Posts Tagged early literacy
August 13, 2009 at 8:18 pm · Filed under storytime, toddler time, toddlers ·Tagged Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?, early literacy, early literacy skills, narrative skills, story time, storytime, storytime activites, storytime songs, teddy bear picnic, teddy bear picnic activities
We invited our teddy bears on a library picnic today at storytime. Our early literacy skill of the day was narrative skills.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, little bear dancing, bear went over the mountain, Simon Says
Activities:
colors of Brown Bear Brown Bear (retelling of the story), teddy bear teddy bear, dress teddy for summer, going on a bear hunt, feed the bear puppet
Books:
Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: Narrative skills are the ability to describe things and events and tell stories. Good narrative skills lead to good reading comprehension.
aside #2: Being able to talk about and explain what happens in a story helps a child understand the meaning of what he or she is reading.
aside #3: Narrate your day, talk about some of the things you are doing. For example, say “First we‘ll buy this pancake mix, then we’ll go home and then we’ll make pancakes.” This helps children understand that stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Lane Library book information:
Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?
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August 6, 2009 at 4:10 pm · Filed under early literacy, storytime, toddler time, toddlers ·Tagged animals, early literacy, early literacy skills, fish, Fish Wish, ocean, phonological awareness, story time, storytime, Ten Little Fish, toddlers
We visited our friends in the ocean today at storytime. Our early literacy skill of the day was phonological awareness.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, the fish in the sea, chomp chomp oh no!, head shoulders knees and toes, 5 little fishes swimming in the sea, alphabet song, Simon Says
Activities:
shark goes chomp!
Books:
Fish Wish
Ten Little Fish
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: The early literacy skill we’ll look at today is Phonological Awareness. This means being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words—like hearing rhyming words, and being able to clap syllables or parts of words. Researchers know this is an important skill for later when your child begins to sound out words.
aside #2: linger over words when you read out loud, and have your child repeat words with fun sounds with you after you read them. And be sure to choose picture books that you can have fun reading out loud and sharing spoken language with your child.
aside #3: Books with rhyming text will help your child hear the sounds in words, which will build their phonological awareness skills. So when you choose books to read to your child, try to find some with rhyming text.
Lane Library book information:
Fish Wish
Ten Little Fish
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July 30, 2009 at 7:46 pm · Filed under storytime, toddler time, toddlers ·Tagged bath, bath time, early literacy, early literacy skills, phonological awareness, Spash!, Squeakly Clean, story time, storytime
There was lots of splooshing and galooshing (not to mention scrub a dubbing) today in storytime as we read and sang about taking a bath. Our early literacy skill of the day was phonological awareness.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, this is the way we take a bath, 1 little 2 little bubbles, head shoulders knees and toes, tail of the pig goes round, alphabet song, Simon Says
Activities:
dance with scarves to Bubble by Mommie, thumbs up rhyming game
Books:
Splash!
Squeaky Clean
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: Phonological awareness is the first component that supports the development of reading skills. It is the ability to hear and work with the spoken language, or the smaller sounds that make up words.
aside #2: Singing improves phonological awareness by breaking words into sounds and syllables, this helps children learn the correct letter sounds that are so important for speech and reading. One great way to have fun with singing is by adapting familiar songs and rhymes.
aside #3: When you read rhyming books aloud, pause before the last word in a rhyme and let the children guess what that word might be. Don’t worry if your children don’t guess the first few times. Books that allow children to participate in this way are great books for developing phonological awareness.
Lane Library book information
Splash!
Squeaky Clean
Bubble by Mommie–from the cd Mommie’s Dearest
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July 30, 2009 at 7:44 pm · Filed under storytime, toddler time, toddlers ·Tagged animals, Cows in the Kitchen, early literacy, early literacy skills, story time, storytime, vocabulary
Eek! There aren’t supposed to be cows in the kitchen! Today in storytime we read and sang about the wrong animals in the house. Our early literacy skill of the day was vocabulary.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed, head shoulders knees and toes, teddy bear teddy bear, You are my sunshine (w/cd), alphabet song, Simon Says
Activities:
bones no bones, what animal is hiding behind the curtain game, little mouse little mouse game
Books:
Cows in the Kitchen
How to Hide an Elephant in Your Room
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: One of the most important skills you can give your young children is a large vocabulary. Knowing lots of words, having a large vocabulary, helps children not only understand what they later learn to read, it also helps them recognize words when they later try to sound them out. Today we’ll see how the language of books expands your child’s vocabulary.
aside #2: Researchers have found that children with a large vocabulary, who have heard a lot of different words, find it easier to learn to read when the time comes. Do not replace unfamiliar words when you are reading to your child, use them and explain them if necessary.
aside #3: Talking about the books that you read and their pictures is a great way to help your child develop vocabulary skills. Be sure to build on the concepts presented and talk about the words that you learned at other times during the day too.
