2008
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP Input +
Interaction
How
How
Much
When
What
2 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Who Says It
9-month-old Seattle infants
Naturalistic Mandarin Chinese exposure (play & books)
12 sessions, 25 minutes each. Tested on Mandarin sound.
Live vs DVD/CD:
What we say
•  Infants track repetitions and patterns of input
•  7-month-olds could picked out words more
easily when they heard long sentences plus a
single word, compared to just a sentence
•  Redundancy helps
‘See the tiger right there? Tiger!’
vs.
‘See the tiger right there!’
Kuhl, Liu, Tsao, 2003
Only Live Exposure Showed Learning
Lew-Williams & Saffran, 2011
How we say it
When We Say It
• 
Timing of verbal and non-verbal responses is
critical.
• 
When caregivers respond to babble through talk
and/or touch, babies babble more than if talk and
touch are given at random intervals.
•  When caregivers label an object when the babble occurs, this facilitates wordobject associations in infants
•  This association is the foundation for learning word meanings
•  Label the current object or action itself, not based on how the babble sounds:
Interpret ‘do-bee’ as ‘bottle’ not ‘doggie’ at feeding time
Liu & Kuhl, 2003
Goldstein et al, 2010
How Much We Say
Words Per Hour Heard
‘30 million word gap’
by Kindergarten.
*Groups are reversed when it comes to amount of ‘directives’
MOM: There we go, one slipper on…
JIM: I see a bird!
MOM: A what, love?
JIM: See a bird.
MOM: (whispering) Is there? Outside?
JIM: (pointing, whispering). Yes, see…
MOM: Is he eating anything?
JIM: No
MOM: Where? Oh yes, he’s getting –
do you know what he’s doing?
JIM: No
MOM: He’s going to the paper sack to
try to pick out some pieces – Oh,
he’s got food! I think he’ll pick out
some pieces of thread from the
sack to go and make his nest
under the roof, Jim. Let’s see if…
[Bird Flies Away]
MOM: Put it up on the stove and
leave it there.
RAE: Why?
MOM: ‘cause.
RAE: That’s where it goes?
MOM: Yeah.
Discourse shapes children’s
consciousness, providing a
map of how to navigate
reality. By 3-4 years, these
two children have established
different ways of learning, or
interacting, of solving
problems - different mental
dispositions. This is how the
parents’ culture is continued.
Hasan (2002)
Hart & Risley, 1995
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP 3 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Why we say it
Children develop richer
vocabularies when caregivers…
• 
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• 
Talk A LOT
Share more information
Ask more open-ended questions
Issued fewer commands
Offered more choices
Were more responsive
Engaged children in playful conversation
Used more rare or unusual words
‘Talk That Teaches’
• 
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Responsive to child
Imaginative, often silly
Open-ended
Encouraging but genuine
(‘I know what you mean!’)
Offers choices
Asks and explores questions
More complex sentences
More adjectives & rhymes
Richer vocabulary
Engages both partners
Past, future, what if
‘Teacher That Talks’
• 
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Adult-initiated
Serious
Goal-oriented (‘testing’)
Few or ‘fake’ affirmations
(‘good talking!’)
Directive
Statements and commands
Short and to the point
Prose
Simple, concrete vocabulary
One-sided ‘conversation’
Here and now
Betty Bardgie, Ed.D., A Wealth of Words
Gaze points to informational ‘hot spots’ for learning
Where We Look
•  Infants are sensitive to eye-gaze as a signal
of what someone is interested in. (by 4 mos)
•  They follow eye-gaze to share attention
on an object or event.
•  Toddlers use eye-gaze and pointing as
signals for what is being referred to.
10-month-olds who follow gaze and look longer
at target objects have significantly faster
vocabulary growth at 2 years compared to
infants who followed gaze less, even after
taking maternal education into account.
•  Joint-attention leads to learning words.
