Alphabet Chart with Photos and Environmental Print



| | |

|Alphabet Chart with Photos and Environmental Print |Goals Addressed |

| | |

|Create an alphabet chart that (a) captures literacies that children know as they enter school (their names, |Developing children’s alphabetic knowledge |

|friends’ and teachers’ names, and print in their home/community worlds) and (b) becomes an important resource | |

|for children throughout the year as they read and write. |Developing children’s print awareness |

|With the children, gradually develop this alphabet chart (one or two letters a day). The children could work 1-1| |

|with the guidance of the teacher or teaching assistant to create the letters (Aa; Bb; Cc) on large sheets of |Building children’s |

|construction paper or pieces of poster board. |phonological awareness (rhyming, blending, |

|Take digital photos of each child and each teacher (eventually you could add their special area teachers, |segmenting) |

|principal, other people they know in the school). Print the photos out at 8.5x11 (BIG!). Work with the children | |

|to print their first names under their photos in very large letters. |Identifying and building on children’s |

|Take time during morning meeting each day to show a photo, ask the children who it is, practice thinking about |existing knowledge. |

|the letter and sound the child’s name begins with (or letter blend if that is the case) and then, with the | |

|child, post the photo under the appropriate letter. |Developing children’s identities as readers |

|Bring a basket or other container filled with literacies in children’s worlds – Walmart bag, McDonald’s bag, |and writers. |

|photo of the sign with the school’s name, photo of a stop sign, Cheerios box, etc etc. Be SURE these are items | |

|that the children actually know from their worlds. Take out pieces of environmental print and ask the children |Developing joy in being members of a print |

|to “read” them. Talk about the initial letter in that word, then decide where it should be placed on the |community. |

|alphabet chart and hang it below the photos under that letter. Encourage children to bring in environmental | |

|print of their own. |Developing the understanding that read and |

|Make a big book version of the alphabet chart. Make several small book copies and place them in centers around |writing are meaning-making processes |

|the room so children can read them and use them as resources readily. | |

|To get the full impact of this chart and these class-made alphabet books, it is critical that they are USED to |Developing the ability to use reading and |

|help children read and write throughout the day. This will happen if the teacher provides daily demonstrations |writing to communicate and to learn. |

|of how to use them, for example: | |

|“I want to write a story about a monkey. Hmmm. How do I write the word, monkey? Does it begin like any words I | |

|know? I know, it begins like Maria’s name. MMMM monkey. MMMM Maria. Where is Maria’s picture? Oh, it’s up there | |

|under that letter that looks like this. That’s the letter M.” | |

|OR as you’re reading to children in big books or other books: “Look at this word. It starts with the letter ‘M’ | |

|– How can we figure out what sound to make when we read that word? Do we know anyone whose name starts with the | |

|letter ‘M’? Let’s look on our alphabet chart under that letter ‘M’ – Yes! There’s Monica’s picture so that | |

|letter ‘M’ must make the sound we hear when we say Monica. Say, ‘Monica.’ So what sound should we make when we | |

|read this word in the book?” | |

| | |

|Independent Reading/Partner Reading |Goals Addressed |

| | |

|This is a time of day when children can focus on interactions with books and other texts in the classroom for a |Developing children’s alphabetic knowledge |

|focused period of time | |

|Start with five minutes and build up to longer periods when children can engage with books on their own |Developing children’s print awareness |

|While children are engaged with books, teachers can read 1-1 or with small groups | |

|It might be wise to provide time for children to choose a stack of books to have next to them as they read |Enhancing children’s oral language |

|For young children, independent reading time is usually full of the sound of children’s voices reading stories |development (vocabulary, expressive language,|

|from books to friends, teachers, older students, stuffed animals and so on. It is not a quiet time. |listening comprehension) |

|It is, however, a focused time. Children will learn to focus during this time through teachers’ (a) explicit | |

|demonstrations of what readers do and (b) affirmations of what children did do as readers during this time, for |Building children’s |

|example: |phonological awareness |

| | |

|Before sending children to read on their own or with partners, demonstrate what readers do when they read: |Identifying and building on children’s |

