Types of Books for Reading Aloud

Alphabet Books: Alphabet books usually feature the capital and lowercase forms of a letter on each page and one or more pictures of something that begins with the most common sound that the letter represents.

Counting (or number) Books: In these books, each page usually presents one number and shows a corresponding number of items (two monkeys, five dinosaurs, and so forth).

Concept Books: These books are designed to teach particular concepts that children need to know in order to succeed in school. Concept books may teach about colors, shapes, sizes (big, little), or opposites (up, down). They may focus on classifying concepts (farm or zoo animals, families around the world, different kinds of trucks, or different places to live).

Nursery Rhymes: These books often contain rhymes and repeated verses, which is why they are easy to remember and recite and why they appeal to children.

Repetitious Stories and Pattern Books: In these predictable books, a word or phrase is repeated throughout the story, forming a pattern. After the first few pages, your children may be able to “read along” because they know the pattern. This ability will let them experience the pleasure of reading.

Traditional literature: Traditional literature includes fairy tales, folktales, fables, myths, and legends from around the world and across the ages of time. Through these beloved stories, children become familiar with many different times, cultures, and traditions. Some stories, such as Cinderella, vary slightly from culture to culture, and it is interesting to compare their differences.

Wordless Picture Books: These books tell stories through pictures, without using words. Wordless picture books give children the opportunity to tell stories themselves as they “read,” an activity that most children enjoy. In telling their stories, children develop language skills; they also get a sense of the sequence of events in stories.

© Enchanted Learning Ltd. 2015

Communicating with Parents and Caregivers

As a teacher, you and the children’s parents and caregivers are partners in helping to get the children ready for future school success. Good communication with parents and caregivers can build support for and strengthen the important work that you are doing in the classroom.

 

It is important for you to communicate with parents and caregivers because:

• They will have a better understanding of how you are helping to prepare their children for success in school.

• They will learn how well their children are progressing in developing the building blocks of learning.

• They will learn ways in which they can help their children at home.

• You will have a better understanding of the backgrounds and experiences of the children.

• The children will see that the adults in their lives care about them and are interested in their learning and development.

Here are some ways that you can communicate with parents and caregivers:

• Talk with them as they deliver and pick up their children.

• Send home newsletters, notes, or e-mails to inform them of what their children are learning in your classroom.

• Schedule regular meetings to let them know how their children are progressing—both the areas of strength and the areas that could use more support at home.

◆ Femi’s doing a great job of learning his letters. Maybe he can show you tonight how many he knows!

◆Michelle is having a little trouble talking about the stories that I’ve been reading to the class. It would probably help if you could ask her to talk about the stories you read to her at home. When you’ve finished reading a book, you could say something like, “Michelle, can you tell your teddy bear what that story was about?”

Encourage parents and caregivers to:

• Talk with their children during daily routines such as when riding in the car and during meal and bath times.

• Help children to name objects in their environment (labeling).

• Read and re-read stories.

• Recount experiences and describe ideas that are important to them.

• Visit libraries and museums.

• Provide opportunities for children to draw and print, using markers, crayons, and pencils.

Share ideas with parents and caregivers about activities they can do at home to build on what you are doing in the classroom especially during open house (day), other examples are:

◆ You can help Roberto practice his “R” and write his name, and then together come up with other fun words that start with the letter “R.”

◆ Here’s a book that Lucas was interested in today. It is about animals.

Maybe you can go to the library and get another book about animals. You can also take this book and read it with him and talk about which animals he likes the best and why.

◆As you know, today we went on a field trip to the grocery store. Please ask Maurice to tell you some of the things we did.

 

©Enchanted Learning Ltd. 2015

Checking Children’s Progress

Checking Children’s Progress

The more you know about children’s academic, social, and emotional development, the more able you will be to meet their needs. Having information about how well the children are progressing helps you to plan your teaching. You want the children in your care to feel successful and confident, but you also want to offer experiences that will help them to develop further. In addition, through initial screening and by checking the children’s progress, you can identify those children who need special help or who face extra challenges.

Here are some ways that you can keep track of children’s progress:

• Observe them daily. Watch as they play with each other, respond to your directions, participate in activities, and use language to communicate.

• Collect samples of their drawings, paintings, and writing.

• Keep notes about what they say and do.

• Encourage them to talk about their own progress.

• Regularly assess their progress so that your instruction will meet their needs.

• Talk with parents and caregivers. Ask them what they have observed at home. Tell them about their children’s strengths. Let them know about any concerns you may have. Also, remember to talk often with the children about what they are doing.

