Literacy Activities for Day Care and Preschool Settings

The following literacy activities are appropriate for children in day care and preschool settings:

Daily Reading

• Provide daily experiences of shared reading experiences with storybooks and big books. The teacher can develop routine practices to actively engage the children (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999).

• Allow preschoolers to choose the stories to be read during storytime (Burns, Griffin & Snow, 1999; Sulzby, 1991; Sulzby, Buhle, & Kaiser, 1999).

• Ensure that the classroom library is well stocked with a variety of materials: books, magazines, and newspapers. Allow time for children to enjoy the library area independently (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999; International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998).

• Encourage children to join in reading by letting them complete rhymes or tell favorite parts of stories. Use the fill-in-the-blank technique: For example, "Old Mother Hubbard went to her ____." This method also can be used with nonrhyming books (Burns, Griffin & Snow, 1999).

• Listen attentively when children begin to read emergently, pretending to "read" aloud from a book (Sulzby, 1991; Sulzby, Buhle, & Kaiser, 1999).

• Take time to answer preschoolers' questions about reading (Burns, Griffin & Snow, 1999).

• Use the PEER sequence to ask questions and facilitate discussion about stories.

• Ask open-ended questions to encourage discussion and help the child focus on the details of a story (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999).

• Ask questions that help children relate books to their own experiences. Example: "Do you know anyone who acts like that?"

• Make a personal experiences center in the classroom. The children can talk to an adult about events from their lives. Teachers can listen, prompt discussion, and record the experiences. Teachers also can tell personal stories and talk about things that interest them in order to model conversational skills for the children (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999).

• Make sure children have "positive, nurturing relationships with adults" and opportunities to engage in "responsive conversation" one-to-one with adults (International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998, p. 9).

• Model more complex sentences or vocabulary structure (Hall & Moats, 1999, p. 162).

• Take preschoolers on outings in the community. These experiences should be accompanied by lots of questions, comments, and discussion to expand their vocabulary (Burns, Griffin & Snow, 1999; International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998).

• "Engage children in language games" (International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998, p. 15) to develop phonemic awareness. Include songs, fingerplays, poems, games, and stories with alliteration, rhyme repetition, and patterns (Burns, Griffin & Snow, 1999; International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998).

• Emphasize activities with rhyming words (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999; Hall & Moats, 1999; International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998; Griffith & Olson, 1992).

• Use books with language play, especially books that feature rhyme and alliteration. Provide extension activities that encourage the children to play with language.

• Refer to chapters 6 through 9 in Straight Talk About Reading (Hall & Moats, 1999) for activities that develop children's phonemic awareness.

• Provide "print-rich environments that provide opportunities and tools for children to see and use written language for a variety of purposes, with teachers drawing children's attention to specific letters and words" (International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998, p. 9).

• Create a well-stocked writing center in the classroom and provide a variety of writing materials for children. Materials in the writing center should be changed frequently so that children can explore a variety of materials (McGee & Richgels, 1996).

• Encourage scribbling and pretend writing, but provide support and encouragement when children begin forming actual letters and words (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999).

• In story dictation, move from taking verbatim dictation to asking clarifying questions and editing appropriately (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999).

• Ensure that the preschool classroom or day-care center has "special materials and play areas geared toward encouraging children in particular domains while appealing to their interests" (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999, p. 49). Some examples of centers are: art center, music center, puppets, science center, home center, doctor's office, or other real-world play areas (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999).

• Encourage children to use literacy materials in their dramatic play. In a block area, provide maps and labeled photos of buildings and construction sites. In a woodworking area, provide tool catalogs, home improvement magazines, picture reference books about building. In a home area, provide food packaging, menus, and appliance instructions. In an office area, provide plane tickets, travel brochures, and computer keyboards. In a drugstore area, provide magazines and books, play money, checkbooks, paper bags for prescriptions, labels for bottles, empty medicine boxes, and prescription pads. In a store area, provide checkbooks and play money, signs to label departments, sales slips, pads to write shopping lists, blank price tags, and credit cards (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999; McGee & Richgels, 1996).

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