Introduction

Helping young students learn to read and write has become both an art and a science.  Recent advances in brain, language, and reading research have provided a better understanding of how the brain learns, retains, and processes information, of the universal sequence of stages and milestones that children and adults must pass through when learning a new language, and of the critical elements needed to ensure success in reading and writing, Brain and language research validates what effective teachers and parents have known for a long time.  The brain learns most easily when new information is connected to prior knowledge and when skills and concepts are presented in an interactive environment that is rich in emotion, context, vocabulary, movement, novelty, contrast, and repetition.  The scientific study of reading has revealed that phonological awareness, listening comprehension, a large listening vocabulary, and the rapid recognition of letters and letter patterns are necessary elements for fluency and comprehension in reading and writing.

Each Animated-Literacy lesson begins by asking questions that help students access their prior knowledge. Students then expand their prior knowledge, listening comprehension skills, and vocabularies as they listen and respond to books that are read aloud by the teacher to establish a context for the skills and concepts students must master to become fluent, independent readers and writers.  During this "input time," students hear books, rhymes, stories, and songs that invite active participation. Participation includes imitating gestures, sounds, words, and phrases. Students also predict events, make inferences, and provide words to complete predictable sentences.  The focus during the input time is on participation, prediction, comprehension, association with prior knowledge, and the enjoyment of rich, emotionally charged language.    An extensive list of both fiction and nonfiction titles is provided for use in each lesson.

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