Brooks & Meltzoff, 2008
Gaze +
Gesture + Vocalizations
Gesture is a Stepping
Stone to Language
Social
# Words Produced
Long Lookers + Points
Short Lookers + Points
Long Lookers + No Points
“Average” for all kids
Short Lookers + No Points
Play
Cognition
Gesture
Language
Brooks & Meltzoff, 2008
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP 4 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Name the color of the ink
Cognitive Control
Activate desired response +
Inhibit dominant response
Prefrontal Cortex:
Anterior Cingulate
(also empathy)
Self Regulation
Attention Modulation
Self-monitoring, control, restraint
Planning for consequences
Stroop, 1935
Simon Task
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP Day-Night Task
5 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Rachel’s center has…
Why Study ‘Cognitive Control’
•  Bilinguals are better (adults, kids)
•  Experts in ‘switching,’ verbal and non-verbal
•  Helps buffer risk factors (monolingual)
•  Higher performance = strong resiliency later on
•  Can early measures of cognitive control predict
school readiness?
e.g., Meltzoff & Carlson, 2008; Bialystock et al.
e.g., Lengua & Trancik, 2008
Changing Classroom Conversations:
Narrowing the Gap Between Potential and Reality
‘There is a heightened awareness of the role of language as a driving force of
intellectual development. This runs counter to more traditional Piagetian views
of the child as a solitary ‘scientist’ who builds concepts of the world through
observation and individual experimentation. Many ECE were trained through
Piagetian lenses, and many curricula are based on these views.’
Lots of:
But still working on:
•  Books
•  Group activities
•  Interest centers with
varied themes
•  Labels
•  Pretend play materials
•  Music
•  Letter-naming activities
•  Quizzing
•  Teaching simple
concepts
•  Dialogues during reading
•  Small group conversations
•  Integration of experiences +
reading + writing
•  Personally meaningful print
•  Adults doing pretend play
•  Word play beyond rhymes
•  Story-telling
•  Genuine questioning
•  Extended exploration and
information sharing
Four Strategies to Build
Interactive Communication
1.  Be Responsive
•  Accept child’s actions or sounds as meaningful
•  Learn what is meaningful for that child
•  Respond to what the child is doing at that moment
•  Respond more to the behaviors you want more of
•  Translate sounds and actions into words
2.  Be Matched
•  Act & talk in ways that child can
•  Show the child the next developmental step to try
•  Expect behaviors that are possible for the child
•  Join the child’s world first
•  Use new words about things the child talks about
Handbook of Child Development & Early Education: Research to Practice (2009)
3.  Be Balanced and Share Control
•  Do as much as the child during play
•  Let the child lead half the time
•  Extend turn-taking exchanges for one more turn
•  Make the interaction more playful than task-oriented
•  Make commands and questions each <25% of your talk
•  Do or say one thing and wait for the child’s response
4.  Be Emotionally Playful
•  Be more interesting than the distractions
•  Ensure the child’s success
•  Find what make the child belly-laugh
•  Laugh and smile authentically yourself
•  Do the unexpected
•  Avoid making talking a test for the child
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP J. MacDonald, Communicating Partners
Early Learning as an Investment
•  ‘Intervention’
model
•  Costly
Basic Learning
Mechanisms
Informed
Practices
•  Earlier
identification
of risk factors
•  ‘Prevention’
model
•  Efficient
Level Playing
Field
6 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 ‘Interaction Rules’
to Foster Language
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• 
National Early Literacy Panel
2009 Report
(Available Online)
OWL: Observe. Wait. Listen.
