Emergent Literacy

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Emergent Literacy
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Supporting Emergent Readers and Writers

• Print-Rich Environment
• Concept of a word
• Environmental Print
• The Morning Message
• Literacy Play Centers
• Big Books Predictable Books (repetitive, rhythm
  and rhyme, sequential patterns)
• Creative Dramatics
• Shared-Book Experiences
• Reading Buddies
• Traveling Bags of Books

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Concepts of Print

• Book-orientation concepts
• how to hold books and turn pages
• Directionality concepts
• print is read from left to right and top to
  bottom
• Letter and word concepts
• Identify letter names, upper and lower case,
  capital letter begins a sentence, space marks and
  boundaries between words and sentences

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Concepts about the Alphabet

• The letters name
• Formation of letter
• Visual Discrimination
• Direction of the letter
• Use of the letter in common words
• Sound in isolation
• Letter in combinations
• Letter in context

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Shared Reading

• Read aloud
• Appropriate for interest level
• Too difficult for independent reading
• Big Books/Charts
• Multiple readings of books

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Emergent Writing

• Writing is social
• Children observe parents and older siblings
  writing
• Begin to mimic what they observe
• Children confer with one another
• They talk to themselves
• Share their writing

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Stages of Writing Development

• Infants
• Grasping and holding writing utensils
• Making Marks
• Toddlers
• Scribbles
• Repetitive angular Marks
• Use drawing and writing to describe scribbles

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• Threes and Fours
• Begin to distinguish between writing and drawing
• Explore writing forms and become interested in
  conventional letters
• Begin to understand the functions of print
• Incorporate writing in to their play

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• Fives and Sixes
• Children begin to understand the relationship
  between sounds and letters (phonemic awareness)
• Know a few letter sound combinations (
• Combine writing and drawing to create a richer
  message

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Guidelines

• Accept childrens forms of writingdoes not have
  to look like adult writing
• Allow children to share
• Let them write their names
• Use writing to communicate
• Make writing materials available
• Provide time for children to write

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Invented Spellings

• An attempt to spell a word whose spelling is not
  already known, based on a writers knowledge of
  the spelling system and how it works (Harris
  Hodges, 1995, p.123)
• Children use their knowledge of letter-sound
  relationships
• Teachers observations of childrens invented
  spellings give them insight into their phonemic
  awareness

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Purposeful Writing

• To communicate meaning
• Pen-pals
• Individual mailboxes
• Centers (post office, office center, restaurant
  center, grocery center)
• Journal writing (children can write or draw)
• Writing center- variety of paper and writing
  utensils

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The value of writing activities

• Students can not remain passive learners when
  engaged in writing activities related to content
• Writing activities demand participation by every
  student, not just those who volunteer
• Writing activities quickly demonstrate whether
  students understand a topic

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Some Guidelines

• Writing in the classroom should be frequent and
  varied
• Every writing does not have to be graded
• Writing activities can be short and
  non-threatening
• Writing activities should have a real and
  immediate audience (the audience should be more
  than simply the teacher)
• Publish and Celebrate your students writings
• Writing does not always have to be an essay or a
  summary

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Writing Assignments

• Effective writing assignments are essential
• (e.g., bad assignments yield bad writing)
• Set purpose
• Topic or Possible Topics related to Content
• Audience (who will read or hear writing)
• Possible modes or formats (e.g., essay, letter,
  poem, etc.)

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The Writing Process

• Pre-writing
• Drafting
• Revising
• Editing
• Sharing and Publishing

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Handwriting

• Many teachers no longer stress consistent
  penmanship for every student.
• Traditionally handwriting was considered an art
  form
• Modern handwriting does stress legibilitywell-for
  med letters, consistent slant, and proper spacing
  of words.
• Modern handwriting considered a tool for
  communication
• Different teachers use different styles

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Instruction

• Involves
• Readiness activities
• Correct sitting posture
• Correct letter formation
• Proper spacing
• Alignment
• Uniform slanting of letters