Building a Reading Foundation Teresa Gore

Preparing Children to Read Phonological Awareness Print Awareness Letter knowledge Print Motivation Vocabulary Narrative Skills “ The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. This is especially so during preschool years.” From: Becoming a Nation of Readers

Phonological Awareness Phonological awareness, also known as phonemic awareness, is not new to the field of literacy. For over fifty years studies of the relation of a child’s awareness of the sound of the spoken language and their ability to read have been assessed. Recent studies have determined that there is a correlation between a child’s phonemic awareness and the success in learning to read. In a closer look, a kindergartener’s phonemic awareness appears to be the best single predictor of successful reading acquisition.

Phonological Awareness Phonemes-smallest part of an individual sound Graphemes-The smallest written part of a language (p, b, s, or ch,sh) Onset and Rime-These are word chunks that are bigger than phonemes, but smaller than word syllables in a word. The onset is the beginning consonant sound in a word, while rime is the part that follows that contains the vowel. (Like chop, ch is the onset, and op is the rime.) Digraphs- These are two letters that represent one phoneme, or sound in a word. (Like ch in chop) Blend- These are phonemes that have been blended together in a word. (Flag: f and l are separate phonemes, but in the word flag the blend together.) Starts with the knowledge of sound

Phonological Awareness Phonemic awareness is not phonics, it more of an understanding of the spoken language. Children who are phonemically aware can tell that a three letter word like cat is represented by three separate sounds. Also word like cart, if you left the last letter off, you would have car. While Phonics is the understanding of the relationship between specific printed letters as well as specific sounds. A phonic understanding would be if they knew what letter was the first one in the word cat. Phonological awareness teaches children that spoken words are made up of smaller speech units.

Phonological Awareness Class Application Nursery Rhymes and Riddles- Where sounds are manipulated and children can become more sensitive to the sound structure of language. Read Aloud books- Where books are used that draws a child’s attention to the sound structure of spoken language. Invented spelling - Practice with sounds Songs – Sing songs with different notes Poems – Rhyming, as well as others Manipulating phonemes –Making new words Rhyming Games- Ask what rhymes with words in a story Syllables- Clap the syllables in words as a group to the to the

Print Awareness Awareness of print helps children to understand language to print as well as understand that print is useful.

Print Awareness Class Application Read Aloud Everyday Print- Things like menus, signs, lists. Point out Print- Point to words as you read them, in books, ads, especially words that repeat Books- Let the children turn the pages, try holding the book, or even tell you the story. Book Position- Hold the book backwards, upside- down, try and see if the children can find your error

Letter Knowledge By knowing the names and sound of letters encourages children to figure out how sound works.

Letter knowledge Class Application Reading-Point out letters while reading, read ABC books with letters and clear pictures Writing- Write letters in the air, or on a board, talk about the shape Practice- Make letters out of clay, trace with finger, practice writing Manipulation- Use letter cut outs, letter magnets, have children try and put the letters in their name in the right order

Print Motivation Getting children interested in books will create an interest in learning to read

Print Motivation Class Application Book Sharing- Make book sharing a special time, get the children involved in the stories by asking questions, making predictions, figuring out patterns, or repeating lines Books- Have a variety of books in your class, both fiction, and nonfiction as well as incorporating books of children’s individual interests Reading- Read things throughout the classroom, as well as objects in the class Class books- Create books with the class using their ideas and model writing the words down that they say

Vocabulary Increasing vocabulary helps children understand what they are reading, as well as recognize written text. “Vocabulary is learned from books more than from normal conversation with adults of children or from television exposure.”(B. Hart and T.R. Risley) Reasearch shows that children with bigger vocabularies are better readers.

Vocabulary Class Application Talk- When you talk, children are picking up vocabulary. talk about a variety of things, as well as feelings Ask your child to give more details, or ad details to what they say to you Read- Every day, as well as a variety of genre, Ask questions about the text and the pictures Question- Look at thing around you ask questions, as well as trying to find words that mean the same thing

Narrative Skills Being able to tell stories as well as retelling stories helps children understand what they read; increasing comprehension

Narrative Skills Class Application Tell stories- Both from books, as well as from memory -Ask questions -Make predictions -Do retells -Talk about story order; first, middle, last - Reread a familiar book, take turns telling it - rewrite a familiar story with the class, model writing in front of the class

Activate Their Minds With these six building blocks: -Phonological Awareness -Print Awareness -Letter Knowledge -Print Motivation -Vocabulary -Narrative Skills We are creating an environment enriched with the skills for successful readers.