"The home is the child's first school,
the parent is the child's first teacher,
and reading is a child's first subject."
-Barbara Bush​
Home Literacy Practices
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Below are home literacy practices that can be used with young children. Sharing home literacy practices with children help them develop the necessary skills to become great readers and writers!
Shared Reading (Temple, Ogle, Crawford, & Freppon, 2010)
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Purpose: To develop children's ability to understand written language, to expand children's vocabulary, and to encourage enthusiasm for literacy.
Materials: Children's book. (Rhyming books work great!)
Directions:​​
-Prepare a book to read with the child
-Begin reading the book (use your finger to point to the words as you read!)
-While reading, ask the child questions about what the characters are doing, the pictures, or even if they have any predictions for what is going to happen next.
-After the book is finished, continue to ask the child, if they liked the book, what the child liked or didn't like about the book, and if they have any questions about what happened in the story.
BE ENGAGING AND EXCITED ABOUT READING WITH THEM!
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Drawing and Labeling (Owocki, 2014)
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Purpose: To demonstrate various aspects of word knowledge
Materials: Paper, crayons, markers (or other various art materials)
Directions:​​
-Ask the child to draw, sketch, or doodle using whatever art materials are available for 5 - 10 minutes.
-Explain that this is going to be a shared piece because you are going to be writing to write some words on their paper.
-Ask the child something about their drawing. This will support the development of oral language.
-Work together to determine which parts of the picture is best to label
Example: if a child draws a rainbow, you may want to label it "rainbow" with an arrow pointing to it. OR you can label the colors of the rainbow.
Tip: If the child wants to try and write on their own, let them! You can help with spelling or have the child copy the word they want to write from a post it note.
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Dialogic Reading (Temple, Ogle, Crawford, & Freppon, 2010)
Purpose: To develop children's oral language and concepts about print.
Materials: Children's book.
Directions:​​
-Prepare a book to read with the child.
-Ask the child to name objects in the book and to talk about the story
-Offer praise when the child is correct in naming an object or provide the correct response in a positive manner.
-Expand on the response from the child.
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Adult-What is this? (point to dog)
Child- Cat!
Adult- You are so close! That was a great guess. It is a dog!
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Scrambled Rhymes (Owocki, 2014)
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Purpose: To develop concept of word, sentence, and directionality.
Materials: Nursery Rhymes, paper, marker, scissors (CLICK HERE FOR NURSERY RHYMES!)
Directions:​​
-Use the linked materials or create your own! Cut the nursery rhyme sentences into strips.
-Place in the correct order and read the nursery rhyme together with the child.
-Scrmble the rhymes and try to put them back together
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TIP: You can also point out the rhyming words and ask the child to make other rhyming words.
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Pass the Basket (Owocki, 2014)
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Purpose: To develop rhyming and isolating sounds
Materials: Basket (or bag, box, etc.), small objects or pictures that rhyme (Ex: a cat, a bat, a rat; a clock, a rock, a sock)
Directions:​​
-Fill a basket with small objects or pictures that rhyme (Try these pictures!)
-Have the child pull an object out of the basket, name it, and say a word that rhymes. Continue until the basket is empty.
-Have the child categorize he objects by rhyme.
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TIP: To make this activity harder, ask the child to sort words with the same beginning, middle, or ending sound!
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Book Making (Owocki, 2014)
Purpose: To develop print awareness and emergent writing.
Materials: Paper, stapler (optional), markers or crayons
Directions:​​
-Fold a piece of paper, or multiple in half and or staple two pieces of paper together.
-Talk about where the title goes, who the author of the book is (the child!), and that the story is read from left to right.
-Invite the child to write a book about one of their interests
-If the child is not writing letters yet, they can draw a story and have the adult write the story for them. This will help with oral language development because the child will be orally telling the story.
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Immersion in Verse (Owocki,2014)
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Purpose: To develop phonological awareness
Materials: One written poem or rhyme
Directions:​​
-The child will be listening to, chorally reading (reading at the same time as someone else), and playing around with, poetry, rhymed texts, lyrics, and tongue twisters.
-Have he child listen to the test several times. The child can chime in on familiar parts or chorally read together.
*There are multiple ways to engage children in this activity. Click the pdf file to see more!*
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CLICK ME
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