Print Concepts

Glossary

Print Concepts

Modeled Reading with Focus on Print Concepts – A teacher led instructional technique that explicitly teaches students about title, author, illustrations, front and back covers, where to begin reading, and the functions of print and illustrations.

Shared Reading with a Focus on Print Concepts – A teacher led instructional technique that involves the teacher and students reading together and discussing print concepts as noted above.

Interactive Writing –A teacher guided activity where the teacher acts as a scribe while she models writing concepts and takes student input on what is written.

Environmental Print Study – Teacher guided activities designed to build foundational knowledge about print concepts, including the knowledge that words have meaning and that different letters make different words.

Environmental Print Big Books – Books created with teacher guidance using environmental print. These kinds of books support children’s early development of print concepts and can be a first step toward reading.

Literacy Walks –Short neighborhood or school walks where children look for environmental print, discussing what they find, its purpose, and what it might say.

Environmental Print Wordplay –Children use multiple copies of environmental print in various team or center activities including reading, matching, writing, or “drawing” the words and/or logos.

Reading the Walls – Student teams walk around the room, locating, recording, and sharing words that they can read.

Paired Book Sharing – Children work in pairs with self-chosen books, talking about what they see on each page, looking for interesting pictures, and sharing words they know. This is a low-risk activity good for ELL’s and struggling students.

Letter Knowledge

Modeled Writing with Emphasis on Letters – Teacher led instructional technique effective with small groups or whole class. The teacher chooses a purpose for writing that has meaning for the students, then models the writing while emphasizing the names of the letters. For more advanced students, the emphasis can also be on letter sounds. Provide scaffolding for students as they write their own follow up pieces.

Shared Writing with Emphasis on Letters – Useful for whole class or small group, this technique is teacher led with student input. Students are allowed to write some of the letters of a meaningful writing project, with teacher support as needed. Give students a copy of the finished product to read and reread.

Scaffolded Writing – Students in small groups write while the teacher observes and provides individualized support. As they write, students can talk, share ideas, and help each other. Struggling writers can draw and then label what they have drawn.

Name Cards – Familiar words, the students’ names, are used to support the development of letter knowledge, especially recognizing and forming letters. Begin by preparing name cards for each child and yourself. Have children observe while you point to or trace each letter on your card, then have the students do the same with their own cards. Use the term letter often, as students often confuse this term with number or word. Children can say their letters to a partner, exchange cards, and sort all the cards by various attributes.

Word Cards – Prepare a different word card for each student. Use sight words, or other meaningful words. As you hand out the cards, show each one while drawing attention to the sounds of the first letters. Model how to use the letter sounds to read the words. Students can work in partners to read each other’s words, or students can show words to the class for reading.

Structured Letter Play – This activity uses magnetic letters or letter tiles in student centers. Have children sort into letters they can and cannot name, make words or their names, or put the letters in ABC order. For unknown letters, children can take one letter, find out its name, trace it, write it down, and take it home. Other activities could include matching upper and lower case, sorting upper and lower case, and sorting vowels and consonants.

Manipulating Letters – After teacher modeling, students use sand trays or play dough to form letters and words. This activity can be used with whole class, small groups, or centers. Children can work on letters they are learning, or copy words from around the room.

Alphabet Strips – This whole class activity is designed to show students the many ways they can use alphabet strips to support their writing. Give each child an alphabet strip. Lead the class in a recitation of the alphabet as students point to each letter. Have them look at the pictures and name them with a partner. Using several additional letters, question students about the relationship between the letter and its picture. Have them find the first letter of their names, and then discuss whether the picture and their names begin with the same sound. Ask how the strips could help students in their writing. Follow up with support as students use the strips to help them figure out the sounds the letters make.

Alphabet Book Study – Begin this activity by collecting a set of alphabet books. As you read them to the class, note how they are the same or different. Discuss how the authors use the letters and sounds. The books can be added to a center or to book bins for students to use. Students can create their own alphabet book with each child making their own page. Struggling students can draw a picture and work on the spelling for one word, while more able students can draw and then write a sentence.

Alphabet Mat Activities – Prepare laminated alphabet mats and letter tiles for each student. An alphabet mat can be made from card stock that is printed with a grid that contains all the letters of the alphabet. Begin by having students point to the letters as they say each one. They can work individually or in pair to match lowercase letter tiles with the uppercase letters on the mat. More advanced students can say the sounds of the letters. As a check of knowledge, ask the students to point to various letters, then trace the letter in the air and write it on paper. Give students a set of small pictures to place on the mat, matching the beginning sound of the pictured object to the correct letter. Students working in pairs can have partners check their work. To be most effective, use assessments to hone in on the specific letters and sounds that children need to work with.

