The Dialog Vol28Iss01 for separating.pdf The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 6 The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 2025, Volume 28, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i1.1792 Contact: Bettie Parsons Barger bargerbp@winthrop.edu Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). SITUATIING LITERACY-RICH ENGAGEMENTS ABSTRACT Camp Sunshine, a summer literacy program for emergent bilingual children ages 4-8, positions bilin- gualism as an asset. In Camp Sunshine, we strive to create inclusive multilingual spaces that honor children's cultural identities and lived experiences while supporting literacy development. The camp implements a three-pronged approach to literacy engagement: beginning with whole-group interac- tive read-alouds of carefully selected multicultural picturebooks, followed by small-group re-engage- ment with key concepts, and culminating in hands-on explorations through art or play-based activities. Through Camp Sunshine, children freely use their full linguistic repertoires, navigating literacy as they engage in translanguaging. This descriptive article presents key insights including strategies to support literacy development like using culturally relevant literature as windows into children's experiences, incorporating sensory-rich experiences, and foster- ing collaborative relationships between educators. The framework which offers practical applications for educators seeking to create culturally respon- sive learning environments for emergent bilingual learners. KEYWORDS Translanguaging, emergent bilinguals, picture- books, culturally response literacy, asset-based perspective Camp Sunshine (all names are pseudonyms), a summer literacy camp for young emergent bilingual children, provides a space for children to freely engage in literacy-rich activities in a joyful and creative atmo- sphere. We, university researchers and faculty, inten- tionally designed the camp to position bilingualism as an asset for learning and growth, rather than a deficit. Located on the campus of a university early child- hood laboratory school in the southeast, the camp operates for eight, half-day sessions, offering campers Situating Literacy- Rich Engagements for Emergent Bilinguals Maria Acevedo-Aquino Texas A&M University - San Antonio Erin Hamel Bettie Parsons Barger Winthrop University The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 7 time in large group gatherings and age-defined classes (kindergarten and first grade in one group, second and third grade in another group). Through- out the day, campers, ages four to eight years old, engage in read alouds, art activities, music, dance, center activities, snack time and outdoor play. With- in these spaces, campers use whichever language or languages they feel most comfortable within a given context, sometimes engaging in translanguaging as they mix languages seamlessly (García et al., 2017). The dynamic environment at Camp Sunshine is busy, noisy, exuberant, and celebrates linguistic diversity. Camp Sunshine has been serving children and families since 2018. In this descriptive article, we describe the curriculum at large, followed by the specific three-pronged multiliteracy approach im- plemented in summer 2023. During that year, camp staff included four teachers (two fluent in Span- ish and English) and three researchers (university faculty, one bilingual in Spanish and English). Ad- ditionally, six bilingual high-school and middle school-aged peer mentors assisted the camp by engaging/playing with the campers and helping to set up and organize classroom spaces. While the summer camp welcomes children ages four through eight years old, this descriptive article will share examples of culturally and linguistically rel- evant practices with the K-1 group (four through six-year-olds). These practices offer possibilities for educators and caregivers to be used in or beyond classroom contexts that aim to engage and support emergent bilingual learners. Camp Curriculum Since 2018, the curriculum of Camp Sunshine has focused on themes of identity that aim to reflect the lived experiences of the campers. Recognizing that language and identity are inextricably inter- twined, we designed curriculum around themes like Who Am I? and My Family and My Commu- nity. These themes provided opportunities for the children to explore their cultural identities and for us to learn about them, their families, and their cul- tural and linguistic practices and experiences. Selecting Children’s Books Anchoring the curricular themes are careful- ly selected children’s books. These books are the heart of the curriculum. Throughout the years, we have selected books that were 1) published in both Spanish and English versions (translated), 2) written in Spanish and English in the same book (bilingual books), or 3) written in English with Spanish words (translanguage books). Botelho and Marion (2023) recommend the term translanguage books as it draws from the theoretical framework of translanguaging. This variety was intentional to showcase the diverse ways in which people use lan- guage. Reyes et al. (2022) discuss the importance of selecting literature that is relevant to the read- er’s experiences and home culture to encourage their engagement. Therefore, we wanted books to be relevant, culturally responsive, connected to the theme, an appropriate length for a read-aloud for our campers, and high-quality