Teaching in PreK-3
Building strong foundations for multilingual children in PreK-3
Created with and for pre-kindergarten through third grade (PreK-3) educators, the following content highlights culturally- and linguistically-responsive and sustaining practices for young multilingual learners, such as play-based learning and intentional transitions across PreK, kindergarten and early elementary grades.
Educators will find practical resources designed to promote and provide opportunities for the youngest learners to develop language, learn and thrive.
Multilingual Children: Languaging and Learning
Multilingual children’s identities, experiences, environments, relationships and languaging — the way they dynamically use language to make meaning — all influence their early language development and learning.
In this video, observe kindergartners as they engage in joyful languaging, learning and play in various classroom scenarios they created with their teacher. The video highlights a language-focused approach to PreK-3, which centers the dynamic language and cultural practices of multilingual children, their families and their communities.
Note: Some audio is muted to protect children’s identities.
PreK-3 Essential Actions
The WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions are designed to help educators take a language-focused approach to family and community engagement, as well as teaching and learning.
In this video, discover how educators reflect on and enact the PreK-3 Essential Actions in their work.
Use this Essential Actions Implementation Collaboration Tool to reflect on your own practice and take action around one or more Essential Actions.
Choose Play
Joyful learning is ideal for multilingual children’s learning and their language development. Engage with this video to hear from educators about why they choose play for their multilingual learners.
Use the tools below to incorporate joyful, sustaining, culturally and linguistically responsive learning in your setting.
- Talk with fellow educators about play for multilingual children to grow your knowledge as you integrate play into your practice.
Gathering Information: Become an Interviewer - Observe language-focused play to see how a child uses language to make meaning and interact with others during play.
Gathering Information: Become an Observer - Become an ethnographer to learn more about how, where and why multilingual children play.
Gathering Information: Become an Ethnographer
Reflect on Transitions
Transitions are the key moments when children move to new environments, teachers or expectations, such as starting school for the first time, shifting between Pre-K and kindergarten, or entering a new grade level. Helping to create responsive transitions ensures that multilingual children and their families feel welcome and supported as they grow across the PreK-3 continuum.
Engage with this video of kindergarten teacher Eduardo Pérez as he reflects on strong transitions for multilingual children and families.
Here are some resources with more tips for planning for transitions:
- Consult the Are We Ready? Educators Collaboration Guide and Notetaker resource for ways to collaborate on transitions for children and families.
- Explore the WIDA Focus Bulletin: A Story of Collaboration and Transitions, which includes links to more videos and tools for creating responsive transitions.
- Explore more tools designed to support your language-focused collaborative approach to transitions in PreK-3.
Featured Professional Learning
WIDA offers virtual, self-paced professional learning workshops available to educators in participating member education agencies:
Play
To take action and choose play in your setting, enroll in the Let’s Play! Multilingual Children’s Joyful Learning in PreK-3, a self-paced online workshop available in the WIDA Secure Portal.
Learn more and get started from the Let's Play! workshop detail page.
Essential Actions
For a deeper dive into the Essential Actions, enroll in Exploring the WIDA PreK-3 Essential Actions, a self-paced online workshop available in the WIDA Secure Portal.
Learn more and get started from the Essential Actions workshop detail page.
Resources for Connecting With Families
Free Webinar
Let’s play! Joyful learning for multilingual children in PreK-3 provides a brief introduction to teaching in PreK-3, an emerging WIDA topic area, followed by a specific focus on play.
PreK-3 Resources
Related Pages
WIDA provides resources, including videos and parent handouts, to help educators engage with families and community members to support multilingual learner success.
Expand reading instruction to build on the strengths multilingual learners bring to the classroom.
WIDA supports you in understanding the strengths and needs of your multilingual learners.
Center multilingual learners' participation and success in the classroom through language-focused instruction.