Literacy in the Early Grades : A Successful Start for PreK-4 Readers and Writers

The late Gail E. Tompkins was Professor Emerita at California State University, Fresno. Before her passing, she worked with teachers in their kindergarten through 8th-grade classrooms and led staff-development programs on reading and writing. Dr. Tompkins was inducted into the California Reading Association's Reading Hall of Fame in recognition of her accomplishments in the field of reading, and received the prestigious Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching at California State University, Fresno. Dr. Tompkins was the author of 6 other books published by Pearson: Language Arts: Patterns of Practice, Language Arts Essentials, Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product, 50 Literacy Strategies, and 2 grade-specific versions of this text: Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach (K-8) and Literacy in the Middle Grades: Teaching Reading and Writing to Fourth Through Eighth Graders. During the past 3 decades, Dr. Tompkins also worked with kindergarten- through college-level writing teachers at National Writing Project sites in California and Oklahoma.

Emily Rodgers is a professor of reading and early literacy in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Before earning her PhD from OSU, Emily was a classroom teacher and a remedial reading teacher. Her experience spans grades 3 to 9. For the last 15 years, as a faculty member at OSU, Emily has worked extensively providing ongoing professional development to in-service teachers, literacy coaches, and, more recently, preservice teachers pursuing their undergraduate degrees and initial licensure. Emily has co-authored research articles on teaching and literacy development that have appeared in top journals including Reading Research Quarterly, Reading Teacher, the Journal of Literacy Research, Educational Researcher, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, and the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. Emily is also the co-author of a volume published by Teachers College Press, The Effective Literacy Coach, as well as numerous book chapters.