literature that uses rich language and noteworthy illustrations to pres- ent complex ideas with which children can grapple. Additionally, we carefully selected books by authors and illustrators with experiences within the com- munity they write about. See Figure 1 for the in- valuable resources we have used to find wonderful literature. See Figure 1. Over time, the camp curriculum has expanded to more fully explore the relationship between lan- guages and identities. For example, in earlier years, books in English and/or Spanish served as means to inquire about self and community. In 2023, the books selected took a deeper dive to look closely at the linguistic experiences of the characters. Books like Gibberish (Vo, 2022) and Drawn Together (Lê, 2018) portrayed struggles common in the lives of emergent bilingual children, like being misun- derstood by peers and teachers or not being able to communicate and connect with a grandparent. While these challenges are real, they only offer a partial (or one) perspective of the complex expe- rience of being bilingual, which is also shaped by joy and love. As such, we also selected stories that explore a comprehensive view of language, and a range of experiences relevant to many emergent bi- linguals across contexts. For example, we read Yo! Yes? Yes? (Raschka, 1993) to think about the role of non-verbal communication, particularly when meeting someone for the first time. We shared Luli and the Language of Tea (Wang & Yum, 2022) SITUATIING LITERACY-RICH ENGAGEMENTS The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 8 World of Words: Center for Global Literacies and Literatures, out of the University of Arizona, includes: WOW Currents (updated news regard- ing children’s and adolescent literature), WOW Reviews (current book reviews), WOW Stories (vi- gnettes from PK-12 classrooms) and WOW Libros (reviews of Spanish-language books). Outstanding International Books (OIB) List, sponsored by the United States Board of Books for Young People, includes approximately 40 inter- national books that help children understand the world around them. The OIB website showcases the book covers, links to annotated bibliographies, and links to Teaching Books entries for each book that suggests how to use books in classrooms. Book awards like Charlotte Huck Award, Pura Belpré Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Asian/ Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature, American Indian Youth Literature Award, Schnei- der Family Book Award, John Newbery Medal, and the Caldecott Medal. about a group of young linguistically and culturally diverse children who rely on play and tea as means for communication, as languages. In addition, we read A Song of Frutas (Engle & Palacios, 2021) and Little Treasures: Terms of Endearments from Around the World (Ogborn, 2012), which focus on meaningful relationships in bilingual communities. See Figure 2 for the complete list of anchor texts from each Camp Sunshine theme across the years. See Appendix A for the complete list of anchor texts from each Camp Sunshine theme across the years. Three-Pronged Approach In 2023, as we designed the curriculum, we were intentional about a three-pronged approach to engage with a specific picture book. First, we introduced the picture book with a whole group interactive read-aloud. Then we moved into small- er groups in different classrooms, where we re-en- gaged the children with the book. Finally, children explored the experiences in the picture books through art- or play-based engagements. Introductory Read Aloud When conducting the whole group read aloud, two teachers took the lead on each book. We scanned the images to display on a Promethean Board so that all children could see the illustrations. Each teacher also had a copy of the book so they could read. Depending on the book, teachers used a variety of strategies to engage the children in the read aloud: use varying voices, alter speed and vol- ume based on what is happening in the story, pause for questions, connections, and other responses, and invite the readers to join in the reading (Kiefer et al., 2023). At times, the teachers took turns reading by pages and other times they assumed the role of a character, like in Yo! Yes! (Rachka, 2007). Other times, the teachers asked questions, creating op- portunities for the children to make connections between the books and their lives and to discuss the text with their peers. When sharing books like Drawn Together (Lê, 2018) and Gibberish (Vo, 2022), they also paused on specific illustrations to give children the time to take in the details, prompt children’s thinking by asking targeted questions, and wondering why the illustrator might have se- lected this design. During the read aloud of Little Treasures: Endearments from Around the World (Ongburn, 2012), a global book written in multiple languages, the teachers read aloud in all the lan- guages, and asked questions in either Spanish and English, or sometimes in both languages. For the teachers and researchers, these intro- ductory read aloud sessions provided crucial con- text for informing our next steps. As we watched and listened, we asked ourselves: 1. Do the children seem to be enjoying th book? 2. Do they understand the story? 3. What role are multiple languages playing in their experiences with the text? 4. Are they making personal connections? 