Literacy Digs!

LIteracy digs is a great way to get children invested in the community and create community involvement while teaching important concepts to children. You can pick any place in the community to do a literacy dig. The Goodwill is a great spot to do a literacy dig. Children can observe the environment and the literacy that goes on there. Children view the environmental print and how the customers interact with it. Children learn about the donation process and how it contributes to the community. They will also learn how donation gives back and who it affects. Literacy digs could be the start of creating a project based learning experience.

What is Literacy?

What is literacy? It seems like a simple question. Merriam-Webster defines literacy as "the quality or state of being literate; especially the ability to read and write" (Merriam-Webster, 2007). Most children would define literacy the same way. Literacy is much more than just reading and writing. Children understand and know more about literacy before they every enter a classroom. Environmental print is all around them. Children know the sign for McDonalds, Target, Starbucks, etc. They reading and recognizing print before they know about letters, blending sounds to form words, and writing. Another form of literacy is wordless picture books. With wordless picture books children are able to read a book and understand what is going on without the stress of sounding out words to read. The pictures tell the story and can depict some difficult concepts that children are able to understand.

Author Shaun Tan uses a wordless picture book to depict an immigrant's journey to a new land and the struggle to survive. Here a deeper concept is easily understood and depicted through pictures. Literacy in the form of pictures goes beyond reading and writing.

Exploring Writing in the Classroom

Already Ready: Nurturing Writers in Preschool and Kindergarden by Lilian G. Katz discusses the importance of having a well rounded literacy experience. It especially delves into the topic of read alouds. Children today often read books in their childcare settings, but what they aren't learning is who wrote the book and who drew the pictures. It is important for teachers and caregivers to introduce who the author and illustrator are of a book. It helps children relate to the book and to know that someone wrote the book and maybe they might want to be writers or illustrators too. As teachers it is important for us to talk about all the components of a books for instance the people who make books, what makes a picture book, a picture book, talk about different kinds of books, the purpose for books, and the decisions writers and illustrators make. When children are learning about these components they are learning about new opportunities for themselves.

Another great book that talks about developing literacy with children is Castle in the Classroom: A Story as a Springboard for Early Literacy by Georgia Heard talks about developing certain characteristics of a story for example plot, setting, characters, etc. In the book it talks about a teacher who converted her one classroom into a literacy experiment. The children broke off into groups and chose certain scenes to depict such as a castle, forest, and a beanstalk. Through this real life experience the children explored the setting, developing the characters, and writing the plot for their stories. The children learned about all these aspects through a hands on experience. I think this is very doable in a preschool setting. Children are learning through play and developing literacy and writing skills in a fun and unique way.

Children and Technology

In this day and age technology is everywhere and children are starting to use technology from a very young age. Toddlers are using Ipads and computers to play games, draw, and talk to grandma. Some are wondering, is it too early for children to use Ipads and computers at such a young age? Is it appropriate?

It depends on the reasons behind it. If teachers and parents are using technology as a replacement for interaction then yes it is inappropriate. But if they are using it as a learning tool, then it may be okay. While computers and Ipads don't take the place of the teacher or hands-on learning it is an alternative to conventional methods of teaching. There are so many applications and programs for children that are age appropriate and geared toward learning that children and teachers can use in the classroom and parents can use at home. There are programs for letter recognition, letter sounds, colors, numbers, math, science, social studies, art, etc. The uses of technology are endless.

There has to be a balance. Children learn so much through play with their peers and their environment. Children can also learn a lot through technology. Teachers and parents have to find that balance between the two. Technology can be use to extend a child's learning experience or to present material in a new way. Children also need to get out there and get their hands dirty and learn through doing.

So parents and teachers get out there and find that happy medium and learn with your kids!

Literacy- Enriched Play Centers

Literacy-enriched play centers are an important part of the classroom and to children's development. Creating literacy- enriched centers is simple. Below are several ways you can incorporate them into your classroom.

