Making Print Pop!

Print awareness refers to a child's understanding of the nature and uses of print. There are several ways that you can make your child aware of print. When reading books, point to the words and follow along with your finger. You can also point out the words on signs when you’re out and about in your daily life. Recognizing that print exists is an important pre-reading skill because children need to realize that print is there for a reason, it is separate from the illustrations, it is organized in certain ways, and it represents the words and the sounds we say when we talk. In fact, a study found that when teachers did brief print awareness activities when they read, their students became much more attuned to print concepts, and two years later, “[c]ontrolling for fall of preschool emergent literacy skills, children in the high-dose STAR condition had higher word reading, spelling, and comprehension outcomes than children in the comparison condition.”

Guest post by Sarah H. 

We've Got Skills...Narrative Skills!

In order for kids to be able to read, acquiring certain pre-reading skills is essential. Possessing strong narrative skills--the ability to describe things, put events in order, and retell stories--is important for reading success. Helping your child develop narrative skills is something that you can do early on, even when your little one is a baby. Here are some easy ways to help develop these skills at different ages:

Babies: When your baby is babbling and cooing, talk to him and add more words to it. It’s okay that you don’t know exactly what he’s saying!

Toddlers: As you go through your day, narrate for your child. Hearing you talk in detail about what you’re doing will help her understand how to order events. For example: “Let’s brush your teeth. First we’ll get your toothbrush. Then, we’ll need to find the toothpaste and unscrew the cap. After that, we’ll squeeze a little onto your brush. Now we’re ready to clean your teeth!”

Preschoolers: Encourage your child to retell stories after you read them. Not only does doing this help to strengthen his narrative skills, but it also gives an indication of his comprehension level. If he’s having trouble, you can prompt him: “How did the story start? Then what? What happened next? How did it end?”

By assisting your child in developing narrative skills, you’re not only helping her get ready to read, but you’re also making it easier for her to express herself.

Narrate Your Day!

In order to understand what they read, it’s critical for children to possess narrative skills, the ability to retell stories. Developing these narrative skills is something that can start at a very young age, even before children learn to talk! Besides reading to your child, here are a few ideas of ways you can help your little one develop strong narrative skills:

-Narrate your day—talk to your child about what you’re doing as you’re doing it. If your child is old enough to talk, encourage him to do the same.

-Talk to your baby when she babbles or coos and add some more words to it. It’s okay that you don’t know exactly what she’s saying!

-Give your child extra time to answer questions. Hearing a question and formulating a response involves at least three different parts of the brain. Plus, kids tend to be slower, since they haven’t had as much practice answering questions as we have!

-Use household items as props for your child to retell a story.

-Encourage your child to draw pictures and then tell you about what is in the picture.

-Tell your child stories about when you were a kid.

-Practice dialogic reading by prompting your child with questions and engaging him in discussions while reading.

-Have your child retell a favorite story or one you’ve recently read together.

-Talk about what is happening in the pictures when you’re reading with your child.

-Ask your child to predict what might come next in a story.

-Summarize stories after you’ve finished reading them.

Giving your child these powerful skills early on will dramatically impact her future reading success!

More Than Words

When we’re reading to a baby who is unfamiliar with most of the words and pictures in books, we tend to naturally stray from the text, pointing out the objects that we see on the pages. As kids get a little older and already know the names of everything in the illustrations, it’s easy for us to just stick to the words on the page. Adding your own commentary and discussion, however, can be really helpful in developing vocabulary and narrative skills, both of which are extremely important in getting your child ready to read.

When you’re reading, talk about the pictures and describe what’s going on. If you can, relate it to something familiar to your child. For example, if it’s a zoo book, talk about a time you and your child were at the zoo together. Give your child time to respond and add his commentary. Ask him to make predictions about what will happen next in the book.

To boost vocabulary, talk about any new words you may come across in the book and define each new word, rather than replace it with one that your child already knows. This is also a great opportunity to use new vocabulary words to describe objects or events in the book.

No matter what age your child is, spending a little extra time with a book--reading more than just the words on the page--can have a huge impact!

There Are WORDS on This Page?!

The illustrations in picture books are often times what attract kids to them. So, it makes sense that when listening to you read a story, your child will primarily focus on the pictures. And, when she’s not looking at the pictures, she’s probably watching you as you read, especially if you’re an animated reader. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with looking at the illustrations and your amusing facial expressions, looking at the print on the page can really help your child learn valuable information about letters, sounds, and words. Here are some tips for helping your child notice and learn from the text:

 -Simply run your finger under the words as you read them. This will help your child see the relationship between the spoken and written words. If you don’t want to do this for the entire book, you can just point out certain parts, like when a character is speaking.

 -Talk about the different parts of the book when you read it. On the cover, point out the title, author, and illustrator and describe what they are. As you read, show your child where you begin—on the left side, at the top—and how you move from there.

-Point out different letters that you see. Your child will get excited to find ones that she knows, like the first letter of her name. It's also a good way to teach her letters with which she’s less familiar. In addition, you can talk about lowercase and uppercase letters and show how they look different in the book.