5. What role are the illustrations playing in their experiences with the text? 6. What kinds of questions are the teachers asking that deepen their understanding and connections to the book? These guiding questions shaped our understanding of their initial interactions with the story. After FIGURE 1: Children’s Literature Resources SITUATIING LITERACY-RICH ENGAGEMENTS The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 9 we finished the read-aloud, the whole group split into two smaller groups (according to age), in dif- ferent classrooms, where children enjoyed a snack before moving into the re-engagement. Culturally Relevant Re-engagement In smaller groups, teachers revisited the pic- ture book to re-engage the children with the story and concepts explored in the book. These re-en- gagements lasted approximately 10-15 minutes and were especially important because they made texts/concepts more accessible to children as we explored and built upon connections between the read aloud and the children’s wealth of knowledge, previous educational experiences, conceptual un- derstanding, and language development (Chang et al., 2016). For example, Drawn Together (Lê, 2018) uses minimal text to tell the story of a boy who is dropped off for the day at his grandfather’s house. They do not share the same spoken language and the illustrations depict their differences and a slight tension as they try to eat together or watch tv. It is only when the boy brings out his art supplies that they begin to connect, as the grandfather is also an artist. With very different styles and materials, they parallel draw until their illustrations begin to inter- act and morph into something new. We knew that we needed to spend time un- packing the storyline. When we got back to the small group, one teacher revisited the art in the story, moving fluidly between Spanish and English, while wondering aloud. She asked questions like: 1) How did they know who was drawing? 2) What if the boy and the grandfather couldn’t understand each other? and 3) I wonder how they decided what to draw? The teacher turned to a different page and said “Look at all the colors. What do you see here?” as she slowly moved the book around the small group to give each child the opportunity to study the illustration. On another page, she asked the children how the grandfather and grandson looked like they were feeling? When they responded with “happy,” the teacher prompted them to think about why they were now happy. This re-engagement focused on the art, com- munication, and emotions, as we provided chil- dren with “multiple opportunities to hear and use language, emphasizing academic language use and discipline-specific terminology and discourse pat- terns,’’ (Ortiz et al., 2023, p. 2) which made the pic- ture book accessible to these young readers. These re-engagements also integrated additional strate- gies, beyond those mentioned in the Introductory Read Aloud, that encouraged children’s engage- ment, attention, and motivation such as exploring artifacts, engaging with sensory materials, and re- sponding through movement. Exploration After children re-engaged with the picture books, they moved into the exploration phase of the literacy experience that were intentionally de- signed to extend experiences and understanding of the stories. Chang, et. al (2016) noted that oppor- tunities for collaboration benefits bilingual learners as they “use language to construct meaning, show content understanding, and develop language” (p.16). Literature-based exploration builds critical knowledge and understanding, provides oppor- tunities for inquiry that is relative and interesting, and meets the diverse needs of readers, including bilingual learners, as they engage in meaningful ways with texts (Kiefer et al., 2023; Chang et al., 2016; Pappas et al., 2006). We designed a variety of engagements, arts- based or play-based, to further the children’s ex- periences with the picture book. For example, after reading Yo! Yes? (Raschka, 2007), children worked together to brainstorm ideas, movements, and body postures that they could or have used to greet peo- ple for the first time. The teachers photographed the children’s actions for further discussion around the power of non-verbal communication. After re- engaging with Drawn Together (Lé, 2018), children partnered together to paint a picture without using words, like the characters did in the book. Teach- ers then asked them follow up questions similar to those discussed in the relevant re-engagement. How did you decide what to draw? How did you communicate with each other? Similarly, once the children discussed Luli and the Language of Tea (Yang, 2022), they played in pairs without using verbal languages to relate to the experience pre- sented in the story. As part of the camp experience, it has been im- portant for us to share the children’s experiences with their families. Therefore, each year, the chil- dren’s artistic or multimodal responses to the an- chor text are connected to a larger documentation SITUATIING LITERACY-RICH ENGAGEMENTS The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 10 piece centered around a theme. This piece is sent home with the child on the last day of camp. One year, children created a life-size cultural x-ray (Short, 2009) that reflected the daily art-based en- gagements around prompts like “What do you like to play? What do you know a lot about? Describe your favorite outfit. What is your dream? What questions do you have?” (see Figure 