Language and Literacy Development Flashcards

Dialogic reading differs from traditional read-alouds because it:

Answer: Actively involves children through structured questions and prompts during the reading

Dialogic reading uses the PEER and CROWD strategies to turn read-alouds into interactive dialogues where adults prompt children to engage actively with the text.

Which of the following BEST characterizes a print-rich classroom environment?

Answer: Including labeled areas, word walls, charts, and displayed samples of children's writing

A print-rich environment surrounds children with purposeful, meaningful print — labels, word walls, dictated stories, and children's own writing — reinforcing literacy concepts throughout the day.

Invented (developmental) spelling is considered valuable in early childhood classrooms because it:

Answer: Demonstrates children's growing phonemic awareness and understanding of letter-sound relationships

Invented spelling reveals the phonological knowledge children are actively constructing, and research shows it supports, rather than hinders, conventional literacy development.

Strong oral language development is critical to early literacy primarily because:

Answer: Oral language skills provide the foundation for reading comprehension and vocabulary growth

Vocabulary knowledge, grammar, and listening comprehension — all developed through oral language — directly predict and support a child's reading comprehension ability.

Which questioning technique during shared reading BEST promotes higher-order thinking?

Answer: 'Why do you think the character decided to do that?'

Questions that require inference, analysis, and evaluation — such as explaining character motivation — engage higher-order thinking and deepen comprehension far beyond literal recall.

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), as applied to literacy, suggests that:

Answer: Children benefit most from literacy instruction that is slightly beyond their current independent level with appropriate support

The ZPD is the gap between what a child can do independently and what they can do with skilled support, and effective literacy instruction targets this zone to maximize growth.

Which approach to early reading instruction emphasizes explicitly teaching the systematic relationship between letters and sounds?

Answer: Systematic phonics instruction

Systematic phonics instruction explicitly and sequentially teaches letter-sound correspondences and decoding strategies, giving children tools to read unfamiliar words.