Print, Print, and More Print!

During fall break, I was discussing with a friend some of the aspects of early literacy that we are taught and do not necessarily realize we were taught. While reading Chapter 5, I was again reminded of the aspects of reading and writing that we know as adults (and can do without thinking) but never remember learning them.

For example, actually learning the alphabet. I do not remember in kindergarten or before actually learning each individual letter or it’s sound. The chapter talks about several ways to go about teaching the alphabet like, doing tactile letters made out of sandpaper or fleece or having alphabet snacks. In the class I have volunteered in, I’ve seen alphabet cheez-it’s used. The children loved it and made words or found letters in their name. They were able to learn or reinforce learning while having a snack and reenergizing.

The chapter also talks about print-rich environments. I think a great example of this can again be seen in the classroom I volunteered in. On one of the back cabinets, the teacher had cut logos and made a collage of familiar print the children had contact with everyday. The logos included logos from cereal boxes, crayon boxes, movie titles, and fast food logos. In our Apple Tree classroom, the teachers have everything labeled- the window, the sink, and even the trash. This is another great example of a print-rich environment.

Word walls can also aid in print-rice environments. Word walls help students to recognize high-frequency words or challenging words. I’ve seen teachers who also allow students to pick words to include on the wall. While doing a read-aloud, the class might come across a word like “dazzle” that they find interesting and ask the teacher to add it to their wall. I think this allows students to draw connections between books and real life vocabulary.

On page 147, it talks about the idea of labeling content area topics as well. I know I’ve never personally thought to set up a display of what I’m teaching and labeling them. If you were teaching a lesson on apples, you could set up a display of the variety of apples and label each with their name. When teaching a lesson of farm animals, you could create a bulletin board with cut outs of different farm animals and their names.

As teachers, it’s our job to teach the beginning levels of literacy to students, in more than one way. What ways have you seen implemented in classrooms? What new ideas do you have?