This book distills the information from the k-8 literacy textLiteracy for the 21 st Century, focusing specifically on literacy learners from pre-kindergarten through grade 4. What are the specific needs of these students? How can you predict early literacy difficulties and how best can you scaffold your instruction to prevent reading difficulties in the future? How are the PK studentrs"s needs different from the older, primary grades student? FEATURES: Chapter opening vignettes-Contextualize chapter concepts in an authentic classroom, complete with photos, dialog, and samples of student work to model excellent classroom teaching and prepare readers for the classrooms in their future. Spotlights-In-depth look at a single student, peppered through chapters. Helps to detail literacy development and teacher decision making, one student at a time. Guideline features-Offer specific guidelines for implementing chapter concepts in the PK-4 classroom. Minilessons--offer ready to use skill and strategy instruction presented specifically for use in PreK-4 reading and writing classrooms. Find how the minilessons correlate to state and national standards on the textrs"s Companion Website. The Compendium of Instructional Procedures--a robust resource of instructional methods designed to get teacher candidates up and running quickly in their first literacy classroom. The easily accessible Compendium at the back of the book offers clearly articulated instructional methods, an invaluable resource and quick reference. Assessment Tools--highlight the complete chapter on assessment and provide future teacher candidates with the means to evaluate their studentsrs" progress in early literacy. They'll also find ideas for alternative assessment