This paper presents a professional literacy experience plan for early childhood educators, analyzing three carefully selected picture books and their corresponding learning activities for small groups of children. The plan covers We're Different, We're the Same (Kates & Mathieu, 1992) for multicultural inclusion, Goodnight Moon (Brown & Hurd, 1947) for early language development in infants and toddlers, and Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak, 1963) for vocabulary development and dramatic play. Each book section identifies relevant language and literacy skills, outlines structured learning experiences, and proposes reflective evaluation questions aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). Together, the three plans demonstrate how quality picture books can scaffold emergent literacy across the early childhood years.
The paper integrates scholarly sources (e.g., Bernstein, 2020; de Meric, 2018) alongside curriculum documents to justify pedagogical choices. This dual referencing — combining academic literature with policy frameworks — is a strong technique for professional education writing, as it bridges theory and practice rather than relying on one alone.
The paper is divided into three parallel sections, one per book, each containing four sub-components: (1) title, author, and rationale; (2) targeted literacy skill; (3) a sequenced learning experience with introduction, interactions, activities, conclusion, and evaluation prompts; and (4) a reference list. This parallel structure allows direct comparison across age groups (0–2, 4–5, and 4–5 years) and across literacy goals (print awareness, diversity vocabulary, and dramatic language).
Kates, A. B., & Mathieu, J. (1992). We're Different, We're the Same (Sesame Street). Random House Books for Young Readers.
This book was selected from Category A as a book supporting diversity and inclusion for children with a focus on multicultural inclusion. It is appropriate for children aged 4 to 5 years. This book specifically aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) guidelines for promoting diversity and inclusion, particularly in the section addressing "Respect for Diversity" (2022). The EYLF emphasizes that all children are born into specific cultural contexts shaped by longstanding traditional practices, heritage, ancestral knowledge, and individual family and community values.
This book also leverages the popularity of the world-famous Sesame Street characters to examine the concepts of diversity and similarity in ways that young children can readily understand. Kates describes different physical features — such as noses, hair, and skin — to demonstrate how these attributes vary between people in ways that make them different yet still fully human. This aspect of the book helps to minimize the stereotypical "othering" categorization that plagues modern civilization.
Kates also explores how universal physical differences relate to the way people mutually understand the world around them through shared feelings, laughter, and the overarching human need to love and be loved, while celebrating individual differences. The book's publishers note that "Elmo and his Sesame Street friends help teach toddlers and the adults in their lives that everyone is the same on the inside, and it's our differences that make this wonderful world, which is home to us all, an interesting — and special — place" (We're Different, We're the Same, 2024). In sum, this book is a strong selection for this category because it encourages children to appreciate diversity while recognizing their shared humanity.
Respecting diversity among children requires educators to integrate relevant cultural practices, values, and beliefs within the early childhood curriculum, as well as recognizing the complex nature of families' unique lives, including their histories, languages, traditions, religions, and spiritual beliefs. These are especially important considerations when teaching minority or indigenous populations, who are routinely — if inadvertently — subjected to Western ethnocentricity in children's literature.
This well-illustrated book helps children prepare for and engage in the reading process by learning new words by sight and understanding that words carry different meanings. It can also improve young children's comprehension of the inevitable similarities and differences among people of all backgrounds, and develop an appreciation for diversity and inclusion throughout their lives. This learning objective provides a valuable opportunity for young readers to improve their reading skills through the highly relevant aspects of a storyline with universal applicability.
Introduction: The learning experience begins with the teacher introducing the book and conducting a read-aloud session, with appropriate pauses to ask questions and highlight key words.
Interactions and prompts: Following the read-aloud, the teacher facilitates a discussion about the book's main message, encouraging children to share what they learned about similarities and differences from the story.
Activity: Children engage in a "Same and Different" game in which they work in pairs to nonjudgmentally identify similarities and differences between themselves and their partner.
