Project RISE - 'GG Stands for Good Guys': The Social Shape of Language and Literacy

This is a fully online, self-paced, asynchronous course.

Continuing Education hours: 3 hours
Featured Expert: Haeny Yoon, Ph.D., M.Ed.

Learning Objectives: At the completion of this module, Learners will be able to:

• 1.1 Reflect on how language and literacy are influenced by many social factors.
• 1.2 Identify ways in which teachers can encourage speech events and literacy events in social contexts.

The social, cultural, and political contexts in which we live are highly relevant to language and literacy for young children. Think about how very young children first learn to communicate - it is with gestures, sounds, copying, and participation. It is both the verbal and extraverbal that brings language and literacy together.

As children develop, language and literacy practices are transformed and revitalized by the larger culture (popular culture, media, books, music, etc.). They are practiced in their community, homes, and neighborhoods with friends and adults. When they enter educational and clinical spaces, we often overlook these rich language repertoires that children have socially and culturally acquired through repeated and sustained use in authentic contexts.

In this course, we will return to literacy as a social practice. Building from their communities of practice, the intention is to think of literacy as a sustained, authentic practice that is acquired in the same way as that of the very early years - through play, interaction, participation, and repeated practice. While literacy is utilitarian and functional (e.g. think print/writing, sound/letter), this course looks beyond discrete skills as literacy and expands how and when children become readers and writers.

We will explore the role of the teacher in creating meaningful, equity-oriented experiences that encompass children’s interests through inquiry and observations. In particular, we will work towards designing literacy experiences, resources, and assessments that build on a sociocultural literacy framework and honor children’s linguistic repertoires.

This professional development is available at no charge for child-serving professionals in the Finger Lakes/Western New York regions. Learn more: Continuing Education for Child-Serving Professionals.