The following pages describe the main principles of emergent literacy instruction and relate them to key strategies and activities in the resource. A chart is also provided on the following page as a quick reference for teacher planning and program evaluation. The chart includes examples of some appropriate strategies. The resource contains other strategies not listed in the chart but is not an exhaustive compilation of all the strategy/activity possibilities in emergent literacy instruction.
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1. Show all children that you believe in their potential as readers and writers. Build self-confidence and self-acceptance.
The respectful relationships that you establish with your students and the warm and friendly environment that you create affect the learning of all children in positive ways. The importance of these practices is highlighted and suggestions related to them are given in boxes throughout the resource. The boxes contain a snowflake symbol as a reminder of the uniqueness and value of each child (k) and the fragility of many young children's developing confidence as literacy learners.
In addition, several of the strategies and activities in the resource are particularly related to supporting children's perceptions of themselves as readers and writers, and developing their self-confidence as learners. Examples of such strategies include Incorporating Literacy into Social Dramatic Play, "Signing In", Book Browsing, and Shared Reading. 2. Start where children are and scaffold their learning to help them achieve the next steps. "Scaffolding" is based on the importance of social interaction to children's learning.
As well, "starting where children are" includes building instruction from what children already know about oral language, reading, and writing. It requires teachers to respect the language the children bring to school and to use that language as a foundation for further growth. Each chapter of the resource begins with assessment tools designed to assess children's present literacy achievements and to decide upon appropriate level/s for instruction. Most of the strategies in the resource are multi-leveled in order to support the participation of diverse learners at their present level of development. 3. Provide a language-rich environment--one that is filled with things to write with, listen to, talk about, and read. A language-rich environment is one that is filled with meaningful print that is read regularly and incorporated into a variety of language lessons. It is also an environment that contains a well-stocked and maintained classroom library, a writing centre, a listening station, and many opportunities for co-operative learning and structured play. Read Around the Room and Word Wall are examples of strategies that make use of classroom print. Strategies such as Read, Talk, Act, Draw, Write incorporate opportunities for listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 4. Read to children daily from a variety of good quality poetry, fiction, and nonfiction books. A quality reading collection should contain a variety of genres and reflect the diversity of our society. Favourite books should be reread many times. The emphasis in this important routine should be on making the experiences enjoyable. The value of this practice probably cannot be overstated. An extensive body of research exists that supports the many benefits children receive from their involvement in daily (or more) story time experiences. These benefits are summarized in the chart that follows.
Chapter Two contains information, advice, and strategies related to developing interest in, and enjoyment of, books. |
"At first, many will draw; some will scribble; a few will make rhythmic patterns; some will write their names; a few will write words. Even just scribbling in their blank books will help children to develop important concepts (e.g., a book has a front and a back; pages should be used in a specific sequence). The work of Clay (1975) and Graves (1981), as well as the observations of many teachers, has shown (not surprisingly) that children learn a great deal about reading by composing their own written messages." (Cairney, 1990, p. 19) |
5. Provide many opportunities throughout the day for children to speak and listen within meaningful instructional routines, strategies, and activities.
Conversations with teachers and other adults, teacher demonstrations, and favourite stories that have been reread many times provide children with models of different sentence patterns, language registers, and language forms. In a supportive environment, children will incorporate these new words and patterns into their structured play, informal conversations, and daily writing. Advice and instructional strategies related to the development of oral language can be found in Chapter One. General listening activities are described in Chapter Three. As well, strategies and activities that integrate speaking and listening with reading and writing are found throughout the resource. 6. Incorporate daily writing beginning the first week of school. Teachers of young children can find many ways to incorporate meaningful writing activities into the school day. Teachers need to encourage children's first attempts at writing by focusing on their intentions and the meaning of their messages. The first step in becoming a writer is an attitudinal one of perceiving the self as a writer. Children who have received the kinds of supports for their writing that are described in this resource will move into the Developing Phase of literacy with an understanding of the need for conventional letter formation and spelling, and will naturally increase attention to these aspects of writing. See Chapter Four for ideas and advice for introducing Pre-K, kindergarten, and grade one children to the writing process and for supporting writing development in older learners in the Emerging Phase. 7. Capitalize on teacher demonstrations of the reading and writing processes to model the critical and creative thinking and questioning involved in literacy growth. Present a language model for children to emulate. Use language appropriately. Engage in reading and writing yourself. Talk about reading and writing strategies constantly as you read and write with children. Think out loud. For example,
Many of the strategies and activities throughout the resource contain other examples of "teacher talk" that are being used to demonstrate key literacy behaviours. 8. Develop daily and weekly language arts routines that incorporate Shared Reading, Independent Reading, and Guided Reading experiences designed for emerging literacy learners. For the youngest emergent literacy learners, Big Books and predictable books might be used as part of a Shared Reading routine that includes a brief focus on one aspect of the reading process on each occasion. An example of this would be a demonstration of tracking the words in the text from left to right and top to bottom as you read. As well, even the youngest learners can participate in independent selection and "reading" of favourite books. As children mature, Shared Reading time can be extended and a greater number of strategies and activities can be incorporated into it. As children move toward the developing phase, they should also be involved in Guided Reading with other children who are at approximately the same level of literacy development. 9. Use a whole, to part, to whole approach when developing phonemic awareness, graphophonic abilities, letter recognition, and an initial sight vocabulary. This process is also referred to as developing "skills in context". Such strategies and processes offer learners opportunities to:
Chapter Three contains a wealth of such activities and strategies.
As well, Chapter Four includes some strategies that make use of the whole, to part, to whole process. Most notable amongst these is the guidance offered in |
"[P]re-school visual experiences tend to differ from school experiences. In pre-school days children are constantly looking upon a wide view, viewing much and seeing or remembering little detail. In formal literacy instruction seeing must go beyond just looking: it must become a systematic search for precise information." (Clay, 1991, p. 39) |
10. Use an appropriate developmental sequence for developing phonemic awareness and graphophonic abilities. An appropriate place to start sound-directed activities is with a focus on environmental sounds. When children demonstrate that they are able to focus on and isolate specific sounds around them, phonemic awareness activities will be beneficial. In order to use their phonemic abilities for reading and writing purposes, certain key visual abilities also need to be developed. These include the abilities to track print; locate and distinguish between letters, words, and sentences; recognize letters; and develop an initial sight vocabulary. Attention to a developmental sequence is also important in the development of visual discrimination and the co-ordination of auditory and visual information needed for reading and spelling. |
"Happy, relaxed, stimulating relationships between children and between child and teacher promote growth of personality which in turn advances achievement." (Clay, 1991, p. 40)