Language and Literacy Beyond Decoding Evidence-Based Instruction in Grades PreK-6

Successful reading comprehension requires readers to draw on a range of language comprehension abilities alongside decoding. This timely teacher reference and text explains how language comprehension develops throughout grades PreK–6 and presents evidence-based instructional strategies. The volume reviews innovative ways to conduct content-rich classroom conversations, deliver strategy and text structure instruction, target motivational aspects of comprehension, use assessment to guide comprehension-focused instruction, and more. Ways to support language and reading comprehension with multilingual and multidialectal learners are considered in depth. Ideal for professional learning within a science-of-reading perspective, each chapter provides guiding questions, research reviews, classroom applications, and reflection questions.

Rebecca D. Silverman, EdD, is the Judy Koch Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. A former elementary school teacher, Dr. Silverman’s research focuses on language and literacy development and instruction in early childhood and elementary school. In particular, her work has contributed to the research base on supporting vocabulary and other aspects of language that are critical to reading and writing, and using multimedia and educational technology to facilitate literacy. At Stanford, Dr. Silverman leads the Language to Literacy Lab and teaches in the Stanford Teacher Education Program. She also engages in research–practice partnerships with school districts and provides professional development to teachers. Widely published in education journals, she has served on the board of directors of the International Literacy Association and is Editor-in-Chief of Elementary School Journal. Her website is https://langlitlab.stanford.edu. 

Kristin Keane, PhD, directs and manages partnerships in a number of research studies in the Language to Literacy Lab in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. Her research focuses on literacy development and instruction in elementary schools, specifically the ways multimodal, digital, and critical literacies can be used to drive equity-centered pedagogies in classrooms to enhance engagement, comprehension, and dialogic discussion of varied types of text. Prior to her work at Stanford, Dr. Keane led a network of literacy coaches, served as a literacy staff developer, and worked in California classrooms. She has taught in both the University of San Francisco’s and Stanford's teacher education programs. A mixed methodologist, Dr. Keane has published a number of observational and meta-analytic studies pertaining to literacy practice and development in leading education journals. 

1. Introduction: The Critical Role of Language Comprehension in Reading Comprehension, Rebecca D. Silverman & Kristin Keane
2. Content-Rich Classroom Conversations That Improve Language Comprehension in the Early Grades, Sonia Q. Cabell, C. J. Espittia, & Tricia A. Zucker
3. Gaps and Opportunities for Supporting Language and Comprehension in Early Childhood Classrooms, Shayne B. Piasta, Hyekin Kim, & Yeqing Liu
4. From Ears to Eyes: Supporting Reading Comprehension through Systematic Instruction on Listening Comprehension, Young-Suk Grace Kim
5. Improving Elementary Students’ Reading Comprehension through Structured and Systematic Translation of Research to Practice, Kausalai Kay Wijekumar, Kacee Lambright, Ashley Stack, Javier Garza, & Pilar Sierra
6. Best Practices for Supporting Motivation during Reading Comprehension Instruction, Eunsoo Cho, Sarah Reiley, & Philip Capin
7. Inferencing and Reading Comprehension, Gina Biancarosa
8. Effects of Language Components on Language and Reading Comprehension, Doris Luft Baker, Yixian Huang, Cinthia Berenice Herrera, & Sholeh Moradibavi
9. Hearing Themselves in Books: Using Authentic Children’s Literature to Support the Language of African American Students, Ramona T. Pittman, Endia Lindo, W. McCoy, & Jasmine Rogers
10. Language and Reading Assessment Practices for Multilingual Learners from Spanish-Speaking Homes, Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez, Bhabika Joshi, & Phoebe J. Ahn
11. The Role of Language in Reading Comprehension: Instructional Implications for Teachers of Multilingual Learners, C. Patrick Proctor & Rebecca D. Silverman
12. “What If I Don’t Speak Their Languages?”: Engaging Educators and Multilingual Learners in Collaborative Exploration of the Language for School Literacy, Emily Phillips Galloway
Index