Children's Story Time

The University Library and Early Childhood Studies department have partnered to present a Story Time series conducted by Early Education Teacher Candidates pursuing their degree in Early Childhood Studies. Language and literacy activities are a part of the coursework candidates are completing for their Emergent Literacy in First & Second Language Acquisition class. 

Students in the Early Childhood Studies department at Cal Poly Pomona are provided with the knowledge and skills needed to make a positive difference in the lives of children from prenatal to age eight and their families. We are dedicated to fostering a student-centered, active learning environment where students take theory into practice using a social justice lens that values inclusivity and diversity and advocates for ethnic/racial, gendered, and other underrepresented individuals in society. Through this lens, we have developed an assignment in which our ECS 3600 course conducts live virtual zoom meetings with children ages birth through eight. These live virtual zoom meetings will be around 30 minutes and consist of a read-aloud and activity that is developmentally appropriate for the young child. Caregivers are required to participate in the infant and toddlers and preschool zoom meetings and highly encouraged to be participants with their children for their children in kinder to third grade.

The instructors help guide students in their live zoom meetings. Zoom meetings will be recorded for instructors to provide feedback. These recordings will only be used for the course and not shared elsewhere. By joining the zoom meetings you (the child's caregiver) and your child agree to be video recorded with your child and take part in the live virtual read aloud and activity. The students have the right to eliminate any individual during the zoom meeting who may not be conducting appropriate behaviors for young children.

Bilingual Story Times

This semester we are offering Children’s Bilingual Story Times. These bilingual story times are developed by ECS 3600 students, guided by Dr. Soon Young Jang, Principal Investigator of the All Children Thrive through Translanguaging (ACTT) project. This project is funded by the Dr. Seuss Foundation, whose values include Education and Literacy, Diversity and Equity, and Community. Through these bilingual story times, we create a space where we all value bilingualism and biliteracy, and support our children’s learning not only in English but also in another language. With Dr. Soon Young Jang’s theoretical and pedagogical guidance, students developed a wide range of bilingual resources such as books, songs/chants, and literacy strategies that foster children’s language and literacy learning. In California, about sixty percent of children under age five are Dual Language Learners (DLLs) whose home languages are other than English. Valuing bilingualism and supporting the learning of DLLs is important, as there are multiple benefits of bilingualism such as metalinguistic awareness, creativity, and communicative understanding (Baker, 2011). In addition, research underlines that children’s home languages are positively related to their identity development, family connections, and second language acquisition such as English (Bialystok, 2011; Cummins, 2011; Tse, 2000). Through these bilingual story times, we hope to create a space where we all value bilingualism and biliteracy, and support our children’s learning not only in English but also in another language.

ECS Faculty
Soon Young Jang, PhD Assistant Professor Early Childhood Studies Department sjang@cpp.edu		JoNeen Ohlåker Lecturer Early Childhood Studies Department johlaker@cpp.edu
Soon Young Jang obtained her PhD at the University of Toronto, Canada. Dr. Jang is an immigrant parent, educator, and advocate for children's bilingual learning. She has been conducting research on children's bilingualism and biliteracy, and supporting pre-service teachers’ competency building in working with multilingual children and families. She is excited to see her students' growth in knowledge and pedagogical skills through this course (ECS 3600), sharing them with children through CPP library story times!		JoNeen Ohlåker, MA Education, Early Childhood Education. Her research is devoted to supporting teacher candidates to engage in praxis and hands on collaborative learning, which supports their readiness to implement theory in practice. She has been teaching higher education online courses and in person classes for over 12 years, employing best practice methods and online technology. Ms. Ohlåker is an advocate for children and families and has trained with leading specialists to advance social skills, mental health and educational advocacy for neurodiverse children. She has served in many positions, including working with infants, toddlers and preschoolers in her home early education and care program, teaching at a private P-12 school, being a parent educator and maintaining parent and teacher support forums. Prior to teaching at CalPoly Pomona, Ms. Ohlåker has taught early education for Los Angeles Community College and National University.