2). In 2023, all explorations contributed to the creation of a portrait wall inspired by Mariana and Her Familia (Mancillas, 2022) capturing children’s responses to prompts such as “Draw a self-portrait. Create a pic- ture of your family. How can you say hi to someone for the first time?” (see Figure3). We believe that this three-pronged approach creat- ed rich opportunities for children to interact with texts and illustrations, deepening their understand- ing of and appreciation for literature. Insights from the Three-Pronged Approach in the K-1 Classroom Our summer camp focused on creating spaces for emergent bilinguals that serve as windows (Sims Bishop, 1990) into the children’ family experiences and funds of knowledge (Gonzalez, et al., 2005), particularly those around their linguistic reper- toires. These spaces also supported young emergent bilingual children in making sense of the complex picture books we explored during our time togeth- er. As educators of young children, we understand the importance and benefits of an interactive read aloud. Last year we were quite comfortable with the Introduction prong of the curriculum. However, we found ourselves digging deeper into the re-en- gagements and explorations with books, which is the focus of this section. The following strategies allowed teachers and researchers to collaborate and engage children in interpreting and understanding the experiences depicted in the literature. We share insights for creating spaces and opportunities that maximize the linguistic experiences and growth for emergent bilingual children. Reaching All Children Teachers demonstrate proficiency in adapt- ing instruction for emergent bilinguals when they ensure that the content is inclusive and compre- hensive for all children (Whitacre et al., 2021). At Camp Sunshine, teachers and researchers worked together to ensure children had access to the books by identifying conceptual ideas from the stories that the children could relate to or engage with particularly given the limited time available within the summer camp structure. Much of the negotia- tion of these ideas developed after the whole camp introductory read aloud, as teachers carefully ob- served the young campers’ engagement. For ex- ample, during the read aloud of Little Treasures: Endearments from Around the World (Ogburn, 2011), we noticed that the children had a hard time engaging with the story, possibly because the title is a concept book that offers no storyline. During SITUATIING LITERACY-RICH ENGAGEMENTS FIGURE 2 Emilio’s Self-Portrait FIGURE 3 Carmen’s Portrait Wall Note. Artifact created in summer 2022. Note. Artifacts created during her time at Camp Sunshine in 2023. The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 11 our re-engagement with the book, we decided to pay closer attention to Raschka’s illustrations and invited the children to mix watercolors to create self-portraits. Excited by the process of compar- ing their skin tones and mixing paint, the children were also more interested in sharing the names their families called them: mi amor, peque, coran- zoncito, hija, and name diminutives like Carlitos (after Carlos), or Carmensita (after Carmen). See Figures 4 and 5. During the re-engagement of Drawn Together (Lê & Santat, 2018) and Luli and the Language of Tea (Wang & Yum, 2022), we conducted a partial picture walk to co-retell the stories with the chil- dren. We focused on the emotions of the characters at the beginning and end of the story, the role of drawing and tea as individual but also collective ex- periences; as languages, and the characters’ ability to communicate without speech. For both stories we encouraged the children to “play a game” that consisted of inviting a peer to play without relying on verbal communication. We carefully framed the experience as a game because we wanted to stay away from the loaded implications of silence in an early childhood classroom. As the children played, they naturally communicated with ges- tures, eye contact, postures, facial expression, and sound effects like “um”, “um-huh” or “uh-uh” that allowed them to negotiate their rules and expec- tations of the play turns. We quickly realized that highlighting non-verbal communication and play as language reached all children because for a few minutes we placed the constant high expectations for expressive language on hold. This game encour- aged children to rely on the multimodal nature of play to actively engage in communication and meaning making even with the absence of much oral language (Wohlwend et al., 2022). Key Words as Windows into Children’s Experi- ences Camp Sunshine was designed to support emergent bilinguals in English and Spanish. One way teachers assisted children was by highlight- ing important vocabulary from the stories. These words served as windows into children’s linguis- tic and cultural experiences. Sometimes the book published in English included words in Spanish. For example, while reading Paletero Man (Diaz, 2021), Ms. Rosie asked, “does anybody know what the word vecindad means?”