                                                         Art Gallery
                                   
     - Invite an artistic person into the classroom. This could be a parent, family members,
       museum curators, exhibit designers.        
     - Tour an art gallery or museum.
     - Share literature that focuses on art and artists from multiple cultural backgrounds.
     - Create an area that the children can use to showcase their art.
     - Have children present multiple works of art.

                                                       Construction Site

     - Tour home-improvement stores
     - Visit construction sites
     - Invite architects, designers, construction workers., plumbers, electricians, etc to come speak
     - Create an area for children to role play
     - Provide hard hats, tool belts, safety glasses, toy trucks, bull dozers, dump trucks, tools, boxes
       to use to build, writing utensils and paper for blueprints
     - Books about construction

                                                        Space Station

     - Visit websites about space stations
     - Share books about space, pictures
     - Provide items to make telescopes (paper towel rolls, cylindrical items)
     - PIctures of outer space, starts, planets, galaxies, etc
     - Boxes for making space ships, tin foil, paint, stickers, etc.
     - Paper and pencils for the children to draw maps, plans diagrams

                                                      Weather Station

     - View weather programs, videos
     - Listen to weather reports, radio
     - Provide students with websites to visit to view weather, record weather, observe weather
       around the world
     - Place a table and a magnetic white board or chalkboard near a window
     - Provide maps, video cameras, magnets and pictures of weather with weather words
     - Books about weather
     - Paper and pencils to observe and record the weather

Literacy is all around us in different forms. We use literacy in our daily lives, to do our jobs, to imagine, remember, and to function in general. Why not incorporate them in new inviting ways for children. Literacy-enriched centers provide children with a new opportunity to explore literature.

Discovery Through Read Alouds

Reading aloud to children is so important for their literacy development. During read alouds you are modeling so much. For instance, you are modeling how to hold a book, how to read from left to right, how to read with inflection, how to ask questions and reflect on what you have read etc. There are countless things children pick up on before, during, and after reading a book. Here are a few things to consider when reading with a child.

Before Reading:

Look at the Cover: What do you see on the cover? What do you think the story is going to be about? How can you tell?

Talk About the Pictures and the Text: Flip through the pages and have the children tell you what they see. How is the text arranged? Do you think this will be a long story or a short story? Are there any words that you don't know?

During Reading:

Make Predictions: After reading a few pages, stop and see if the students can predict what happens next. See if the students recognize a pattern.

Synthesize and Summarize: Ask the children what has happened so far? This will help with comprehension. If some students are having trouble remembering, pair them up with another student.

After Reading:

Making Personal Connections: Have you heard a story like this before? Has something like this happened to you? What part of the story did you like? How did you feel during a certain part?

So pick up a book and start reading to your children and see what they discover!

Voices in Early Literacy

Continuing on from last week, in order for children to develop a love of reading they need to be interested in the books they read and be able to relate to them. Freedom of choice is the most important aspect of developing literacy. A great way to introduce new books and create interests in children is having read-alouds. When teachers read aloud to their students, students can develop connections to the readings.

Children respond to texts in a variety of ways. For example:

Personal Connections: Children draw from their personal experiences. If you are reading book about animals in a zoo, a child might chime in saying, “I went to the zoo with my mommy and we saw the penguins and tigers!”

Predictions: Children can expect what is going to happen next in a story if they can find a pattern. Take for instance the story of The Three Little Pigs, after the wolf visits the house of straw and is able to blow it down he goes to the house made out of sticks. The children can predict that the house isn’t sturdy enough and the wolf will be able to blow the house down.

Evaluations of Books: Children know if they like a book or not and they often express their views. A child may really like the story of The Three Little Pigs while another child does not.

Play with Language: Young children often take things literally. For instance an example given by Judith Wells Lindfors in her book Children’s Language stated that a child mentioned a book should be heavy

Acting Out/ Dramatizing: Children can take a book or story to a whole new level by acting it out. Children can create the story of The Three Little Pigs by making houses out of items found in the classroom such as blocks. By acting it out children gain a different perspective on the story.

These are just a few of the ways children respond to texts. So pick a book and read it aloud and see what your child can discover!