|How to open the book |existing knowledge. |

|How to turn the pages | |

|How to read the text AND the illustrations |Developing children’s identities as readers |

|How to read first the lefthand page then the righthand page, then turn the page |and writers. |

|How to find words that start like words they know | |

|How to select books they might like to read |Developing joy in being members of a print |

|How to stick with a book and reread if they want to |community. |

|After the independent/buddy reading time, teachers draw children together for a few minutes to: | |

|Celebrate that children were engaged as readers |Developing the understanding that read and |

|Ask children to share favorite illustrations, books, words |writing are meaning-making processes |

|Ask children to share places in books where they made personal connections or connections to other books (“this | |

|reminded me of”) |Developing the ability to use reading and |

|Ask children to share words they found that start like other words they know |writing to communicate and to learn. |

|Ask children to share words they found that have other features like other words they know | |

|Ask children to share books they loved by the same author | |

|Ask children to share books they loved by the same illustrator | |

|And so on | |

| | |

|Interactive Writing |Goals Addressed |

| | |

|Interactive writing is a way to support children in developing understandings of conventional writing by writing|Developing children’s alphabetic knowledge |

|with an adult partner or older student. | |

|It can be used effectively whole class, small group, and/or 1-1. |Developing children’s print awareness |

|To write interactively, teacher and child share the pen as the two of you (or teacher and the class or small | |

|group) think/talk through the process of writing together. This allows children the opportunity to “listen in” |Enhancing children’s oral language |

|to what a writer thinks about as he/she makes decisions about what to write and how to write it and to |development (vocabulary, expressive language,|

|participate as a writer with the teacher. |listening comprehension) |

|Begin by crafting the message with the children; figure out what it is you want to say. Then think aloud | |

|together about each decision you make as you construct the message: |Building children’s |

|“You wanted to write, ‘We went to the zoo.’ Let’s say that together, ‘We went to the zoo.’ How many words will |phonological awareness (rhyming, blending, |

|we need? ‘We – went – to – the – zoo.’ What is the first word we need to write? We. Hmmm, We. What letter do we |segmenting) |

|hear at the beginning of that word . . .” And so on, inviting children to share the pen (meaning that they will | |

|write some of the letters and you will write others) as you create the message. Invite children to be the |Identifying and building on children’s |

|“spacer holders” – to come up an hold their finger for a finger space between words. |existing knowledge. |

|Ask students to share the pen and writing interactively with you by drawing on what they know: | |

|“This word starts just like someone’s name we know. Let’s say the word and think about that, ‘Book.’ Yes, |Developing children’s identities as readers |

|Benjamin! Benjamin starts like book. Let’s say those words together, Benjamin, book. Benjamin, why don’t you |and writers. |

|come up and let’s practice a “B” for Benjamin and book in the practice box and then you can put it on our | |

|label.” |Developing joy in being members of a print |

|It is useful to create a “practice box” or a space on a dry erase board or piece of chart paper as you think |community. |

|through possibilities for writing the word/words with the class. Children can “try out” a letter or letters in | |

|the practice box before committing them to the message. |Developing the understanding that read and |

|Use Interactive Writing for a range of writing purposes: |writing are meaning-making processes |

|To write Morning Messages together. | |

|To construct class letters or memos |Developing the ability to use reading and |

|To construct class innovations on favorite books |writing to communicate and to learn. |

|To write about class trips or other experiences | |

|To label the room: Creating labels for areas and objects in the classroom by using interactive writing, makes | |

|students more a part of the process and ensures that the labels will not become merely wallpaper. | |

|Morning Message |GOALS ADDRESSED |

| | |

|Morning Message is usually written on a large piece of chart paper so that children can read it as they come in |Developing children’s alphabetic knowledge |

|to school and the class can read and examine it with the teacher during Morning Gathering Time. | |

|In its most effective form, Morning Message is something that children are anxious to read: “What did Ms. Brown |Developing children’s print awareness |

|write to us today?!!” | |

|Morning Message is authentic communication (not copied from a teacher’s guide, an actual message written to the |Enhancing children’s oral language |

