The Perfect Recipe for Building a Foundation in Phonological Awareness Learning: A Sandcastle Analogy

August 27, 2016
8:30 – 11:30 am

United Way of Greater Houston
50 Waugh Drive
Houston, Texas 77007

Cost: $20.00 (Snack Provided)

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Grand sandcastle on the beach during a summer day

Just like a sandcastle needs a firm support for its formation. Young children need a sturdy base to build their structures for literacy. How do early childhood teachers do this? Mix a strong understanding of phonological awareness with a scoop of reading, singing, and playing with language. Plop down authentic activities to become more phonologically aware. Add a jiggle of the age-appropriate skills needed for reading development. What are you left with? You have the phonological groundwork for the foundation of reading.

Phonological awareness is one of the strongest predictors of reading success (Yopp & Yopp, 2011, p.14). This training session will help early childhood teachers develop a strong understanding of the multiple layers and many components of phonological awareness. It will assist teachers in becoming more phonologically aware by reading, singing, and playing with language and learning how to build a firm support for literacy.

Amelia Hewitt, Ed.D. & Kim Pinkerton, Ed.D.
Amelia Hewitt, Ed.D. & Kim Pinkerton, Ed.D.

About the Trainers

Amelia Hewitt, Ed. D., is an Early Childhood Associate Professor. She has over 25 years of experience in a variety of settings in the EC-4 classroom, in the ECE research field, and in the university level classroom as a professor. Amelia has had experiences in designing and conducting professional development for leaders in the field and addressing early literacy skills in young children, particularly with phonological awareness. She holds a Doctor of Curriculum and Instruction, Early Childhood, a lifetime Texas Teacher Certification in Elementary Self Contained Grade 1-8, Early Childhood Education Grades PKKG, English as a Second Language PK-8, Information Processing Technologies I PK-8.

Kim Pinkerton, Ed. D., is an Associate Professor and literacy educator and leader with 20 years of experience teaching at the K-12 and college/university levels. Kim has experience as a literacy researcher and teacher educator, focusing on teachers as readers and writers, authentic literacy instruction, and phonological awareness development and practices. Kim holds a Doctor of Curriculum and Instruction, Reading and Language Arts, a lifetime Texas Teacher Certification in Grades 1-8 English and Self Contained, and a K12 Reading Specialist Certification of Teachers in Texas.

Amelia and Kim have over 40+ combined years of teaching experiences in addressing the needs of the whole child through developmentally appropriate practices.

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