Easy Literacy Ideas from the International Literacy Conference!

Hello from the International Literacy Conference in beautiful St. Louis, Missouri. We are brimming with energy and new ideas to share with you during the next year. Stay tuned for lots of information over the next few months as we bring you the latest and greatest to help you develop literacy, in all its forms, with your preschoolers.

Here are just a few tidbits to try this summer:

Prior to reading a book, most children look at the cover and may talk about its contents. Help children to look at the back of the book, too. Often picture books contain key details about the story or characters on the back.

You can create the atmosphere of a book in the room. If reading about a storm, have children clap their hands to mimic thunder.  Is the book set on a farm? Encourage them to bleat like sheep. Interact with books to help children understand setting.

To further develop vocabulary, children can act out words. Crackle? Roar? Shiver? Act these words out. Children can be encouraged to remember their favorite new word each day by calling it a “Million Dollar Word.” Remind families to ask children about the “Million Dollar Word” of the day.

After reading a book to children, close it. Ask children to share their summaries by starting them with the sentence, “I remember…” This encourages them to put information in their own words.

Remember to do and encourage lots of singing in your classroom. This not only promotes an understanding of rhyming words, key to phonemic awareness, but also allows children to hear fluency “in action.”

All of these easy suggestions are helpful for English language learners too!

Stay tuned for more literacy ideas…