This book is your user-friendly guide to implementing Story Friends&;, a fun and engaging language intervention program for 4- to 6-year-old children at risk for later reading difficulty. You'll get: An accessible, concise overview of the program and its many benefits, A look at the research behind Story Friends, Complete guidance on setting up your listening center, an area in your classroom where children listen to stories and instruction based on those stories, An easy three step model for implementing the Story Friends program, Instructions on monitoring student progress, Photocopiable resources, including assessments, program pacing charts, and attendance logs. Through 26 interactive animal-themed storybooks and lively, engaging audio recordings, Story Friends effectively improves oral language and vocabulary development&;two of the most important predictors of later reading success. With colorful illustrations, rhyming text, interactive story components, and appealing narration from Wanda the Word Wolf, children strengthen other important skills, such as solving problems, empathizing, working together, and making friends with others who are different. And because Story Friends is a natural fit with any existing classroom schedule or curriculum, it's easier than ever to deliver interventions when they matter most and get all young children ready to read and succeed.