|class); it is purposeful and engaging; it is written by someone who has something to say. |development (vocabulary, expressive language,|

|Morning Messages don’t talk down to children; they utilize real language that reflects, but extends what |listening comprehension) |

|children know. | |

|Morning Messages could also be written by: |Building children’s |

|The children with interactive writing support from adults or others |phonological awareness (rhyming, blending, |

|Family and community members |segmenting) |

|Other adults in the school; students from upper grades | |

|Put the Morning Message up before the children come in |Identifying and building on children’s |

|Start a routine so that children read the Morning Message (on their own or with a friend) as they come in the |existing knowledge. |

|classroom each morning | |

|At morning gathering time, make time to: |Developing children’s identities as readers |

|Read the Message together, pointing to the words as you read |and writers. |

|Read it again, encouraging the children to read with you | |

|Talk about the content of the message |Developing joy in being members of a print |

|Ask the children to listen for new and exciting words as you read, find those words and talk about them. |community. |

|Choose a couple of concepts to focus on, for example: | |

|Beginning letters and sounds: “I see a word that starts just like Jamie’s name! Let’s find Jamie’s picture on |Developing the understanding that read and |

|the alphabet chart. That letter above his name is called a “J” – J for Jamie. Do you see a word on Morning |writing are meaning-making processes |

|Message that has Jamie’s letter in it? That word is “jump” – let’s say “Jump” and “Jamie” – listen to what you | |

|hear at the beginning – Jump . . . Jamie. What letter makes that sound? YES! J. If you’re writing a story and |Developing the ability to use reading and |

|need to write a word that has Jamie’s sound in it, what letter do you need? J!! Like in – what was the word in |writing to communicate and to learn. |

|our Morning Message? Yes, “Jump” and where is that letter on our alphabet chart? What are some other words that | |

|start like Jamie and jump? | |

|The same strategy could be used to examine concepts like: | |

|Ending letters and sounds | |

|Chunks of words that are like other words they know | |

|New words we can use every day as we talk and write | |

|Punctuation, capital letters, and other concepts about print | |

|The Morning Message could be posted in the room for a week or so and then put in a flip chart collection of all | |

|Morning Messages. In this way, children can use the Messages as a resource when they read and write. | |

|During center time, one option could be to “Read the Room” - children, alone or with a friend, take a pointer | |

|and read past Morning Messages. | |

How can I help children learn and use

reading strategies?

Teach children to:

FIRST: Think to myself, “What would make sense here?” To figure out what makes sense, I can use these strategies:

o Check the picture for a clue

o Go back to the beginning of the sentence and start again

o Skip the word to see if I get a clue from the rest of the sentence

o Think about the story. Does it remind me of something that gives me a clue?

o Think about the story. Ask myself, “What is happening here?” Then try reading the sentence again.

THEN:

o Check the beginning of the word

o Do I know another word that starts like this word?

o Do I know anyone whose name starts like this word?

o Is there a word somewhere in our room that starts like this word?

o Check the ending of the word

o Do I know another word that ends like this word?

o Do I see chunks in the word that are like chunks in other words I know? I can cover up part of the word and try it.

Teachers: What can I say to help children as they read?

o Try it.

o Look at the picture. Let’s start the sentence again and see if the picture gives us a clue: “The mouse has a _______.”

o Look at the picture. What would you say to tell someone what the mouse is doing? Now, let’s read the sentence again.

o Read with your finger and match the words 1-1. Did they match? Were there enough words? Did you run out of words? What should we do?

o Look at the word. Where is the easiest part? Why is it easy? Where is the hard part of this word? What can we do to figure it out?

o What did you notice about what you just read? That’s great, you knew that ___________. But let’s look again, did you think about __________?

o Why did you stop? What were you thinking?

o How did you figure that out? Wow, that was a great strategy.

o I like the way you tried to figure that out. Here’s something else you can try.

o You got most of that right. There was one thing wrong in this line. You read ________ (reread and teacher puts finger under the words). Did that sound right? What was wrong? How do you know? Let’s figure out what it should be.

o After a child figures out a new word: What was the new word you read? Let’s read that sentence with the new word again.