Be sure to focus on their strengths—what they can do and the progress they have made. This will help them build confidence and motivation for learning.

 

© Enchanted Learning Ltd. 2015

 

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Teaching about Numbers and Counting 2

Teaching about Numbers and Counting 2

Here are some ways that you can help children learn to recognize and write numbers:

• When they play with number puzzles, encourage them to say the numbers as they put the pieces in the puzzles.

• Have them include numbers in the pictures they draw and in the words and stories they write. For example, “What’s the street number for your house that you drew?” “Wow, you wrote a long story. Can you number all of those pages?”

• Read and discuss number and counting books, pointing and counting the objects on each page.

• Encourage the children to make their own counting picture books by cutting and pasting pictures of objects on pieces of paper or by using stickers. The children can count the objects and write the number of the total on each page.

• Keep pencils, crayons, and paper around the room so that the children can make lists.

In addition to learning about counting and writing numbers, young children need experiences that will help them learn words and ideas that are particularly important to their future success in arithmetic and mathematics.

You can help children by:

• Using words such as same, different, more than, less than, and one more as you compare groups of objects.

• Naming the first, second, third, fourth, and last items when you talk about things in a line or a series. For example, when cooking ask the children, “What do you think the first ingredient will be? OK, what is the second thing we should add to the bowl?”

• Using location words: in back of, beside, next to, between.

• Teaching them to learn to recognize, name, and draw different shapes, and to combine some shapes to make new or bigger shapes.

• Making comparisons between objects: taller than, smaller than.

• Measuring things first with measures such as string or strips of paper and then with measures such as rulers, scales, and measuring cups. Discuss why we need to measure things.

• Arranging groups of objects according to size—from largest to smallest.

• Teaching them to copy patterns and to predict what will come next.

• Matching objects that are alike.

• Describing similarities and differences among objects.

• Sorting objects into groups by a given feature (the same colour, the same shape) or by class (animals, cars, buildings). Discuss why the groups of objects are the same.

 

©Enchanted Learning Ltd 2015  

Teaching about Numbers and Counting 1

Teaching about Numbers and Counting 1

Many children enter preschool with some knowledge of numbers and counting. They can count five to ten objects accurately and can also read some numbers. But many other children have not developed this knowledge. These children, in particular, need many opportunities to learn the words for numbers, to count things, and to learn to read and write numbers.

You can help children learn about numbers and counting in many ways, including these informal ways:

• Make pointing to and counting objects part of your daily routine.

- As you pass out the juice cups at snack time, point and count the cups; as you pass out pieces of paper for an art project, point to the paper and count the pieces; count the children’s boots as you help take them off; count the stairs as the children walk down them.

• As you point and count, get the children to count with you and then without you. Children need to hear and practice things a lot in order to learn them.

Teacher (◆):

◆ Let’s all count the pictures on the wall. (You and the children count 1, 2, 3, as you point to each picture.) Now let me listen to you count the pictures.

• Help the children learn to answer the “how many?” question.

◆ Let’s count the puzzles on this table. (You and the children count 1, 2, 3, 4, as you point to each puzzle.) Oh, there are four puzzles, aren’t there?

◆ Now let’s count the games on the table. (The children count 1, 2, 3, as you point to each game.) There are three games on the table.

• Children like to point to and count their fingers, their legs, and their ears. Help them do that.

Here are some other activities that you can use to help children with numbers and counting:

• Use different types of macaroni. Encourage them to sort the different types and then count them.

• Have materials on a shelf, such as rubber teddy bears and colored cotton balls.

• Give children rulers and let them measure different things around the room.

• Teach the children counting songs and rhymes. You can play counting games with many different actions, such as jumping and clapping. As children learn more number words, they can count more actions.

• As you and the children sing counting and rhyming songs you can add and take off felt board pieces that represent objects in the songs.

◆ We’re going to clap three times. (The children clap three times, counting for each clap.) How many times did you clap? (The children say, “Three times.”)

◆ We’re going to jump five times. (The children jump five times counting each jump.)

◆ I am going to clap and I want you to listen for how many claps you hear. OK, now you clap the same number I did.

 

©Enchanted Learning Ltd 2015  

Building Children’s Background Knowledge and Thinking Skills

Building Children’s Background Knowledge and Thinking Skills

The more children know about their world, the easier it is for them to read and learn when they get to school. You have an important role to play in helping children learn new information, ideas, and vocabulary and learn how to use this knowledge to become full participants in their own learning. You can help children to connect new information and ideas to what they already know and understand.

