This document provides an overview of topics to be covered in a 1-2-3 Literacy Class, including developing literacy skills for babies such as reading aloud and using board books, developmental milestones from birth to age 3, the importance of oral language development and how it relates to later reading comprehension, finger plays, rhymes and songs, enhancing thinking during read alouds, concepts of story and print, writing and phonological awareness activities, and what to expect in kindergarten books. The class aims to help parents promote early literacy skills through everyday interactions and activities.

1. 1-2-3 Literacy Class
February 9, 2014

2. Hang out with us for an hour and you will
learn about....
 Developing Literacy Skills for Babies
 Developmental Milestones for birth to age 3
 The importance of oral language development
 Finger-plays, Rhythm, and Song
 Enhancing thinking skills during a read aloud
 Concept of Story and Story Grammar
 Book Handling Skills and Concepts of Print
 Promoting Literacy without a Book…… WHAT?
 Writing and the A-B-C’s
 What to expect in Kindergarten – the look of the books

4. Let’s make this the name of the game this evening!
Feel confident to share, ask questions, and get the
most out of our hour together.

5. Developing Literacy Skills for Babies
Babies may begin to view book experiences as
pleasurable.
Books are considered toys at this stage.
Read aloud to children ~ make it expressive and
fun!
Fabric, plastic, or board books are easiest for
babies to hold.
Develop routines.

6. Developmental Milestones
The link below has an easy to read chart of
developmental milestones to include Motor
Development, Cognitive Development, and What
Parents Can Do.... beginning at birth...
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/face-new/pdf/board-books/developmental-milestones-chart.pdf

7. Oral Language Development
o Everyday activities provide wonderful
opportunities to engage in conversation and
develop language skills.
o TALK ~ TALK ~ TALK – be sure to get beyond pure
“business talk”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzvintTlBNs
o A reliable indicator of reading comprehension
success in grade 3 is actually a child’s verbal
abilities at age 3!

8. By Age 3.......
Dr. Todd Risley, Georgetown Univ.
Average
Family
Has heard
20 million
words
Has vocabulary
of about 700
words
Interactive /
Talkative
Family
Has heard
35 million
words
Has vocabulary
of about 1,100
words
Nonactive
Family
Has heard
<10 million
words
Has vocabulary
of about 500
words

9. Singing ~ Dancing ~ Finger Plays
http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/en/babies-toddlers/finger-plays.htm
http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/en/babies-toddlers/nursery-rhymes.htm
http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/en/babies-toddlers/games.htm
http://library.missouristate.edu/meyer/crc/fingerplays.pdf

10. Read Aloud to your Little Ones ~ Why?
 Builds schema
 Increases motivation, excitement, and
stamina for reading
 Increases listening comprehension
 Provides opportunities to infer,
predict, summarize, THINK
 Builds vocabulary
 Provides opportunities to wonder,
imagine, and explore
...just to name a few...

11. Story Grammar and Concept of Story
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Beginning – Middle - End
Characters
Setting
Problem (Action/Event)
Solution (a goal, and attempt to solve a problem)
Outcome of Actions (resolution)
Reaction (the character’s feelings about the
outcome)

13. Concepts of Print
book handling
book orientation concepts
print conveys the message
directionality (left to right, and return sweep)
one-to-one matching
concept of first and last
meaning of: . ? !
concept of letter vs. word

14. Phonological
Awareness
• In the car... at home... anywhere...look for objects and talk about words
that rhyme.
• Read poems to enjoy the natural rhythm and sounds of our language.
• Play with Sounds ~ clap out syllables
• Play I Spy: "I spy something that begins like 'ball'."
• Go on a scavenger hunt ~ gather 3 items from the kitchen that start
with a /k/sound (just an example...)
• Look through books; identify pictures; ask your child to produce the
beginning or ending sound in the word.

15. PA on the Run
Give these a try….
Clap the number of words in sentences.
Clap the number of syllables in words.
Play rhyming games.
Produce the initial sounds in words.
Blending activities
Segmenting activities

16. Writing and the A-B-C’s
 Encourage drawing and writing
 Make lists, menus, or create greeting cards
 Draw a favorite character from a story
 Invented spelling is good! (and developmentally
appropriate)
 Don’t force the learning
 Do rainbow letters, rainbow names, rainbow words
 Make a paint bag (demonstrated during the class)
 Sing the A-B-C song to “Mary Had a Little Lamb” – there
is no such letter as “LMNO”

17. Mary Had A Little Lamb
A B C D E F G
H I J
K L M
N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z

18. A Kindergarten book might look like this…
~ highly repetitive
~ strong picture support
~ many sight words

19. Please don’t forget about nonfiction texts.
They are engaging and informative!

21. 1-2-3 Literacy Class
February 9, 2014
Thank you for
joining us!