PURPOSE OF CONFERENCE
The Planned Language Approach is a systematic, program-wide approach to language and literacy development for ALL children. It is comprehensive, intentional, research based approach for children birth to age 5. It is targeted on key areas of learning that research shows support school success among children living in poverty.
It IS a way to organize and support QUALITY TEACHING, comprehensive, and a holistic approach for teachers. It IS NOT a curriculum and it is NOT just for dual language learners. It is a cohesive, program-wide approach that connects content knowledge, decision making, and practices across the program level and the classroom level.
Participants are asked to bring the following materials:
This training is to be experienced by a grantee team of 4-5 people that consists of a Decision Maker, Education Manager or related position, PFCE Manager or related positions and Other: Parent, Teacher, etc.
The event will be limited to 50 participants.
The Planned Language Approach
Strong language and literacy skills at Kindergarten entry are key predictors of school success. Therefore, it is essential that Early Head Start and Head Start programs redouble their efforts to ensure that ALL children, English speakers and Dual Language Learners (DLLs), leave HS with deep knowledge in these essential skills. This is of particular importance since children under that age of five who live in a home in which at least one adult speaks a language (i.e. children who are DLLs) are the largest growing population in the United States!
The Planned Language Approach (PLA) is a comprehensive, research-based process designed to ensure that all children receive the highest quality teaching and learning experiences. Early/Head Start grantees will learn how to develop and implement a comprehensive system to support Dual Language Learners, and children who speak English, and to boost their existing instructional and systemic practices. The curriculum considers 5 key inter-related program practices and systems:
*Key research findings about what EHS/HS children need to learn by kindergarten
* Key instructional practices known to promote language and literacy progress i.e.the “Big Five” (Background Knowledge, Oral Language and Vocabulary, Book Knowledge and Print, Alphabet Knowledge and Early Writing, and Phonological Awareness)
*Ongoing, intentional support for children’s continued progress in their home language/s
* Key systems that are part of assuring that ALL children make optimal progress toward closing the achievement gap, (e.g. Teacher hiring, training, and retention strategies that assure high quality language modeling and other key teaching skills; translation and interpretation policies and practices that assure clear communication with families, and program directed Classroom Language Models that assure research-based instruction for DLLs.
* Key strategies that support DLLs to master English and their home language/s
Participants will learn to:
-Identify the best program-wide and classroom-specific strategies staff and families can use to enhance language and literacy practices and
-Consider approaches that support Dual Language Learners in their acquisition of English as well as their home language.
Participants will develop a Take-Home Plan that includes initial steps and a long- term plan, and consider how they will continue the work over the next several months in order to fully implement systems and practice changes throughout the program.
TRAINER
Joanne Knapp-Philo, National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness