Literacy is Everywhere

Teachers and parents can share literacy experiences outside their homes or classrooms!

Where can we find good examples of literacy outside the classroom? Look around and see literacy in our everyday lives. Literacy is on our signs, our doors, and labels. Children can see how meaningful literacy is in our everyday lives through exploring familiar places, such as local stores or supermarkets.  Literacy can be seen when taking trips to local stores or supermarket through exploring:

Grocery lists

Coupons

Signs

Labels

Fliers

Newspaper Ads

Sale Signs

And More!

           This type of experience will also allow children to connect literacy to real life situations. Children will be able to associate meaningful experiences to literacy through this type of exploration. Children can also use literacy to document their findings. They can make maps of the store or supermarket. They can write and draw the people they see. They can take pictures of the area or video record events that take place. This type of exploration also allows them to collect print samples from the stores. Children can see their community in action in a meaningful way that promotes literacy skills. Children can also prepare for field trips through writing out their own grocery lists, making predictions of items they may find, or writing down questions they have about their future field trip. There are lots of ways we can think about the role literacy has within our community and it is important to explore these ideas with our children. 

How Do You Define Literacy?

                Literacy is an important tool used in our everyday lives but the idea of defining what literacy is can be tricky. People view the concept of literacy in different ways. Literacy can be thought of as a necessary tool we use to communicate ideas with one another. Reading and writing are two core ideas thought of when the subject of literacy is discussed.  When thinking about what literacy means, how would you define what reading is?  Can someone read or take meaning from pictures in a book and if so is this a part of literacy? These ideas are important thoughts to consider when thinking about how children learn to read and how they see literacy. It is essential for parents and teachers to remember that it is important for children to take away concepts or understand the meaning of what they are reading.  

              Pictures can play an important role in helping children create meaning from their readings. Adults use pictures and visual keys to make meaning of their surrounding just like children do. We can easily recognize a stop sign before reading the word STOP based off of the shape and color of the sign. Literacy is something important that everyone should define for themselves through looking at all the different aspects involved. 

Connections to Readings

Already Ready

           

Reading books aloud to young children is very important. Children should have books read to them several times a day. These experiences should be meaningful, and when they are they will act as an important literacy tool. It is important for teachers to not only read books but to create conversations from those books, talking about the cover, asking questions, and encouraging children to think. Children are learning from books and from their teacher during read alouds. Children are looking at important ideas such as, what books are. They are comparing print to the pictures, discovering different types of books, finding different meanings of books, and much more. It is important for teachers to discuss the idea that people make books. Teachers can talk about the different authors of their favorite books. They can also discuss the idea that people draw or take pictures for a book. Talking about illustrators can also inspire creative thinking from children.

The Castle In The Classroom

  

Children are exploring the different components of a story. Children see how stories are taking place somewhere and sometime. They are exploring the idea that stories have a setting. Teachers can do different activities and ask questions to promote further thought about this idea. Children also view different types of characters within books. Children are seeing how these characters are similar and different from each other. They may even make connections from one character in a story to a different character in a completely new story. Showing children that stories have problems in them allows children to think about ways these problems can be solved. Children can use their creativity when reading a book. Children can also use this creativity to make stories of their own, using ideas that they have learned about.   

Important Ideas of Teachers (Twitter)

When searching Twitter for important ideas of teachers within our society a lot of different things are shared. Teachers express their thoughts about children playing and being able to get messy. Young children learn so much from playing. Allowing them the freedom to play and explore is very important in early childhood. Getting messy is something all young children should experience regularly. Children gain so many sensory experiences when they have different opportunities to get messy. It is important for teachers to think positively about children getting messy. Clothes can be washed among with many other things in the classroom.

When teachers create a classroom environment that allows children to have meaningful experiences through their play, learning takes place. It is the teacher’s job to set up these meaningful experiences and help guide children when needed. Providing children with different sensory materials children are learning new things and adding different ideas into their schemas. Children are also learning math, science, and literacy through their play. Another important topic focused on by teachers is the idea of children gaining social and emotional skills when their young. This is a very important goal teachers should have for their children. Children need to learn how to work with one another. This is a skill they will use for the rest of their lives.  

    

Technology

Technology can be used in a very appropriate and positive way. It can be a tool used to promote literacy in young children’s lives. Children can use different forms of media to read stories. They can also use these forms of media to listen to stories being read aloud. This can be a helpful tool when children are struggling with reading by themselves. Technology consumes the world we live in today and children need to learn how to use it in a positive way.

Too much technology can take away our attention from important things such as learning, being social, and reading books. Children need to be able to turn off the computer and pick up a book on their own. Technology can take away from our children’s opportunities to be creative. When children are playing and reading they are able to express themselves creatively in a way that they cannot do with a computer or video game. Young children should be surrounded by literacy materials and natural toys instead of just computer games. It is very important to balance the use of technology in a child’s life. Teachers have a challenge on their hands when it comes to the idea of whether or not they should use technology in their classroom, and if they do to what degree. Children need to be able to use technology within our society and yet most children would benefit from using technology less in their lives. 

High Expectations

            It is important to not underestimate children because they are young. Young children are creative, curious, and excited to learn. Having high expectations for the children in your classroom encourages the children to meet these expectations. If you have low expectations for your class they will never feel inspired to go above those limits you have set. Young children can discuss and debate meaningful topics such as gender roles, the environment, and advertising. Allowing children to explore topics they are interested in will create a more meaningful learning experience.

Children need opportunities to:

     

-Question events and subjects in the world around them

-Think for themselves

-Know their thoughts and ideas are valuable

               When children are thinking for themselves, coming up with new ideas to study, and exploring these ideas through literature, they are also learning basic literacy skill they will need for the rest of their life. When children are discussing new topics they are exploring vocabulary, gaining cognitive skills, and learning how to share important information with peers. Children also work on reading and writing through looking at texts that deals with their discussions and writing out their thoughts and feelings about what they are discussing. Therefore, not only are they learning but they are also exploring things that are meaningful to them. This helps create a passion and a love of learning. 

Literacy Activities for Parents

Creating different literacy activities that parents can use at home with their children is a great way teachers can encourage parent involvement. By allowing parents to bring home books, activities, and materials children can continue their lessons at home.  These activities should be fun, easily understood, and meaningful. The materials should be kept in something that is easily transferred from school to home and back. Teachers can use plastic holders, bags, or boxes. The materials should not be too costly, just in case something happens when a parent takes them home. Using these ideas you can create literacy take home packets. Each packet can have a separate theme such as: colors, numbers, animals, and so many more great ideas. Different art materials may go into the packet to create activities for different themes. Crayons and paint can be used to explore colors for an activity, in the color take home literacy packet. Materials can also be hand made by the teacher depending on the activity. There should be different books representing the theme of the packet. This gives parents the opportunity to read new stories to their children. So your take home literacy pack should have different activities based on the theme of the packet, the materials needed for the activities, books related to the theme, and something nice to hold everything together.