. Other times, the book published in English offered opportunities to high- light cognates, as in Luli and the Language of Tea (Wang, 2022) when the teacher explained, “hot wa- ter, they’re going to make tea, té”. Similarly, while revisiting Mariana and Her Familia (Mencillas, 2022), published in English, the teacher asked in Spanish: ¿Quién tiene primos o primas? When 4-year old Valentina responded “I got three primas, and that’s what they’re called, because in Spanish primas”, her translingual response showed that she can distinguish and understand both languages and she is also deeply aware of her bilingual and bi- cultural identities, and the pragmatics of languages as she explains why her primas are called (or must SITUATIING LITERACY-RICH ENGAGEMENTS FIGURE 4 Children Painting Note. Campers creating the tone that will best match their skin. FIGURE 5 Sheila’s Self-Portrait Note. Camper’s self-portrait using paint that had been mixed to match skin tone. The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 12 be called) primas instead of cousins. During this same interaction we learned that her abuelita Ce- lia lives in Mexico and as she stated, “I come from Mexico”. However, in 2023, Camp Sunshine welcomed Alice, a young emergent bilingual fluent in English and Mandarin, the latter being a language unfamil- iar to teachers, researchers, and the rest of the chil- dren. Therefore, we highlighted words in English, Spanish and Mandarin. Since only Alice knew Mandarin, we integrated questions about Manda- rin in broader conversations about other languages and countries to avoid unintentionally signaling her as a token for her home language or her Chi- nese cultural background. For example, while dis- cussing Luli and the Language of Tea (Wang, 2022), the teachers made several comments related to multilingualism and asked several questions about countries of origin. One of the comments infor- mally prompted Alice for confirmation, “I asked Alice’s parents how they say hello in their language and they said n� h�o ��”, to which she quickly re- sponded “right!”. In a similar interaction, the chil- dren had identified a bridge in the illustrations of Drawn Together (Lê, 2018). At that moment, the teacher provided the Spanish translation puente, and asked the group, “Do we know how to call this (while signaling the bridge) in Mandarin?” Alice responded, Qiáo �. We comfortably supported emergent bilin- guals in English and Spanish. However, when working with Alice, we appreciated statements reassuring that “Monolingual teachers are just as able as bilingual or multilingual teachers to enact a translanguaging pedagogy” (Brown, 2021, p. 143). In the future, as we welcome emergent bilinguals in languages other than Spanish, we will integrate additional strategies like translating the title of the book; learning key words of phrases that can facil- itate transitions or daily routines; conducting the introductory read aloud in English, followed by the re-engagement in Spanish; inviting family mem- bers to read or sing in their home language; cre- ating labels in the various summer camp spaces to signal key materials and areas; and, using technolo- gy such as Google Translate or artificial intelligence like ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2022) to understand the children but also for them to create meaning. Even though our camp is short, we can still be co-learn- ers with the children and provide time and space for them to engage in translanguage spaces (Brown, 2021). Finally, while many of our interactions with children were initiated in English, except with a few children who showed preference for Spanish, the camp itself started each morning with Hola, ¿qué tal? (Super Simple Español, 2018), a Spanish chil- dren’s song that integrates body movements such as aplaudir, zapaterar, estirar, agachar, dar la vuelta y saludar. Similarly, camp ended with Adiós, adiós (Super Simple Español, 2018). This shorter Spanish song emphasized aplaudir and zapatear as part of its contagious lyrics. Our hope with the strategies presented in this section was to create humanizing spaces that validate children’s bilingual and bicul- tural identities as they build incidentally upon their linguistic repertoires. Sensory-Based Experiences Sensory- rich play is known to support chil- dren’s brain development and memory (Gascoyne, 2011). Experiences with sensory materials can bring learning to life. The unstructured quality of sensory-rich play, where there’s no set right or wrong approach, offers an inclusive learning en- vironment ripe for fostering problem-solving, ex- ploration, and creativity. Sometimes we integrated sensory-based experiences as means to create win- dows into children’s family stories. For example, while revisiting Mariana and Her Familia (Mancil- las, 2022) we invited the children to use their hands to mimic movements made when flattening Mexi- can tortillas. Other times the sensory materials allowed us to plan multimodal experiences to create meaning- ful entry points to connect with the story. While listening to A Song of Frutas (Engle, 2021), we no- ticed the younger campers’ excitement for sharing stories about grandparents living in Mexico, El Sal- vador and the U.S., as well as fruits that they en- joyed eating or sharing with family. Following our observations, during the re-engagement with the story, we invited children to share about their fa- vorite fruits and explored these words in Spanish, English, and Mandarin. Aware of the importance of offering multiple means for engagement and ex- pression (Whitacre et al., 2021) we also incorpo- rated Play-Doh to encourage children to create the SITUATIING LITERACY-RICH ENGAGEMENTS The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 13 fruits we explored to foster attention, conceptual understanding, and fine