Lane Library book information
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July 16, 2009 at 6:42 pm · Filed under storytime, toddler time, toddlers ·Tagged early literacy, early literacy asides, early literacy skills, I Love Trucks, phonological awareness, Red Truck, story time, storytime, toddlers, transportation, trucks
We were going places today in storytime, as we read and sang about trucks and other vehicles. Our early literacy skill of the day was phonological awareness.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, head shoulders knees and toes, Old McDonald had a truck, wheels on the bus, she’ll be driving a (color) car when she comes, alphabet song, Simon Says
Activities:
let’s go on a trip in our truck, red light green light jumping, ‘what word starts with the ‘t’ sound game
Books:
Red Truck
I Love Trucks
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: Today in storytime we’ll talk about the early literacy skill phonological awareness. This is the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words, including rhyming and beginning sounds.
aside #2: Having your children hear and make the sounds of vehicles or of animals is a fun way to help them develop phonological awareness.
aside #3: Rhyming is one way that children learn to hear that words are made up of smaller parts. By saying, reading, and singing rhymes with your children, you are supporting phonological awareness. This skill helps them when they start to sound out words to read.
Lane Library book information
Red Truck
I Love Trucks
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July 14, 2009 at 7:53 pm · Filed under storytime, toddler time, toddlers ·Tagged animals, City Animals, early literacy, early literacy skills, If You're Happy and You Know It, jungle animals, print awareness, story time, storytime
Rawr! We had fun in a storytime jungle today, as we read and sang about jungle animals. Our early literacy skill of the day was print motivation.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, 5 little monkeys sitting in a tree, 1 elephant went out to play, eency weency spider (songboard), alphabet song, Simon Says
Activities:
march around the city to find animals, birds nest activity, jungle animal peekaboo, jungle animal beginning sounds
Books:
If You’re Happy and You Know it
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: Research shows that there are six early literacy skills that influence a child’s ability to learn to read. Today we will talk about print motivation, which is a child’s interest in and enjoyment of books.
aside #2: One way to encourage the development of print motivation is to make sure that you and child have fun while you read. Let your child see that you enjoy reading to them. Be sure to pick a time of day to read when your child will be relaxed and responsive. You know the best times of day for your child, take advantage of them and have fun reading a book.
aside #3: It’s good to find books that have that little something special that will help keep your child interested in reading the book. Pop-ups, books like this one where you can incorporate a song and motion, and books about things that your child really likes will keep them interested in the book as you read it to them.
Lane Library book information
If You’re Happy and You Know It
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July 14, 2009 at 6:11 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged color, colors, concepts, early literacy, early literacy skills, Mouse Paint, Ralph's World, Snappy Little Colors, story time, storytime, vocabulary
We were bright and shiny in storytime today, as we read and sang about colors. Our early literacy skill of the day was vocabulary.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, if you like the color___ clap your hands, this little piggie (for pink), you are my sunshine (for yellow), teddy bear teddy bear (for brown), alphabet song, Simon Says
Activities:
pretend paint pretend objects with certain colors, color dance with scarves to All My Colors by Ralph Covert
Books:
Mouse Paint
Snappy Little Colors (my personal book)
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: We talked about the early literacy skill vocabulary, or knowing the names of things. I explained that there is a clear vocabulary progression: things, feelings, concepts, ideas. Since color is a concept, the color words and their meanings can be difficult to grasp.
aside #2: Why develop your child’s vocabulary? kids need to know the meaning of words to understand what they are reading
aside #3: You know if you are reading a word correctly if you have heard it before, in other words you are sounding it out. The more words children hear, the more ready they will be to make connections when they read.