Match: Do what she does
Balance: Take only ONE turn at a time
Respond: Follow child’s lead
Expand: child’s stage +1; Model next step
Comment: 3 for every 1 ‘directive’ or ‘wh’ Q
Get down: Eye-to-eye
Reflect: Wonder what your effect is
Have fun: For real
Michael Tomasello, Dorothy Bishop, James Macdonald, Stanly Greenspan, Marc Bornstein…
To have strong learners, we need to provide
environments where P-3ers are most likely to:
Have healthy relationships:
Follow conversation ‘rules:’
Use safe & secure base to explore and
learn from the world
Stay on topic
Introduce and provide adequate
information for listeners
Strong attachment to important people
in their life
Self-regulate social-emotional
responses
Take appropriate conversation
or play turns
To have strong learners, we need to provide an
environment where P-3ers are most likely to:
Use a large vocabulary:
In interactions directed at them
Hear a wide diversity of words
Learn words they can imitate
Engage
Be Engaged
Can use play to represent
experiences:
Connect different formats:
Gestured, pictured, written and
experienced concepts
Effectively use many
functions:
Follow social cues:
Multi-step sequences in play
Sensitive to eye gaze, gesture and
body language of others
Pretend & symbolic play
Understand intentions of others
Lead and be followed:
Explore with positive
consequence
Use many forms of play
To request, refuse, comment,
inquire, explain, get needs met,
get attention, express emotion
CONTINUUM OF LANGUAGE AND LITERACY SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Oral Language (receptive and expressive)
Vocabulary
Concepts of Print
Comprehension (read aloud)
Alphabet Knowledge
Phonological Awareness
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Comprehension (independent reading)
Fluency
Writing
Content Knowledge / Life Experience
Scarborough, H.S., in Neuman & Dickinson (2001) Handbook of Early Literacy Research
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP 3
4
5
6
Age (years)
7
8
Wasik & Newman, 2009
7 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Predicting the Predictors
Infant
Toddler
Phonetic
Perception
•  Knowledge of and skills in reading and writing
obtained prior to conventional literacy
•  Provides a foundation for higher-level literacy
Preschooler
Early
Vocabulary
& Grammar
Receptive &
Expressive
Language
Phonological
Awareness
Emergent Literacy is Part of a Continuum
Early
Literacy
Emergent
Literacy
Emergent/Early
Reading
Skill
Conventional
Literacy
•  Learning
to read:
Decoding
•  Learning
about
print and
sound
•  Reading to
learn:
Comprehension
Lebedeva, 2010
4 years à 4th Grade*
Stronger vocabulary, decoding and reading comprehension in
4th grade was related to these characteristics at age 4 years:
–  Conversations with teachers included more sophisticated words
Around 4-5 years for typical
children reared in print-rich
homes
From Birth à K transition
Timing established by
biology + experience
(‘nature + nurture’)
–  Teachers’ use of sophisticated words resulted in children’s use of more
sophisticated words
Emergent
Literacy Period
–  During free play conversations, teachers extended topics by asking
children to clarify or explain their thoughts
–  During group times, teachers kept children involved by non-punitive
efforts to focus (e.g., by calling their names)
–  During book reading, teachers engaged children in discussion to
analyze the story, relate it to their own experience, and to discuss the
meaning of words
Current Emphasis:
Many Indicators,
K-Readiness
Preventing academic &
reading difficulties
well-established evidence
base
*Even after taking into account language skill at age 3, family education and income,
and amount of literacy support in preschool (Dickinson & Porche, 2011, Child Development)
What are some indicators of
emergent literacy development?
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Listening to stories
Knowing which part of the page has printed words
Knowing which way to hold the book and turn pages
Producing fictional narratives, Acting out stories
Recognizing which things are shapes, which are letters
Recognizing and writing one’s name
Pretending to write
Pretend reading from favorite books
Identifying major elements of a book (characters, author, title)
Naming words in the pictures
Reciting all the letters
Knowing some letter-sound correspondences
Detecting rhymes, knowing nursery rhymes
Identifying alliteration (when words start with the same sound)
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP Generally grouped into 5 key areas
that strongly predict later
conventional literacy skills
Oral language
•  Listening to stories, making narratives
•  Vocabulary, grammar, social use
Emergent Writing
•  Writing one’s own name
•  Pretend writing (‘meaningful scribble’)
Print Knowledge
•  Pretend reading from favorite books
•  Identifying which are letters vs shapes
Alphabet Knowledge
Phonological
Awareness
•  Knowing names of letters
•  Knowing some sound-letter correspondence
•  Detecting rhymes
•  Detecting sub-parts of words
8 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Phonological Awareness
•  Ability to abstractly manipulate the sounds within
speech, independent of meaning: Sound Play
•  Larger Segments:
–  Words as units of phrases and sentences
–  Syllables as units of multi-syllable words
•  Smaller Segments:
–  Sounds within a syllable
–  Phonemes: initial, middle & final sounds
–  Also called phonemic awareness
More words = more sounds =
easier to be aware of sounds
happy
neat
frog
might
clean
opposites
loose
see
market
sight
rat
seen
Phonological Awareness
•  Word Awareness: Clap for each word with me
•  Syllable Awareness: Clap with me for each part of the
word /wa ter/
•  Rhyming: What word rhymes with Cat?
