Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Purposeful Literacy Experiences

                Shared reading experiences are important for children to have. Big books are very useful when having a shared reading experience. It is very interesting to listen to what the children are saying during these shared reading experiences. There are so many lessons and skills that can be taught through shared reading experiences. Another activity that is fun but also helps children develop important literacy skills is the idea of a read-aloud. Through this activity you can see how the meanings of these read-alouds are so important. This “reinforces the notion that reading is about meaning” (pg. 50). Literacy is so much more important to children when it has a purpose and it is meaningful. In life “we talk, read, and write about something for some purpose” (pg. 51). Children also desire having purposeful literacy experiences. At home children can write down their oral words and make it written language, while doing something meaningful like making a lost dog poster. Sometimes at school writing is not purposeful. Children may copy sentences, which is meaningless to their lives. This may make children bored and does not create a love of literacy. When children write things they care about or read interesting stories they enjoy literacy and learn. Children are learning about literacy from the time they are born. They hear their mother and father talking and observe them reading and writing. This type of interest children have in their world is important to their learning. That is why it is so important to keep children interested in learning new things. It is important to remember that children come to school with knowledge and curiosity.        

5 comments:

  1. You have suggested quite a few activities that encourage meaningful, shared reading. These are all great ideas for families or teachers to use to help children develop interest in reading and learning. Starting these things in early childhood provides a solid foundation for the rest of a child's school career.

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  2. All of these activities would be great to use at home and in the classroom with children who are just learning to read. I especially am a fan of reading aloud. There is so much learning that can happen when children are read aloud to. They learn how to use correct intonation and expression while reading on their own and watching an adult do this is important so they can remember it later.

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  3. Yes! I also think purposeful reading are meaningful to children. That is why children should have a lot of reading, writing, or drawing activities. With these activities, children easily can be engaged to their reading and writing. Also, showing appropriate talking to children is very important because children always observe adults and copy their talking and action.

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  4. You mentioned some great activities to encourage authentic, meaningful writing with children. I think that suggestions such as these would be especially helpful to parents, because some parents may not know how to begin to help their children in this area, and these activities give them a strong foundation to work from.

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  5. I think you mention an amazing form of literacy here, storytelling. As children begin to become little writers and thinkers, they always have stories. Whether it be oral or written, these stories should be appreciated and built upon. As teachers, we should be ready to scribble down their dictated script from their story. We should also be storytellers ourselves. Become a storyteller, without a book between us and the children, can be one of the most powerful literacy experiences for our children. Try memorizing the gist of a story and reciting it to your preschool! It will amaze you how personal the experience, and how intrigued the students will be!

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