Other ways to help:

o Say the word slowly and run your finger under it as you read.

o Transfer the task and ask the child to do it.

o Ask the child to close his/her eyes and see the word in his/her head (“Put it in your head/”)

o Ask the child to write it in the air, saying the parts as he/she writes.

| | |

|Shared Reading With Big Books or Messages, Songs/Poems on Charts |Goals Addressed |

|Shared Reading using Big Books or Morning Messages or Song/Poem charts can all utilize the same kinds of | |

|strategies. | |

|Shared Reading means that children share the reading with a more experienced reader and experience what it feels|Developing children’s alphabetic knowledge |

|like to BE the reader. | |

|Shared Reading can occur with the whole class, small groups, or 1-1. |Developing children’s print awareness |

|Initially, it is most effective to choose Big Books with predictable texts, but also read from Big Books that | |

|are informational (non-fiction), poetry, and rich language storybooks. |Enhancing children’s oral language |

|Some advice for Shared Reading: |development (vocabulary, expressive language,|

|Don’t allow any teaching connected to shared reading to become formulaic or “lesson-like.” When you lose |listening comprehension) |

|spontaneity and joy, you lose the opportunity to draw children into book worlds . | |

|Talk naturally and invitingly about the book cover, title, author, illustrator – but you don’t need to do this |Building children’s |

|every time. This can kill the whole notion of reading for children if it is done without excitement for the book|phonological awareness (rhyming, blending, |

|and if it is done as a rigid formula. |segmenting) |

|As you turn to the title page, you might point out and discuss: | |

|Words that are the same as words on the cover; read them with the children again; celebrate their reading. |Identifying and building on children’s |

|Illustrations that might give us a clue to the story |existing knowledge. |

|How you are turning pages from right to left and reading first the left page and then the right page. | |

|As you read the text: |Developing children’s identities as readers |

|Run your hand or pointer under the words as you read |and writers. |

|Stop to exclaim over language the author uses or illustrations that are particularly interesting or confusing; | |

|but don’t do this to the point of killing the book! |Developing joy in being members of a print |

|Stop to allow children to make connections to their own lives and to other books and to explain concepts and |community. |

|language that may be new to the children | |

|Point out words that the predictability of the text supports children in reading on their own |Developing the understanding that read and |

|As children become comfortable with the predictable nature of the text, hesitate in places where they can read |writing are meaning-making processes |

|the words before you do. | |

|After reading the text and coming to love it as a class, use language in the text to examine: |Developing the ability to use reading and |

|Words and word patterns (rhyming, segmenting) |writing to communicate and to learn. |

|How words are made (blending) | |

|Print concepts; punctuation; vocabulary | |

|Sounds in words in comparison to words children know | |

|Letters as they form words | |

|Use the alphabet chart with children’s photos and environmental print to support the reading; use this as an | |

|opportunity to teach children how to use multiple resources to help them as readers. | |

| | |

|Using Songs and Poems |Goals Adddressed |

| | |

|Songs and poems can be supportive of literacy learning in many ways. To be the most effective, recommendations |Developing children’s alphabetic knowledge |

|include: | |

|Choose real songs as much as possible – songs written by lyricists who write songs for grown-ups – the language |Developing children’s print awareness |

|is those songs more likely to engage and to extend knowledge. The complexity of sentence structure and use of | |

|the sounds of the language is more likely to speak to the intelligence of the children rather than speaking down|Enhancing children’s oral language |

|to them. |development (vocabulary, expressive language,|

|Introduce songs and poems first without the written text. Come to love them with your class as you exclaim over |listening comprehension) |

|your joy in the words, the lilt of the language, the melody, the rhythms of the music, the way words rhyme and | |

|start like words children already know (their names, etc) |Building children’s |

|Use songs as signals for gathering time (“As soon as you hear the music begin, begin singing along, clean up and|phonological awareness (rhyming, blending, |

|come to gathering time so that, by the end of the song, we are all sitting and singing together”). |segmenting) |

|Once a song becomes a part of the heart and soul of your classroom, bring in the words on a large piece of chart| |