motor skills. Similarly, while reengaging with Luli and the Language of Tea (Wang, 2022) children and teach- ers recreated the tea party scene from the book and built a structure with magnetic tiles using nonver- bal communication to share similar experiences as the characters in the book. The different materials allowed children to reenter the story world with artifacts that were relevant to their previous expe- riences and supportive of their cognitive and phys- ical development. Educators and Researchers as Co-Teachers Establishing respectful and collaborative rela- tionships among adults in a classroom is crucial for creating supportive learning environments for chil- dren. At Camp Sunshine, teachers and researchers collaborated as partners, appreciating and building upon each other’s expertise. Following Juuti et al., (2021)’s recommendation, we made an effort to ensure that everyone felt confident that their ideas and concerns would be listened to, and that feed- back would be helpful. As expected, we started each day with a lesson plan. However, as each day unfolded, we observed, listened, and revised our lessons to support the children’s experiences with the texts. Central to this revising process was the collaboration between teachers and researchers. Sometimes, researchers observed aspects during the introductory read- aloud (led by teachers) and shared their findings with the teachers; together they negotiated revi- sions for the re-engagement plans. For example, after observing the children during the read aloud of Gibberish (Vo, 2020), teachers and researchers noticed that one key experience from the book to highlight during the re-engagement could be the practice of building vocabulary through images (pictures) and repetition as depicted in the excerpt where Dat and Julie rely on drawings to help Dat learn words in English. To mediate this learning ex- perience Ms. Rivera recommended artifacts based on her vast knowledge of preschool classrooms, young children’s interests, and Spanish/English cognates that could support emergent bilinguals. Some of the items named in English, Spanish, and Mandarin included: a toy crocodile (cocodrilo), a rubber school bus, plastic cup of rice, a rose (rosa), among others. After this collective engagement, each child selected an item from the classroom to draw and label in different languages. See Figures 6 and 7. Once again, after careful observation of the children during the introductory read aloud of Mariana and Her Familia (Mancillas & Meza, 2022), teachers and researchers decided to high- light the role of family pictures across places like home, school, or on a phone, as illustrated in the grandmother’s wall of family pictures. With this idea in mind, Ms. Rivera invited the children to explore the wall of pictures of children and their families who attended that classroom during the academic year. This reference helped children no- tice that children and families can belong to many spaces, while creating a space for them to become familiar with a space that was new to everyone exc- FIGURE 6 Antonio’s Butterfly FIGURE 7 Alice’s Apple SITUATIING LITERACY-RICH ENGAGEMENTS The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals 14 cept Ms. Rivera. This process of revising and re- thinking together allowed us to engage in flexible thinking as we capitalized on one another’s per- spectives and expertise. Over the Camp Sunshine years, teachers and researchers have also exchanged general impres- sions regarding children’s responses to the overall structure of the summer camp. These observa- tions have prompted significant discussions about scheduling and the intentions behind each rou- tine. For example, in previous years, snack time (scheduled between the introductory read aloud and the re-engagement with the text) was utilized as a space where teachers and researchers contin- ued conversations about the story. After noticing children actively changing the topic of conversa- tion or remaining quiet to the prompts, the adults decided to rethink how we structured this time. In 2023, rather than asking reading comprehension questions during snack, the children ate, talked, and laughed in child-led interactions. The first day, we worried that the break would result in campers disconnecting from the story. Instead, we found the opposite. This time provided children with the space and time to process what they had heard and seen in the Introduction. In fact, we found that this transition provided a necessary disruption from the more intense focused thought required during the read aloud and the subsequent re-engagement with the story; a time to slow down and honor the flexible nature of summer camps. Conclusion Focusing on ways to create engaging literacy experiences for emergent bilingual children, that are anchored by high quality children’s literature, we believe the three-pronged approach described here is critical. When all three prongs of the ap- proach are employed, bilingual children are pro- vided multiple opportunities to connect with the text and engage in playful meaning making. Addi- tionally, finding ways to reach all children, high- lighting words that helped us learn a little bit more about the children, incorporating sensory-based play experiences, and engaging in collaborative and respectful relationships between teachers and researchers, were also pivotal to the camp experi- ence. 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