It is important for young children to be able to:

• Know about what things are and how they work. • Learn information about the world around them. • Extend their use of language and develop vocabulary. • Develop their abilities to figure things out and to solve problems.

Here are some things that you can do to help children build knowledge:

• Provide them with opportunities to develop concepts by exploring and working with familiar classroom equipment and materials in a variety of ways. -  Children learn about substances and changes in substances by cooking. -  Children learn about plants by planting seeds and taking care of the growing plants. -  Children learn about social situations and interactions through real interactions and dramatic play.

• Share informational books. -  Children enjoy learning about their world. They enjoy looking at books about things of interest to them—perhaps how plants grow, how baby animals develop, or how vehicles carry people and things. Fortunately, many wonderful informational books are available today—books with spectacular photographs or illustrations and descriptions that children can understand easily.

For Teachers:

•Teach the children new words and concepts. Explain new vocabulary in the books that you read with them. Teach them and name all of the things in the classroom. In everyday talk with children, introduce words and concepts that they may not know, for example, beauty or fairness.

◆ It’s silent time now. Silent means that we don’t say anything. ◆ Look at the seeds we planted. They’re sprouting! See how the seedling is pushing through the dirt? See the tiny green leaves?

• Have children write, draw, build, and engage in dramatic play. These experiences will help children incorporate what they are learning into what they already know.

•Take the children on field trips. Any time children go someplace, especially someplace new to them, they can learn something. Even if it is just a walk around the block, children can learn something new if you talk with them. Point out things they might not notice. Explain events that are taking place. Answer the questions the children have and praise them for looking and learning. Before you go to a place the children have never been, such as a zoo or a museum, discuss what they will be seeing and learning. After the trip, have the children talk about their experiences.

◆ See that sign? It says stop.  “S-t-o-p.” ◆ Look! You see the round, brown thing up there in the branches?  That’s a bird’s nest up in the tree. I wonder if there are any baby birds in the nest? ◆ See that bulldozer? It’s that big machine with a big blade in front of it. It’s clearing out a place where they’re going to build a new house. ◆ Today, we’re going to go to a special park. There are some statues in the park. Before we go, let’s look at some pictures of statues and talk about them. When we get back, I want you to tell me what statues you saw.

• Provide a variety of materials for your children to explore, for example, wire, cardboard, water, tubing, and tissue paper.

• Invite visitors to your classroom. -  Classroom visitors can teach your children a great deal. They can bring interesting objects or animals to talk about with the children. Visitors can talk about their jobs or their hobbies or show pictures of faraway places they have seen or tell stories about life long ago.

©Enchanted Learning Ltd 2015

Teaching about the Sounds of Spoken Language

Teaching about the Sounds of Spoken Language

The name for the ability to notice and work with the sounds in language is phonological awareness. Young children who have phonological awareness notice, for example, when words begin or end with the same sound—that bag, ball, and bug all begin with the sound of b; that words can rhyme; and that sentences are made up of separate words. Research shows that how quickly children learn to read often depends on how much phonological awareness they have when they begin kindergarten.

 

It is important for young children to be able to:

 

• Repeat rhyming songs and poems identify rhymes, and generate rhyming words when playing a rhyming game.

• Recognize the common sounds at the beginning of a series of words (alliteration).

• Isolate the beginning sounds in familiar words.

 

Here are some things that you can do to help children learn about the sounds of spoken language:

 

• Choose books to read aloud that focus on sounds, rhyming, and alliteration.

• Have the children sing or say a familiar nursery rhyme or song. Repeat it several times, raising your voice on words that rhyme. Then have the children join in, saying the rhyming words with you.

• Invite the children to make up new verses of familiar songs or rhymes by changing the beginning sounds of words.

 

◆Teacher’s Talk: let’s say “Humpty Dumpty” again, but this time I want you to make it “Lumpty Gumpty.”

• Play word games with the children. When possible, use children’s names in the games.

◆How many words can you say that rhyme with clock?

◆ Which of these words rhyme: snow, lamb, and go?

◆Pat, can you say a word that rhymes with your name?

◆ Would everyone whose name begins with the same sound as happy please stand up.

 

©Enchanted Learning Ltd 2015  

Developing Listening and Speaking Skills

Developing Listening and

Speaking Skills

We need to put to rest the old saying, “Children should be seen and not heard.” Research shows beyond question that it is through having many opportunities to talk as well as to listen to teachers and peers that children gain language skills so valuable for their success in reading and writing.

 

It is important for young children to be able to:

 

• Listen carefully for different purposes, such as to get information or for enjoyment.

• Use spoken language for a variety of purposes.

