There are many paths to literacy. Research has confirmed that the experiences that many parents and early childhood educators provide in their homes and school settings promote language development and early literacy. The materials in this guidebook are intended to encourage those involved in teaching reading and writing to engage in dialogue and reflection with colleagues, to know their students well, to examine their own experiences and beliefs, and to generate and seek answers to their own questions by collaborative study of research. The book builds and expands on two earlier NWREL publications: Learning To Read and Write: A Place To Start (Novick, 1998) and Building a Knowledge Base in Reading (Braunger & Lewis, 1997).
From the publisher:
Simply stated, good readers do better in school and in life. It is well documented that children who read well in the early grades do better in later grades and are more likely to complete high school. However, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the best way to turn students into good readers. NWREL's new publication, Many Paths to Literacy delivers research-based best practices and strategies to cut through the controversy and equip children in the primary classroom with the language and literacy skills necessary to be a good reader. The evidence-based information is supported by real-world vignettes and classroom examples to show how the strategies can be put to use to help a wide range of students.
Although primarily written for teachers, paraeducators, and administrators, this manual can also be extremely useful to parents looking for ways to help their children become better readers. Many Paths to Literacy includes engaging classroom and family activities that build critical language skills such as comprehension, vocabulary growth, emotional development, and fluency.
Other topics covered:

• Many ways of sharing books with young children
• Numerous strategies for decoding, enhancing phonemic awareness, and building phonics skills
• Linking literacy with emotional development through writing and children's literature
• The role of songs, poetry, and visual arts in creating rich sensory images while reading and writing
• Culturally responsive learning environments--connecting children's emotions and background experiences with literacy
• Helping children to develop their storytelling ability through language experience activities, acting out stories, and writing
• Annotated bibliography of high-quality children's books

Author's Bio:
Rebecca Novick, Ph.D., is leader of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory’s (NWREL) Language and Literacy team. As a writer and researcher in the area of early care and education, Novick has authored a number of articles and publications, including a recent NWREL publication entitled Learning to Read and Write: A Place to Start. She has conducted workshops and made presentations at state, regional, and national conferences. Prior to coming to NWREL, Novick worked as a classroom teacher in a number of Head Start and early intervention programs, and provided parenting education and support for parents involved with a child protection agency.