•  Blending Syllables and sounds: What word is d – o – g?
•  Syllable splitting: ‘cup’ starts with /k/ and ends with /up/
•  Phoneme segmentation: What are the sounds in ‘sit’
•  Oddity: What word doesn’t belong with the others – cat,
mat, bat, run
•  Phoneme deletion: What is ‘cat’ without the /k/ sound?
•  Phoneme manipulation: What would ‘cat’ be if you
changed the /t/ to /n/?
5 yr Phonological Awareness Tasks
Level
Measure
Sample Task
Basic
Rhyming
Do ‘man’ and ‘pan’ rhyme?
What rhymes with ‘tickle?’
Moderate
Sentence
Segmentation
Clap one time for each word in ‘I like pizza’
Syllable
Segmentation
Clap one time for each syllable in ‘watermelon’
Elision
Say ‘spider’ without ‘der’
‘milk’ without /k/
Blending
‘ham-mer’ makes?
‘p-e-n-c-i-l’ makes?
Matching
Which one starts/ends with the same sound as ‘pan?’
Non-word
Repetition
Repeat ‘ver-bug-lee-mush’
fat
make
container
computer
bank
throw
bark
Jan
lark
Jump, jumped
Advanced
Phon.
Working
Mem.
Home Literacy
Environment
Book Sharing Helps
Level the Playing Field
Strong Link to Reading Readiness
More than 3 “less favorable”
home literacy factors
Lower pre-literacy score
(-1SD)
Less than
daily book
sharing
with child
Child’s
infrequent
interest in
books
Rare trips
to libraries
Regardless of
phonetic sensitivity
or vocabulary
Few
appropriate
books at
home
Rare
observing
parents
reading for
pleasure
Lebedeva, Bhagat, Raizada & Kuhl, 2009; Hoff-Ginsburg; Huttenlocher
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP 9 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 How many verbs in your sentences?
Sentence complexity
of parent input is
related child’s brain
development in
language regions
(5-year-olds)
Reading to children
exposes them to
particularly rich
language.
“It could be that children’s processing efficiency is facilitated
by more dense or more complex talk because those
experiences provide extensive practice with interpreting
language in challenging contexts.
Or perhaps children benefit from richer talk because it
provides more robust and reliable links between language
and meaningful aspects of the world.
These experiences could lead to accelerated growth in
vocabulary and grammar as well as to further advances in
processing efficiency and working memory capacity.”
Lebedeva, Bhagat, Raizada & Kuhl (2010)
(Marchman & Fernald, 2008, pg. F15)
Broca’s Area:
Speech, Syntax, Reading
Zero to Three Dot Org
www.zerotothree.org/BrainWonders
www.zerotothree.org/BrainWonders
Model Reading and Writing
• 
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as something adults do
for work and pleasure
in many ways, for many purposes
for children to imitate in pretend play
www.zerotothree.org/BrainWonders
Building Literacy With Love – B. B
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP 10 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Engage Children
Use Silly Songs and Movement Games
Follow the child’s lead.
Comment – and wait up to 5
seconds.
Ask a question – and wait up to 5
seconds.
Respond by adding information –
and wait up to 5 seconds.
