1 Early Literacy Learning Model: Additional Practice Exercises for Practitioners about Literacy-Rich Environments Distance Learning Events brought to you by the Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL)

What are additional practice exercises for practitioners? Created specifically for those who work in the early childhood classroom. Cover the four main components of the CELL early literacy learning model Utilize the Participatory Adult Learning Strategies (PALS) approach to learning 2

Additional Practice #1: Identifying Literacy-Rich Environments Choose two learning centers/areas in your classroom Create a list of all literacy-related materials for each learning center. 3

Additional Evaluation #1: Literacy-Rich Environments Of the materials listed, which were used in a functional way? How did the children use the materials? 4

Additional Reflection #1: Literacy-Rich Environments Using the Literacy-Rich Environment Checklist, reflect on what additional literacy-related materials could be included in your classroom. You can get the checklist from our tools page located herehere 5

Additional Practice #2: Identifying Literacy-Rich Environments Spend one morning or afternoon keeping track of how you model the functional use of literacy materials such as printed materials and writing tools for the children. 6

Additional Evaluation #2: Literacy-Rich Environments Create a list of: –The materials/activities that you used to model reading –The materials/activities that you used to model writing What was the frequency of the above events? 7

What is the importance of modeling the functional use of literacy-related materials for children? Was modeling the functional use of literacy- related materials a challenge? 8 Additional Evaluation #2: Literacy-Rich Environments

Additional Practice #3: Literacy-Rich Environments Let’s see what happens when you change the environment: –Introduce one new piece of literacy-related material to either the big block area or the sensory area. –Informally observe the chosen area over the course of a morning or afternoon. 9

Additional Evaluation #3: Literacy-Rich Environments How did the children use the newly introduced literacy-related material? What additional literacy-related learning activities occurred as a result of the new material? 10

Additional Reflection #3: Literacy-Rich Environments How would the activity have changed if a child had chosen a new literacy-related material instead of you? Why would there be a difference? In other words, if a child had chosen a new piece of literacy-related material do you think the interest would be stronger? Would engagement time have been longer? 11