|paper: “You know that song we love so much? Well, look! Here are the words to it!! Now we can sing them AND read|Identifying and building on children’s |

|them together”) |existing knowledge. |

|Once you’ve sung the song a few times, you can engage the children in noticing its textual features just as you | |

|do with Morning Message: |Developing children’s identities as readers |

|“I see a word that starts just like Jamie’s name! Let’s find Jamie’s picture on the alphabet chart. Look, there |and writers. |

|he is! That letter above his name is called a “J” – J for Jamie. Do you see a word on this chart that has | |

|Jamie’s letter in it? A J? Yes! Jamie, come up and point to it for us. Right! And that word – listen – it’s |Developing joy in being members of a print |

|“jump” – close your eyes and say “Jump” and “Jamie” – listen to what you hear at the beginning – Jump . . . |community. |

|Jamie. What letter makes that sound? YES! J. If you’re writing a story and need to write a word that has Jamie’s| |

|sound in it, what letter do you need? J!! Like in – what was the word in our song? Yes, “Jump” and where is that|Developing the understanding that read and |

|letter on our alphabet chart?” |writing are meaning-making processes |

|The same strategy could be used to examine: | |

|Ending letters and sounds |Developing the ability to use reading and |

|Chunks of words that are like other words they know |writing to communicate and to learn. |

|New words we can use every day as we talk and write | |

|Words that sound like other words | |

|As With Morning Message, song charts can be posted in the room for a week or so and then added to a flip chart | |

|collection of favorite songs. | |

|Individual songs can become books; the class can also create books that are collections of favorite songs. Put | |

|multiple STURDY copies around the room including at a listening center with CDs of the songs. | |

|Demonstrate how children can use the song charts and song books to support them when they read and write. | |

| | |

|Written Conversation |Goals Addressed |

| | |

|Written Conversations are just that – conversations in writing between two or more people |Developing children’s alphabetic knowledge |

|Written Conversations are great opportunities for children to experiment with what they are coming to know about| |

|letters, sounds, written communication, vocabulary, print concepts in the company of a more experienced writer |Developing children’s print awareness |

|With young children, some advice for most effectively using written conversation includes: | |

|Use one piece of paper and share it between those who are taking part in the conversation |Enhancing children’s oral language |

|Begin with a question or statement that reflects something you know the child might be interested in; it could |development (vocabulary, expressive language,|

|be a book you just read, a trip, a happening in the class or at home, another text in the class (building from |listening comprehension) |

|something in the Morning Message or song for example) | |

|Write so that the child is looking at the paper from a writer’s position (not looking at the text upside down). |Building children’s |

|Read aloud as you write your part of the conversation. |phonological awareness (rhyming, blending, |

|Give the pen/pencil/marker to the child and ask him/her to respond below your writing; ask him/her to read aloud|segmenting) |

|as she/he writes | |

|It helps to respond in a way that will help you remember later what it is that the child intends through his/her|Identifying and building on children’s |

|writing |existing knowledge. |

|Go back and forth in this way until the child tires | |

|Talk about what you are doing as you write (“How was your trip to Myrtle Beach, Jamie? Let’s see Jamie – I’m |Developing children’s identities as readers |

|going to look at the alphabet chart to find out what that letter looks like at the beginning of your name”) |and writers. |

|Accept whatever the child writes as WRITING | |

|Encourage the child to write in the best way he/she can and to use resources in the room to help him/her (“Where|Developing joy in being members of a print |

|can we find the letter that makes that sound?”) |community. |

|Know that with opportunities for regular written conversations, children draw from the feedback you provide in | |

|your responses. In conjunction with their learning across other classroom practices (shared reading, interactive|Developing the understanding that read and |

|writing, morning message, etc), children will begin to raise the level of sophistication of writing when given |writing are meaning-making processes |

|opportunities through written conversation. | |

|Engaging in a written conversation with each child at least once a week, provides an opportunity for teaching as|Developing the ability to use reading and |

|well as assessing. |writing to communicate and to learn. |

|Keeping a written conversation journal for each child through the year provides important documentation of that | |

|child’s growth as a writer. | |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download