Sample A: Cover Page of Thesis, Project, or Dissertation Proposal

interest; direct teaching of word recognition, vocabulary, spelling, comprehension, and
writing skills; and offering flexibility and choice in literacy practices (e.g., shared or
independent reading, choice of reading material). Examples of organizational practices
include effectively managing the classroom environment; incorporating classroom
routines that support children‘s independence; thoroughly planning classroom activities;
and emphasizing literacy within the classroom context, providing children performance
feedback, and positively reinforcing children during classroom activities. Effective
pedagogical literacy practices include examples such as integrating storybook content
with writing activities, modeling literacy-based behaviors for children, and considering
children‘s cultural backgrounds in literacy practices (Hall, 2003).
Results from two studies (see Farran, Aydogan, Kang, & Lipsey, 2006) support
the integration of relational and instructional classroom components in facilitating
literacy development within the preschool context. First, Kang (2003; as cited in Farran
et al., 2006) examined the effects of the presence of literacy-related materials (i.e., the
availability of literacy materials, the presence of environmental print, and the
organization of literacy materials and environmental print) and teachers‘ instructional
styles (i.e., verbal interactions and guidance in literacy learning (e.g., reading books,
modeling the writing process)) on children‘s involvement with literacy materials within a
sample of low-income preschoolers. Results revealed that teachers‘ emphasizing literacy
in the classroom (i.e., literacy instruction and the availability of literacy materials) was
strongly correlated with children‘s levels of involvement with literacy materials in the
classroom, such that children chose and were actively involved in play that included
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