1. Stage I Listening Teachers must monitor children’s receptive language Hearing and listening are different! Listening is a valuable academic and social skill Listening can be learned Teachers should use songs, chants, poems, and rhymes to promote phonemic awareness Teachers should use descriptive language and information talk to increase children’s vocabulary Adults must model listening © Linda Ruhmann and Cathy McAuliffe, Child Development Department, San Antonio College

2. Stage II Speaking Speech should be included in daily routines Speaking well is a valuable academic and social skill Adults should model appropriate speech Sociodramatic play encourages speech Adults should create a climate in which children are comfortable speaking In order to learn to speak well, children must have many opportunities to speak Using a variety of questions encourages speech © Linda Ruhmann and Cathy McAuliffe, Child Development Department, San Antonio College

3. Stage III Reading Children must perceive reading as: Functional Purposeful Meaningful Teachers must help children to become hooked on books through book-rich environments and motivating read-alouds Teachers must use a variety of strategies to promote reading comprehension Teachers provide Children with Individualized Information on decoding Teachers must purposefully expand children’s knowledge about print © Linda Ruhmann and Cathy McAuliffe, Child Development Department, San Antonio College

4. Stage IV Writing Social and physical environment Materials Time Space Requires both physical and cognitive development Spelling is a developmental process Composition is a process Children's stages of writing are similar to their stages of drawing Reading and writing are inter-related Modeling Encouragement Support © Linda Ruhmann and Cathy McAuliffe, Child Development Department, San Antonio College