Doing all of this will contribute to your child’s print awareness and can have a big impact on her future reading success. Hopefully she'll soon begin to notice that there are, in fact, words on the pages of her books. J

What Can a Crane Pick Up?

 

Having spent countless hours reading to several nephews who are really into cars, trains, and trucks, I’d say that I’ve read my fair share of stories about construction vehicles. Though these books don’t tend to be my personal favorites, over the years I’ve found some really cute ones that I do love to read. Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s book, What Can a Crane Pick Up?, is one of my new favorites. (It’s also a perfect one to read during our “Dig into Reading” Summer Reading Club, which I’ll tell you more about in next week’s post.)

This rhyming book asks and answers questions about what a crane can do. It discusses some normal things that a crane might pick up: wood, steel, and bricks. It also includes some pretty silly ones: “Can a crane lift men in business suits? Yes! And a load of cowboy boots.” The illustrations that go along with the funny ones are pretty hilarious, too.

Rhyming is such an important pre-reading skill, since it allows for the smaller sounds in words to be heard. So, why not have a little fun after reading the book by helping your child come up with other rhyming things that the crane could pick up? Together, you could even write them down and illustrate them, as though they were additional pages in the book. If you and your kids come up with some fun crane rhymes, I’d love to hear them!

In the spirit of rhyming, I’ll send you off with my own attempt:

If you want to have a little fun,
Read this story on construction.
Come to the library and get this book.
If you can’t find it, we’ll help you look.
It’s really silly, and there’s no doubt,
It’ll give you lots to talk about.
Then create your own silly pages.
With any luck, you’ll be laughing for ages.

Don’t worry; I don’t plan to quit my day job. J

Be Aware!

 

Print awareness is a broad term that includes the understanding that print has meaning, the knowledge of how to handle a book, and the idea that print is all around us. Print awareness is a really important pre-reading skill and is one that you can work on without too much effort as you read with your child.

Babies can learn to turn pages of a book. Even if it takes a little longer to finish the book, it’s worth the wait, since it helps them understand how a book works. Board books are great for this because they're so sturdy. In addition, when you’re reading to them, you can show them that pictures and words represent actual things. For instance, if you’re reading about a truck, point to the truck in the book, and then show them an actual toy truck.

With toddlers, turn the book backward or upside down and see if they notice. Even if you haven’t talked about the proper way to hold a book, chances are they will know that something isn’t right. If not, show them the correct way to hold it and how the pages can be turned when you’re holding it the right way. Another great way to help your toddler develop print awareness is to point to the words as you’re reading them. This will help them to understand that the written words represent the words you are saying, and you’d be surprised at how much doing this little thing will help them to learn to read words.

Your preschoolers love seeing their names written. When they draw pictures, write their names on them. Point out each of the letters and say their names as you're pointing to them. Also, when you're in the car or at a store, make sure you point to signs and writing on products. Realizing that print is all around us is important for these little ones.

Doing these LITTLE things with your children really can make a BIG difference in their journeys to become successful readers!

Two Little Monkeys

From beloved author, Mem Fox (Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes), comes Two Little Monkeys, a story of two playful monkeys named Cheeky and Chee. The book begins with Cheeky and Chee playing together happily before spotting something dangerous lurking nearby in the tall grass. Luckily, the two little monkeys were close enough to a big tree to get farther away from the danger, a leopard on the prowl. The rest of the story tells of them hiding in the tree and leaping through the branches before finally escaping the leopard altogether. 

In addition to the exciting plot and cute illustrations, this book makes for a great read-aloud because of the repetition and rhyming that it has throughout. The repetition will help your child familiarize himself with the book a lot faster, and he’ll probably soon be joining in, finishing the sentences. In addition, reading rhyming books really helps your child hear the smaller parts of words. Being able to rhyme helps develop phonological awareness, or knowing words are made up of sounds. This is a great pre-reading skill. So, when you’re reading this book (or any rhyming book), make sure to really stress the rhyming words.

I hope you and your silly, little monkeys enjoy reading this as much as I did!

Mix It Up With Non-Fiction!

For most, when we picture reading to youngsters, we think about reading fictional picture books. Reading these books to your kids is fantastic and extremely helpful for your child’s development. I would, however, like to suggest adding to that. When your child is only a couple of years old, he is already starting to show interests. He may love trucks, animals, sports, or any number of other things. Why not read him factual books on his favorite subjects? Reading a non-fiction book about one of your child’s favorite topics will not only provide him with more information on a subject he enjoys, but it will undoubtedly introduce him to new vocabulary. In addition, the way the pictures and words work together in non-fiction books helps children to see that the words on the page are represented in the pictures they see. This is a helpful pre-reading skill.

I have a nephew who was obsessed with “minna minnas,” known to most as cement mixers J, when he was about 2 years old. A book like Concrete Mixers, by Linda T. Williams, would be a great one for kids with a similar interest. It’s written clearly, filled with great information, and has lots of photographs, too. That particular book is also part of a series called Mighty Machines. So, if your child really likes that book, he’d probably also enjoy others in that series.

If you’d like to start reading non-fiction books to your child but aren’t sure where to begin looking for ones he’ll enjoy, just stop by the library. Our librarians are always ready to help and would love to assist you in finding the perfect book to get started!