Strategies, Practices and Tools
Decades of research provides a clear understanding of how skilled reading develops and how to most effectively support children in learning to read proficiently. Evidence-based, structured literacy instruction develops all the foundational language and literacy skills that must be woven together so that children can make meaning from the words they read.
The information presented here is intended to complement evidence-based core reading curricula and intervention programs already in place and help educators fill in gaps or modify their approaches with effective strategies, instructional practices, and tools and activities to implement them.
Early childhood educators can focus their practices to help children build language and emergent literacy skills. Pre-K and K-3 educators can find evidence-based ways to provide explicit, implicit, and incidental instruction across the essential components of literacy. And English Language Arts teachers across grades 4-12 will find effective practices to help students meet the increasing need for skilled reading.
Instructional Strategy
Help children to notice printed words in their everyday lives
Young children are just beginning to notice printed words in their everyday lives. As they recognize signs, logos, and labels, children start to discover that the words on these objects have meaning. We can support children’s development of print knowledge by drawing attention to printed words, talking about reading, and labeling specific print features.
Source: University of Virginia
Effective Practices
- Notice and comment on print.
- Initiate phonemic and environmental print awareness, including labeling items around the learning environment.
- Explicitly point out print and emphasize print as different than pictures
- Include print artifacts at various centers.
- Discuss print as useful and important.
- In the context of reading books, signs, or using print artifacts in play, comment on the act of reading and why you are reading.
- Draw children’s attention to interesting print and describe what it means.
- Draw attention to print while reading.
- Label specific print features.
- Support the development of print knowledge by displaying the alphabet, children’s names, and labels with photos around the room.
- 18 to 36 months: Incorporate specific print “vocabulary” into the discussion of print to help children notice print, become familiar with print terms, and think more about how print is organized.
- 18 to 36 months: Support children’s interest in print by naming letters and drawing their attention to them.
Tools and Activities
Print Knowledge
Practitioners can help young children recognize and discover print by pointing out letters, talking about print, and talking about reading.
Learn More from ECE Resource Hub
Related
Developmental benchmarks and literacy behaviors that most children display at a particular age/grade.
Evidence-based reading interventions support students who are identified as struggling with specific foundational literacy skills.
Evidence-based core curricula, interventions, and supplemental programs play a critical role in supporting students’ reading success.
While seemingly effortless, good reading is made up of a set of complex skills and strategies.