Here’s what you might see when you step into my classroom: rapturous renditions of nursery rhymes, Play-Doh being turned into letters, and 4-year-olds acting out the adventures of a very hungry caterpillar.
As a transitional kindergarten teacher in Oakland, California, my job is to get the youngest learners ready for school as part of California’s universal public preschool program. I teach my students how to get up when they fall, how to open a carton of milk without incident, and how to master the skills they will need to eventually become readers. Nursery rhymes to teach phonological awareness so students can recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of words. Play-Doh to teach phonics so they understand the relationship between letters and sounds. Dramatic play to teach comprehension since acting out stories can help kids better understand them.
To me, this early literacy work is integral to addressing the current literacy crisis. In California, half of all public school students read below grade level. Nationwide, two out of three elementary schoolers read below grade level. The consequences are far-reaching, from high school graduation rates to future earnings to future encounters with the criminal justice system.
For students to become successful readers, they need instruction based on the science of reading — direct, explicit, and systemic lessons teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Children are expected to master these skills in the short years between kindergarten and when they sit for standardized assessments in third grade, despite the fact that many students begin school with limited literacy exposure or require more time to practice these skills.
But what if instead of beginning our literacy efforts in kindergarten and first grade, we began that work in early childhood classrooms? What would it look like to work with early childhood educators to integrate and align literacy efforts so that all students are set up for success?
In my classroom, I have seen how effective early literacy work is because the brain in the early years is a sponge. For instance, years ago, I taught my students the ballad “I Know Where I’ve Been” from the musical “Hairspray” for our Black History Month assembly, and they picked it up almost instantly, still singing it weeks after our performance. Every new line of lyrics came with new vocabulary I defined and then started to use in our classroom.
And thanks to the kinesthetic nature of early childhood education, young children experience literacy best through movement, which is also backed by research. My 4-year-olds love to play “Clap, Stomp, Jump,” where we segment the syllables in our names and pair them with actions. They love it because they get to move and be loud. I love it because it builds phonological awareness, so they are better able to manipulate sounds. A total physical response approach to literacy is developmentally appropriate for the early years and sets students up for future success by building their reading skills early.
Lastly, because early childhood classrooms emphasize creativity, students are introduced to the joy of reading through fun. In my classroom, phonics looks like kids using finger paints to write their names with rainbow colors, sounding out letters to reinforce the relationship between letters and sounds.
I love engaging my transitional kindergarteners in literacy. But we need more high-quality professional development at the intersection of early childhood education and literacy instruction. I have attended conferences hosted by the Oakland Literacy Coalition and training by SEEDS of Learning facilitators that have provided me with strategies, activities, and lessons aligned with the science of reading to help my youngest students become successful. I want all childhood educators to have access to these resources, from Head Start teachers to family child care providers to stay-at-home caregivers. Children in all preschool contexts should have foundational literacy experiences.
Early childhood educators also need to be partners in crafting education policy and initiatives. I have sat in Instructional Leadership Team meetings at my school and attended countywide meetings, both of which have helped me to teach early literacy skills with larger K-12 objectives in mind. All students should be working toward the same goals, regardless of their place in the education system. Examples like Mississippi and New Jersey show that aligning and investing in early childhood education leads to improved reading outcomes.
Here’s what you might see when you step into my classroom: my students falling in love with letters, words, and books, as I once did. I get them there through literacy work that shows them the magic of reading and prepares them to be strong and successful readers for years to come. For my students and me, that work starts now. We just make it look like play.
Alicia Simba is a public school teacher living and working in Oakland, California. She is a 2024-25 Teach Plus Senior Writing Fellow, and her writing has been published in Teen Vogue, Slate, Blavity, and more.