Early Literacy

1
Early Literacy

• The stages of Emergent Literacy
• Reading behaviors of young children
• The Early Literacy Specialists of Eastern Ontario

2
Definition of Early
Literacy

• Early literacy is defined as the reading and
  writing behaviours of young children that precede
  and develop into conventional literacy. 

3
Early literacy.

• Early Literacy is the childs ability to pretend,
  to speak and to listen, to experience, to
  understand and to talk about things, events and
  ideas in his or her world.
• Early Literacy reaches beyond print and books. It
  grows from language experience, and covers much
  more than the act of reading itself.
• Source Early Literacy handbook, 1999

4
Canadian Statistics (IALS)

• According to the 1994 International Adult
  Literacy Survey, 22 of Canadians are at level 1.
  These people have difficulty reading and identify
  themselves as unable to read
• 26 of Canadians are at level 2. These are people
  with limited skills who read but do not read
  well. Canadians at this level can deal only with
  material that is simple and clearly laid out

5
Canadian Statistics

• 33 of Canadians are at level 3. They read well
  but may have problems with the more complex
  tasks. This level is considered to be the minimum
  skill level for successful participation in
  society.
• 20 of Canadians are at levels 4 or 5. The people
  can use a wide range of reading materials and
  have many strategies for dealing with complex
  materials

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Why read to children?

• The single most important activity for ensuring
  childrens reading success is reading aloud to
  children
• Wells, 1985 Bus, van lijzendoorn, and
  Pellegrini, 1995

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Emergent Literacy Skills

• Are the basic building blocs for learning to read
  and write
• Begin developing in early infancy and early
  childhood through participation with adults in
  meaningful activities involving talking and print
• Include oral language, phonemic awareness and
  print/book knowledge

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Emergent Literacy Skills

• Oral language vocabulary, meaning, language
  structures, listening comprehension
• Phonological awareness recognizing sounds within
  words, rhymes, beginning sounds, breaking up
  words into components or phonemes
• Print and book awareness letter and number
  naming, writing (scribbling) relationship between
  spoken and written words.

9
Did You Know?

• Read 30 minutes weeklythe child has 130 hours
  by age 5
• Read 30 minutes dailythe child has 900 hours by
  age 5
• If you read less than 30 minutes weeklythe
  child only has 60 hours of brain food by age 5

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Reading aloud to children

• Increases vocabulary
• Strengthens comprehension
• Stimulates an interest in reading
• Builds concentration
• Helps child understand the structure of language
• Promotes sound recognition

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Developmental Stages of Reading A Childs
reading development can be divided into stages.
How long a child remains in any one stage can not
be determined. Each stage should be celebrated!
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Developmental Stages of Reading

• Likes to look at books
• Holds books pretends to read
• Learns about words from songs, rhymes, signs
• Learns about words by playing with magnetic
  letters, blocks
• Begins to understand that their own
  thoughts/ideas can be put into print
• Uses pictures and memory to tell and retell a
  story

1. Pre-Reader/ Beginning Reader
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Developmental Stages of Reading

• Is ready to receive instruction about reading
• Learns that text is a common way to tell a story
  or
• convey information
• Begins to match written words with spoken words
  and to
• perceive relationships between sounds and
  letters
• Begins to experiment with reading, is willing to
  try say words out loud when reading simple
  text.

2. The Emergent Reader
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Developmental Stages of Reading

• Develops more confidence uses a variety of
  methods such as visual cues to identify words in
  text
• Adapts own reading to different kinds of text
• Recognizes many words

3.The Early Reader
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Developmental Stages of Reading

• Thinks of reading as a good thing and does it
  automatically
• Uses a variety of methods to identify words and
  their meanings
• Can read various kinds of texts and predict
  events in a story
• Relates the meaning of books to his or her own
  experience and knowledge and understands whats
  new

4. The Fluent Reader
Source Ontario Early Reading Strategy, Ministry
of Education Helping your child learn to read
2001
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Different books for different ages from 0 to 5
years

• What makes a good book?
• Books that are attractive to look at, well made,
  interesting and well written
• Books that encourage children's imagination
• Books which treat people with respect
• Books which represent people from different
  cultures
• Source Canadian Mothercraft handout, 2001

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Infants and babies

• Sturdy, chewable cloth, plastic or board books
• Books with bright pictures of objects that are
  familiar to the baby, such as ball, cat, dog,
  mommy etc.
• Interactive books with flaps, textures, sounds
  etc.
• Books with few or no words, or simple rhymes

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Books for toddlers

• Large, colourful picture books
• Books about everyday things getting dressed,
  playing, going to potty etc.
• Books that tell simple story
• Books with farm animals
• Books that encourage making sounds, e.g. clocks,
  animals, telephones

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Books for preschoolers

• Concept books with large colourful pictures that
  invite children to compare, classify, group and
  count a variety of objects,
• Books which tell a more complicated story,
• Books about feelings and other abstract ideas,
• Books with humour or nonsense,
• Books with rhymes,
• Books about less familiar things different
  cultures, different animals etc.

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Types of books

• Picture books
• Story books - close to real life
• Fairy Tales
• Rhyme books
• Concept books
• Information books

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Picture books

• Books containing photographs or illustrations of
  common objects
• Establishes the link between the word, the object
  on the page and the real thing
• Helps children expand their vocabulary
• First classification and matching exercise

22
Story books close to real life

• Pictures work together to tell a story
• Child learns to speak  Like in a book 
• Helps child to understand self and outside world
• Child will identify with the characters, or not
• Helps child to identify and name feelings

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Fairy Tales

• Everybody knows the stories
• Highlight universal conflicts and inner turmoils
• Helps child face own fears
• There is always a happy ending and the hero
  always comes out the winner
• Some are controversial and carry stereotypical
  messages

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Rhyme books

• Help children recognize sounds
• Help children remember words
• Teach children about the cadence and rhythm of
  language
• Are usually short and self contained
• Can often be accompanied by movements and music

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Concept books

• Books that explore a concept or an idea all the
  way through, such as alphabet and counting books
• Valuable teaching aid on individual subjects
• Are selected by the child according to particular
  interests and developmental abilities

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Information books

• Takes the child beyond his own world
• Helps the child discover the worlds diversity
• Helps the child better understand self and others
• Help child recognize the similarities and
  differences between children all around the world