Conclusion: The learning experience concludes with a self-portrait activity in which children draw pictures highlighting their own unique features.
Evaluation questions: To evaluate whether the experience was successful, the educator should first consider how attentively the children listened during the read-aloud and how actively they participated in the subsequent discussion, noting their ability to grasp and articulate the book's main messages about similarities and differences. The educator should also observe any changes in children's language or behavior regarding diversity and inclusion, as well as their use of new vocabulary from the book, in order to identify any children who struggled with the concepts or activities and to consider how to better support their learning in future sessions.
Brown, M. W., & Hurd, C. (1947). Goodnight Moon. HarperCollins.
This was a Category B selection for early language development and cognitive skills for very young children aged 0 to 2 years. This bedtime story takes place in a child's large green bedroom. The narrative follows a young rabbit saying goodnight to various things visible from the child's room, including the eponymous moon outside the window and various familiar objects within the room.
This is an especially soothing read: the book features age-appropriate language and depicts the room gradually darkening across its illustrations, which reinforces the story's calming effects and promotes restful sleep (Many Happy Returns, 2007). According to Bernstein (2020), Goodnight Moon is the iconic "going-to-bed book" that parents have read to their children for more than a quarter century. The story's repetitive structure and focus on ordinary, familiar objects make it particularly engaging and soothing for very young children, thereby supporting early language development and cognitive skills.
This text also aligns closely with the EYLF's guidelines on providing developmental opportunities from birth. The EYLF notes that "from before birth children are connected to family, communities, culture and place. Their earliest learning, development and wellbeing takes place through these relationships, particularly within families, who are children's first and most influential educators" (p. 6). Brown's book is therefore an optimal selection for this reading category.
Among other emergent literacy skills, this book facilitates the development of print awareness and general knowledge about books. The emergent literacy skills targeted here focus on learning about print and book structures.
Introduction: The sequence begins with the teacher creating a calm, cozy environment for reading, typically as part of a naptime or other regular routine. The teacher introduces the book by showing it to the children, allowing plenty of time for them to look at the cover and touch and explore its contents, fostering tactile engagement with this and other books.
Interactions and prompts: As the teacher reads, the corresponding pictures and words are pointed out, enhancing print awareness. The rhythmic, repetitive text should be read slowly and articulated clearly to support early language development.
Activity: Throughout the reading, the teacher encourages engagement by asking simple questions such as "Where's the mouse?" or "Can you see the moon?", promoting early comprehension skills.
Conclusion: Following the reading — and depending on the children's state of sleepiness — the teacher may encourage children to mimic saying "goodnight" to objects in their own classroom, reinforcing vocabulary and making the story relevant by connecting it with the children's immediate environment.
Evaluation questions: In order to evaluate the success of this learning experience, the educator should reflect on how well the children engaged with the book physically during the introduction, noting their interest in touching and exploring it. The educator should also take into account how attentive they were during the reading and how they responded to the rhythmic, repetitive text. Were the children visibly calmed or actively engaged by the reading? Their participation in identifying objects and characters when prompted would indicate comprehension and engagement.
Beyond these observations, the educator should evaluate the children's developing print awareness — did they show any recognition of the connection between the words being pointed to and what was being read aloud? For very young children, even small signs of this awareness are significant. The educator should also reflect on children's attempts to mimic saying "goodnight" to various classroom objects, considering whether this activity helped reinforce vocabulary and foster personal connections to the story. Any spontaneous responses or questions from the children could indicate deeper engagement or understanding. Observations of whether the experience seemed to foster a positive attitude toward books and reading — whether the children seemed to enjoy the experience and asked to hear the book again — would also be valuable for evaluation.
Finally, the educator should consider whether the calm, cozy environment effectively supported the children's wellbeing during the reading experience, and reflect on how well the experience aligned with the EYLF guidelines, particularly in providing developmental opportunities from birth and recognizing the importance of early learning experiences.
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