• Follow and give simple directions and instructions.

• Ask and answer questions.

• Use appropriate volume and speed when they speak.

• Participate in discussions and follow the rules of polite conversation, such as staying on a topic and taking turns.

• Use language to express and describe their feelings and ideas.

 

It is important for teachers to:

 

• Ask open-ended questions that invite children to expand upon their answers.

• Present new words to children to expand their vocabularies.

• Respond to questions and let children take the conversational lead.

• Respond to children’s questions so they may build their language skills.

 

Here are some things that you can do to help develop and expand your children’s listening and speaking skills:

 

• Engage children in conversation throughout the day.

• When reading aloud to the children, encourage them to predict what will happen in the story, to comment on the story, and to make connections between the story and their personal experiences.

• Play games that will focus children’s attention on the importance of listening carefully.

 

What else do you hear?

• Gently reinforce the rules of good listening and speaking throughout the day.

• Capitalize on routine opportunities to have children follow or give directions.

 

©Enchanted Learning Ltd 2015

 

Creating a Learning Environment For Young Children

Creating a Learning Environment

For Young Children

Effective preschool classrooms are places where children feel well cared for and safe. They are places where children are valued as individuals and where their need for attention, approval, and affection are supported. They are also places where children can be helped to acquire a strong foundation in the knowledge and skills needed for school success.

 

• Young children need teachers, who welcome all children to their classrooms, including children from various cultures, children whose first language is not English, and children who have disabilities.

 

• Young children need teachers, who take time to work with them individually, in small groups, and sometimes with the entire class—to help them develop their cognitive and social skills, their language abilities, and their interest in learning new things about the world.

 

• Young children need instruction to develop the thinking, language, and early literacy skills needed for continued school success. Effective preschool teachers and child-care providers:

 

• Know when children can figure out new ideas and concepts on their own and when it is important to explain things to them step-by-step.

 

• Encourage children to participate in classroom activities and to honor the classroom rules.

 

• Listen to what the children say and expand upon their language, building their vocabulary and background knowledge.

 

• Know when to teach directly, when to provide time for exploration and discovery, when to practice skills, and when to encourage creativity.

 

• Plan activities that have a purpose and that challenge children.

 

• Know how to help children learn to work together and to resolve their conflicts.

 

• Encourage children to respect each other’s time and personal belongings.

 

• Provide many opportunities for conversations between and among children and with adults.

 

• Know how to establish and maintain order in a classroom but in a manner that permits the children to learn how to participate in and enjoy learning.

 

• Arrange the classroom in a way that enhances their work with children and how the children spend their time.

©Enchanted Learning Ltd 2015

Reading Aloud to Children

Reading Aloud to Children

In its landmark 1985 review, Becoming a Nation of Readers, the Commission on Reading called reading aloud to children “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading.” The best time to begin reading books with children is when they are infants—babies as young as six weeks old enjoy being read to and looking at pictures. By age two or three, children begin to develop an awareness of printed letters and words. They see adults around them reading, writing, and using printed words for many purposes.

 

Toddlers and preschoolers are especially ready to learn from adults reading to and with them.

Reading aloud to young children is important because it helps them acquire the information and skills they need to succeed in school and life, such as:

 

• Knowledge of printed letters and words and the relationship between sound and print.

• The meaning of many words.

• How books work and a variety of writing styles.

• The world in which they live.

• The difference between written language and everyday conversation.

• The pleasure of reading.

 

Here are some suggestions for reading aloud to children.

 

• Make reading books an enjoyable experience. Choose a comfortable place where the children can sit near you. Help them feel safe and secure. Be enthusiastic about reading. Show the children that reading is an interesting and rewarding activity. When children enjoy being read to, they will grow to love books and be eager to learn to read.

 

• Read to children frequently. Read to the children in your care several times a day. Establish regular times for reading during the day and find other opportunities to read:

- Start or end the day with a book.

- Read to children after a morning play period, this also helps settle them down.

- Read to them during snack time or before nap time.

 

• Help children to learn as you read. Offer explanations, make observations, and help the children notice new information. Explain words they may not know. Point out how the pictures in a book relate to the story. If the story takes place in an historic era or in an unfamiliar place, give children some background information so they will better understand and enjoy the story. Talk about the characters’ actions and feelings. Find ways to relate the book you are reading to what the children have been doing in the classroom.

 

• Ask children questions as you read. Ask questions that help children connect the story with their own lives or that help them to compare the book with other books they have read. Ask questions that help the children notice what is in the book and ask them to predict what will happen next.

©Enchanted Learning Ltd 2015