Lane Library book and cd information
Mouse Paint
Ralph Covert: Ralph’s World
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July 14, 2009 at 5:42 pm · Filed under early literacy, storytime, toddler time, toddlers ·Tagged bunnies, Bunny Fun, early literacy, early literacy skills, Overboard!, print awareness, rabbits, story time, storytime, toddler time, toddlers
We hip hopped our way through storytime today, as we read and sang about rabbits. Our early literacy skill of the day was print awareness.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, my ears are starting to wiggle, do your ears hang low, eency weency spider (songboard), alphabet song, Simon Says
Activities:
rhyming activity with -unny, little bunny little bunny
Books:
Bunny Fun
Overboard
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: We talked about the early literacy skill print awareness, which is an awareness of how books work. I explained that print awareness is how we know that we read the words on the page, not the pictures, and we read from front and back, top and bottom, left to right
aside #2: Choosing books that have interesting or larger type helps develop your child’s print awareness.
aside #3: I explained that I pointed to some of the words in the book, the ones with larger type, as I read them. This helps children understand that it is the words we are reading, which develops print awareness.
Lane Library book information
Bunny Fun
Overboard!
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June 24, 2009 at 3:46 pm · Filed under early literacy, toddler time, toddlers ·Tagged bugs, early literacy, early literacy skills, I Love Bugs, Spider on the Floor, story time, storytime, vocabulary
Eek! We got buggy with it today at storytime, as we read and sang about bugs. Our early literacy skill of the day was vocabulary.
Songs and fingerplays: (see song page for more information)
storytime song, open shut them, a hunting we will go, creepy crawly caterpillar, spider on the floor, here is the beehive, alphabet song, Simon Says
Activities:
butterfly butterfly
Books:
I Love Bugs
Spider on the Floor
Literacy info to adults:
aside #1: We talked about the early literacy skill vocabulary, which is knowing the specific names for objects and concepts
aside #2: Having a large vocabulary, knowing the names of things, is one of the skills children need when they later learn to sound out words. Books give us different words that those we use in conversation or that are on television, so choose a wide variety of books to read to your child.
aside #3: Prompting children to act out the meaning of words provides them with a fun and active way to learn new words and to practice their vocabulary skills (like pointing out objects and body parts during the reading and singing of Spider on the Floor)
Lane Library book information
I Love Bugs
Spider on the Floor
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June 16, 2009 at 7:09 pm · Filed under early literacy, fun with..., music reviews, parent stuff, preschoolers, school age kids, toddlers ·Tagged Barenaked Ladies, cd's, Dan Zanes, early literacy, Elizabeth Mitchell, Jim Gill, kids cd's, kids music, music, Peter Paul and Mary, phonological awareness, phonological awareness and singing, Ralph Covert, They Might Be Giants, Zak Morgan
Kids love music. And often they love to sing, move and dance to the music they hear (or even sometimes make themselves!)
Research has proven that listening to and participating with music is beneficial to kids in many ways, especially in the development of language and literacy skills. For example, how did most people likely learn their ABC’s? Almost certainly, we learned them by singing that oh so familiar song. Combining music with information stimulates the brain and makes that information easier to remember.
A child’s instinctive ability to listen and decode a song extends to reading. Just as they have sung along with a familiar song, so they will read along in a familiar book. The sense of rhythm obtained from listening to music will also help young readers to identify patterns, like rhyming words, which will help them learn to read. Because songs automatically break down words into smaller sounds through tones, singing particularly helps to develop the early literacy skill phonological awareness.
While the traditional songs of Raffi and Pete Seeger are almost always a popular choice with kids, there are many wonderful cd’s at Lane that will entertain the whole family. Be sure to check them out!
You Are My Little Bird — Elizabeth Mitchell Lane Library info
Ralph’s Word: Happy Lemons — Ralph Covert Lane Library info
Bloom — Zak Morgan Lane Library info
Jim Gill Makes It Noisy in Boise, Idaho — Jim Gill Lane Library info
No! — They Might Be Giants Lane Library info
Peter, Paul and Mommy — Peter, Paul and Mary Lane Library info
Family Dance — Dan Zanes Lane Library info
Snacktime! — Barenaked Ladies Lane Library info
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Storytime Kids 