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(Unit 2) Topic 8: Promoting Early Literacy

3 Clock Hour of Early Childhood Education

Phonemic Awareness and Letter Recognition

​Topic 8 Page 9

Letter Racecars

http://www.lessons4learners.com/letter-racecars.html

The concepts of phonemic awareness and letter recognition can go hand in hand.    ​

Phonemic awareness is the understanding of individual letter sounds. This obviously corresponds to letter recognition and early reading and writing skills. Children should understand that each letter has a letter name as well as its own letter sound. When this skill is mastered they will begin to blend the sounds, or phonemes, together to read words and then spell them. ​

Literacy centers should have plenty of changing activities to strengthen phonemic awareness and letter recognition skills. Often the activities at the beginning of the year will concentrate on learning the alphabet and the beginning sounds of common words or objects. When these skills are mastered the children will focus on the sounds and letters in their names and then move on to high frequency or sight words. 

Sight Word Hunt Corn Sensory Bin

http://www.lessons4learners.com/sight-word-hunt-corn-sensory-bin.html

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Some center ideas for phonemic awareness and letter recognition:

Water Tracing
Ages: 2-5
​Materials:

• Paint brushes
• Water
• Small chalkboards
• Chalk

Procedure:
Write the letters on a chalkboard. Encourage children to use wet paint brushes to trace the letter shapes and say the names and sounds of the letters as they do this.

​Letter Match
Ages: 3-6
​Materials:

• Paint stir sticks
• Clothespins
• Sharpie marker

Procedure:
Prepare the materials by writing capital letters on the paint stir sticks and their lower case versions on the clothespins. Children should match the clothespins to the letters on the paint stir sticks.

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​Letter Hunt Sensory Game
Ages: 2-5
Materials:

• Box or bin
• Shredded colorful paper
• Large plastic letters
• Alphabet paper

Procedure:
Combine the shredded paper and the letters in a box or bin and place in the literacy center. Children should search for the letters on their alphabet papers and mark them off as they find them. Note: Make this a game by having two students compete to be the first one to find them all. Though this activity is designed for preschool children, it can be adapted for toddlers.  

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Remember to include early literacy activities in the lesson plan for infants too:

My Book about Me

• Social Awareness: Individual, 8 to 18 months
• Goals:  To increase social awareness; to increase language and communication skills
• Materials:  Plastic sleeve covers, three-ring binders, markers, digital or regular camera, photographs of the infant, construction paper, paste
• To Make: Take photographs of the infant doing various activities throughout the day. Print them or have them developed. Cut construction paper or poster board into 8 1/2′′ × 11′′ pieces so that each fits the plastic sleeve cover. Paste the pictures of the infant on both sides of the construction paper and put each page in a plastic sleeve. Make a beginning page to identify the infant’s book. Place in a 3-ring binder. Pictures can also be laminated or covered with clear contact paper.
• Procedure: With the infant on your lap, look through the book with him and talk about each picture, what he is doing, and how wonderful he is. For younger infants, keep the book short and if possible have the pictures of the child alone doing everyday things (eating, sleeping, playing, and so on). As children get older have more pictures in the book with a wider range of events or make several shorter, more specific books such as “Shalini at Home,” “Shalini at School,” “Shalini Playing with Her Friends.”
• Assessment: The infant will look at the book.
• Integration: Infants enjoy looking at these books. Take pictures of infants at school or ask parents to send in pictures, whichever is most appropriate. A digital camera makes it easy to add to books as infants change and grow. Photographs can also be used for assessment and to document developmental milestones.

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Black and White Books

• Language Development: Individual, birth to 9 months
• Goals: To increase language and communication skills; to increase sensory motor skills; to increase cognitive development
• Materials: Book of simple black-and-white designs, White on Black, or Black on White by Tana Hoban or plastic sleeves, white poster board, black marker
• To Make: Cut poster board into six pieces 8 1/2′′ × 11′′ size. Page 1, using the marker, make a bull’s-eye in the center and draw three thick concentric circles around the bull’s-eye; page 2, using a ruler, divide the poster board into 1-inch squares and color alternating squares black; page 3, using a ruler, divide the poster board into 1-inch stripes and color alternating stripes black; page 4, using a ruler, divide the poster board into 1-inch diagonals and color alternating diagonals black; page 5, draw a smiley face with the wide side of the marker; page 6, draw a distorted face (mouth where eye should be) or caricature of a face. Place each poster board page in the sleeve protector and place in a 3-ring binder to make a book. These can also be laminated.
• Procedure: Sit in a comfortable place such as a rocking chair with the infant on your lap. Hold the book so the infant can see it (about 8 inches from his face) and watch to see if he focuses on the bull’s-eye. If not, tap it lightly to draw his attention and say, “Look, that’s a bull’s-eye.” Then turn the pages and point out the salient characteristics of each picture. Initially, use only the first picture, and then talk more about each picture.
• Assessment: The infant will focus on the designated book page. 
• Integration: The focus of this activity is on the experience of enjoying a pleasant, cozy reading experience with a young infant rather than the content of the “book.” Use more of the pictures as infants show interest.

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