• 
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to accompany and enhance routines
to encourage wordplay and creativity
to teach concepts such as opposites
to extend vocabulary
Bump,
jump, jiggly jump.
Bump -ety,
Bump,
jump,
Bump -ety,
Tune into Sounds
• 
• 
• 
• 
listen to sounds in the environment
highlight key words and word parts
encourage wordplay
play listening and memory games
Pitter, patter
Pitter, patter
Pitter, patter
Pit
The rain that pounds
My window pane
Puts polka dots on
It.
What We Know
§  Hamsters have tails
and fur.
§  Hamsters eat seeds,
bugs, and hamster
food.
§  Hamsters can run
fast.
§  Hamsters are
mammals.
§  Hamsters hide food
in their cages and in
their cheek pouches.
Pitter, patter
Pitter, patter
Pitter, patter
Pat
The rain taps
My umbrella drum
Just like
That
What We Want to Know
§  Where do wild
hamsters live?
§  What do wild
hamsters eat?
§  Can pet hamsters
get sick?
§  What do baby
hamsters look like?
§  Why do hamsters
bury food?
jump-ety, bump, bump.
jump-ety, jump
Share Informative Talk
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
talk about the past and the future
create fantasy worlds together
use specific, descriptive language
introduce unusual words
ask and encourage open-ended
questions
•  explore children’s interests in depth
Get Involved in Pretend Play
•  set up the
environment
•  take on a role
•  expand ideas
•  help children
participate
Wait, watch, and wonder –
then find a way to enter.
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP 11 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Encourage Children’s
Conversations
•  in home language and English
•  pair children for support and
modeling
•  set the stage
•  provide interesting
things to talk about
Create a Print-Rich Environment
•  convey messages
•  with signs, logos,
words, and icons
•  on walls, toys,
storage bins
•  let children play with
many forms of print
Use Words to Solve
Problems
•  help children “use their words”
•  talk through steps
•  encourage collaboration and
negotiation
•  scaffold children’s reasoning
•  discuss steps and rules within an
activity (see ‘cognitive flexibility’)
Partner with Parents
•  Support home
language
•  Bring family stories
and funds of
knowledge into the
classroom
•  Build a community
that celebrates
reading
Unit Planning Exercise
Share Family Stories
•  “what’s happening” at home and
school
•  photo displays and scrapbooks
•  special songs and rhymes
•  artifacts that reflect cultural heritage
•  visits, field trips, and special events
•  pretend play environments and
imaginary friends
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP q How will you share the book with children?
q What do you think will intrigue the children?
What opportunities might you seize for making
connections, asking cognitively challenging
questions, and extending vocabulary?
q How will the classroom change, especially the
pretend play and block areas?
q What projects will children engage in? How will
they incorporate reading, writing, drawing,
maps, or graphs?
q How will you involve parents?
12 Star%ng Strong P-­‐3 Ins%tute, Spokane, 2011 Every Child Ready To Read:
www.everychildreadytoread.org/
Literacy Information & Communication System
(LINCS)
http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/publications.html
Preschool Language & Literacy Research:
Dr. Laura Justice:
http://preschoollab.osu.edu/people/
First Words Project:
http://firstwords.fsu.edu/
Build a Lending Library for Your Families!
Resources for Inspiration & Vast Information
National Early Childhood Transition Center
http://www.hdi.uky.edu/SF/NECTC/Home.aspx
Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/
Children of the Code: http://www.childrenofthecode.org/library/refs/index.htm
I-LABS and Thrive will have featured roles,
representing Early Learning and WA. Tune In!
Gratefully acknowledging our partners,
collaborators, colleagues, and supporters
•  NSF Science of Learning Center grant
to the University of Washington’s LIFE Center
•  The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
•  The Hsin-Yi Foundation
•  The McDonnell Foundation
•  The Human Frontiers Science Program
•  Cure Autism Now
© UW Ins%tute for Learning & Brain Sciences ilabs.washington.edu Gina Lebedeva, PhD, SLP Tax-Deductable Contributions:
ilabs.washington.edu
13