Whether you call it “Show and Tell”, “Sharing Time”, “All About Me” or some other name, providing children opportunities to share information about themselves and their preferences is a classic classroom activity that offers a powerful way to develop early literacy skills, especially in young children. Encouraging children to bring objects from home and describe… Read more »
Tag: back to school
Classroom Design with Literacy in Mind
Designing early childhood classrooms that support literacy skills development requires thoughtful organization, intentional material placement, and establishing routines that include literacy activities. Let’s take a closer look at some strategies that create settings that support the development of children’s literacy skills: Label Items: Label children’s personal items and classroom materials with pictures and words. Labeling… Read more »
The “High Five” Early Literacy Skills
As you know, literacy is one of the most important aspects of early childhood development and includes what I like to refer to as the “High Five” early literacy skills: 1) phonological and phonemic awareness; 2) alphabet knowledge, 3) concepts about print 4) oral language and 5) early writing. The “High Five” early literacy skills… Read more »
Using Literacy to Celebrate Differences!
The early years set the tone for children’s feelings, beliefs, and ideas about those different from them. As shared in this previous blog post: https://blogs.iu.edu/earlyliteracy/2023/06/12/discussing-race-and-freedom-with-young-children/, the sooner these conversations start, the better. Supporting children to learn about the world’s diversity is especially important if you live and/or work in a mostly homogeneous community. Books are… Read more »