Promoting Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschool: Objectives and Strategies
Emergent Literacy Objectives For Preschoolers
At this age, children have strong oral language skills and are learning the alphabet and letter sounds. They are also beginning to understand how words connect when reading and playing with rhyming and sounding out new monosyllabic words.
Interactive read alouds should position students as active participants and include dynamic conversations about text. Provide access to diverse stories, images and experiences to help students understand the world is enormous and embracing diversity is normal.
Phonics
Children learn that letters represent sounds and that words have meaning when they receive phonics instruction. This is an important literacy skill that remains essential as children become more advanced readers.
When children are ready, they need to move from saying individual letter sounds to blending those sounds together into whole words. For example, they might learn the consonant digraphs ch and sh, and they will blend those sounds with other vowels to make words such as chat, shop and shout.
Preschoolers also begin to understand that books contain stories and can ask questions about them. They start to recognize the narrative structure of a story and can retell the plot, characters and events. They may also begin to recognize words and pictures in a book as well as understand that books are read from left to right and top to bottom. They may even start to use a crayon to draw and write words or short sentences.
Vocabulary
Children need to know a wide range of vocabulary words. The more words they have to draw on, the easier it will be for them to understand what a text is about. Research shows that a student’s vocabulary development is a strong predictor of academic success. Children who enter school with poor oral vocabularies are at a disadvantage to those from more economically privileged backgrounds, which is why promoting emergent literacy skills in preschool is so important.
To develop vocabulary, teachers should focus on explicit instruction that introduces new words one at a time. It is also helpful to provide context clues that help students figure out the meanings of words. For example, by showing the word in a picture or displaying it on a word wall or flip chart, students are more likely to remember what it means.
Additionally, extensive reading is crucial to long-term vocabulary acquisition. It provides multiple exposures of the same words and encourages word play that stimulates curiosity and interest.
Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is a critical literacy skill for children of all ages. Understanding what they read enables them to learn from books and other written materials, develop vocabulary, and improve communication skills. Teachers can help students understand what they have read through a number of strategies. One strategy involves asking questions before, during, and after reading a story.
Another involves helping children to visualize what they have read. This involves imagining scenes from the text in their heads, which helps them remember details and understand the story better. Another way to improve reading comprehension is to provide kids with books about topics that interest them.
Though preschoolers may not be able to practice phonics or fluency, they can get an early start on comprehension strategies, which will prepare them for more advanced literacy skills as they grow up and interact with the world around them. By learning to comprehend what they read, children can become informed citizens and make wise choices in school and their lives.
Writing
Writing is an important literacy skill that develops with a range of experiences. It is important for teachers to understand how children learn to write so that they can provide opportunities that allow them to develop their emerging writing skills.
Children at this level of writing development usually do not yet understand that their drawings and scribbles are related to the written language that they hear in storybooks or from others reading aloud. They may also have only limited knowledge of the alphabet and letter sounds. They use a variety of strategies to communicate their ideas, including drawing letters and using their name as a model.
Teachers can support this stage of writing development by providing children with frequent opportunities to draw and scribble, providing them with meaningful opportunities for self-expression, and encouraging their interest in the use of the visual language of print in their work. They can also help them to use their growing knowledge of the alphabet to segment words into syllables and sound out new monosyllabic words they encounter.
Emergent Literacy Objectives For Preschoolers At this age, children have strong oral language skills and are learning the alphabet and letter sounds. They are also beginning to understand how words connect when reading and playing with rhyming and sounding out new monosyllabic words. Interactive read alouds should position students as active participants and include dynamic conversations about text. Provide access to diverse stories, images and experiences to help students understand the world is enormous and embracing diversity is normal. Phonics Children learn that letters represent sounds and that words have meaning when they receive phonics instruction. This is an important literacy skill that remains essential as children become more advanced readers. When children are ready, they need to move from saying individual letter sounds to blending those sounds together into whole words. For example, they might learn the consonant digraphs ch and sh, and they will blend those sounds with other vowels to make words such as chat, shop and shout. Preschoolers also begin to understand that books contain stories and can ask questions about them. They start to recognize the narrative structure of a story and can retell the plot, characters and events. They may also begin to recognize words and pictures in a book as well as understand that books are read from left to right and top to bottom. They may even start to use a crayon to draw and write words or short sentences. Vocabulary Children need to know a wide range of vocabulary words. The more words they have to draw on, the easier it will be for them to understand what a text is about. Research shows that a student’s vocabulary development is a strong predictor of academic success. Children who enter school with poor oral vocabularies are at a disadvantage to those from more economically privileged backgrounds, which is why promoting emergent literacy skills in preschool is so important. To develop vocabulary, teachers should focus on explicit instruction that introduces new words one at a time. It is also helpful to provide context clues that help students figure out the meanings of words. For example, by showing the word in a picture or displaying it on a word wall or flip chart, students are more likely to remember what it means. Additionally, extensive reading is crucial to long-term vocabulary acquisition. It provides multiple exposures of the same words and encourages word play that stimulates curiosity and interest. Reading Comprehension Reading comprehension is a critical literacy skill for children of all ages. Understanding what they read enables them to learn from books and other written materials, develop vocabulary, and improve communication skills. Teachers can help students understand what they have read through a number of strategies. One strategy involves asking questions before, during, and after reading a story. Another involves helping children to visualize what they have read. This involves imagining scenes from the text in their heads, which helps them remember details and understand the story better. Another way to improve reading comprehension is to provide kids with books about topics that interest them. Though preschoolers may not be able to practice phonics or fluency, they can get an early start on comprehension strategies, which will prepare them for more advanced literacy skills as they grow up and interact with the world around them. By learning to comprehend what they read, children can become informed citizens and make wise choices in school and their lives. Writing Writing is an important literacy skill that develops with a range of experiences. It is important for teachers to understand how children learn to write so that they can provide opportunities that allow them to develop their emerging writing skills. Children at this level of writing development usually do not yet understand that their drawings and scribbles are related to the written language that they hear in storybooks or from others reading aloud. They may also have only limited knowledge of the alphabet and letter sounds. They use a variety of strategies to communicate their ideas, including drawing letters and using their name as a model. Teachers can support this stage of writing development by providing children with frequent opportunities to draw and scribble, providing them with meaningful opportunities for self-expression, and encouraging their interest in the use of the visual language of print in their work. They can also help them to use their growing knowledge of the alphabet to segment words into syllables and sound out new monosyllabic words they encounter. Read further
