Storytelling, Play, and Literacy

The focus of this course is on Indigenous and culturally grounded storytelling and its role in child development. It examines definitions of literacy, the significance of literacy skills, and literacy development among young children and their families in dual language and multilingual communities. We center the storytelling pedagogy of Roger Fernandes and the legacy of Anancy stories from Ghana to Jamaica. We will also cover Freire’s notion of reading the world as well as reading the word and the concept of triliteracy from the Teaching Umoja Participatory Action Research (PAR) 15-Year Commitment. This seminar looks at the role of adults in supporting children's play, language, cultural expression, and literacy. Participants develop strategies for supporting phonemic awareness, book knowledge, print awareness, sound-letter matches, vocabulary and conversation development, comprehension and critical thinking, love of reading, and writing. In addition, we will engage with early literacy approaches specific to particular languages, cultural groups, and writing systems.