Phonological Awareness

Oral Language Study – Activities to develop phonological awareness involve teaching students to segment and blend word parts and sounds. In the beginning, the teacher will read aloud poetry, nursery rhymes, and songs, with an oral emphasis on the rhyming and alliterative words. This oral knowledge helps students connect spoken and written language when they see the words in print. Teachers continue to add oral activities that emphasize beginning, middle, and ending sounds, and advance to adding, deleting, and substituting individual phonemes. Eventually, children use Elkonin boxes and chips, and then letter tiles, to connect the oral activities to written language (see Sound Boxes and Say It and Move It below).

Modeled Writing with Emphasis on Listening for Sounds – In modeled writing, the focus is on teaching students about the individual sounds that make up words. Modeled writing provides a natural integration of phonological awareness and phonics. Begin by choosing a meaningful writing project for the students. Use chart paper or a whiteboard to model the writing. During the activity, model how to stretch words while listening to the sounds, and then blend the words back together as you complete them. Provide opportunities for students to do their own writing, supporting them as they listen for the sounds in words.

Scaffolded Spelling – Similar to Modeled Writing, Scaffolded Spelling supports students as they learn to listen for sounds in words. This is a valuable transition activity from phonological awareness to phonics. Begin the activity by choosing several words that includes letters/sounds that the students know. Give each student a whiteboard or paper. Have students stretch the words, one at a time, listening for the sounds. A slinky can be a valuable tool for the stretching process as the teacher models by saying each sound. Encourage the students to stretch the word on their own, listening for the first sound and writing it on their whiteboards. Repeat for each sound. This activity can be continued in small groups until children can stretch the words on their own and write them down.

Object Sorts – This student centered activity helps students to listen for the sounds in words. Collect 3-4 small metal buckets along with a variety of small objects to place in them. The objects should be in sets that have the same beginning sounds (for example, several that begin with the letters D, T, M or P), the buckets should be marked accordingly. Students will sort the objects into the buckets according to initial sounds.

Onset-Rime Lessons – In onset-rime lessons, students learn through modeling and practice how to segment and blend onsets and rimes. This activity also integrates phonological awareness and phonics. Prepare several onsets and one rime to use in a pocket chart. Model blending the onsets and rimes, then continue by saying the onsets while students say the rime. After the students are able to do this consistently, have them blend the onset and rime on their own. Work through several onsets, keeping the same rime. Small groups or pairs can be given their own onset-rime sets to work through. For struggling students, use just one rime with several onsets. For students who continue to have difficulty with this activity, follow up with more intensive intervention. See charts below of common onsets and rimes.

Rhyme Lessons – This rhyming activity is designed to help students learn to blend word parts. Begin with a common rime from the chart below, and write it on large chart paper. Starting at the beginning of the alphabet (refer to a posted alphabet strip), model how to try out a consonant as an onset for the rime. Make sure the children understand that the goal is to make real words. If the chosen rime is –ame, show the students how to blend /b/ with –ame, and then discuss whether a real word has been created. Model with a few consonants until you have created at least one real word and one nonword. Point out that all the words rhyme. The lesson can continue in small groups or pairs locating other real words that rhyme with the ones identified so far. They can record their words on note cards, and then share them with the class. Repeat the lesson periodically with other rimes. Work in small groups for those students needing further intervention.

Sound Boxes – Sound boxes support children as they learn how to segment and blend word parts. Sound cards can be made and laminated for repeated use. See below for examples. The card should have a one syllable word at the top, and a box for each sound in the word. Include a blank space at the bottom for chips. Include pictures, making sure that the words have one syllable with distinctly heard sounds. Begin by modeling how to stretch words into their phonemes while you push a chip into the appropriate box for each sound articulated. Give each student their own sound card, and have them move the chips into the boxes while you model stretching the words. Support until students can stretch the words and push the chips into the boxes independently. Continue the lessons over time, in small groups and with intervention students, until they are competent.

Say It and Move It – This is a small group activity designed to integrate phonological awareness and phonics. Begin by giving each student a sound box mat. These can be made and laminated for future repeated use. Also give them a small selection of letter tiles such as a, b, e, f, m, t. Say a word with two, three, or four phonemes and help students to say the individual phonemes as they push the corresponding letter into the appropriate box – Cat. /c/ /a/ /t/. Have students “underline” the letters as they blend the sounds to make the word. Continue over time until students are able to consistently segment and blend words.

Phonics Knowledge and Word Analysis

Word Study – This activity helps children develop understandings about letters, letter-sound relationships, words, and patterns in words. Word study may be implemented in small groups or with the whole class. Begin by dividing students into pairs, giving each pair a white board and marker. Select a focus word – one that has been problematic for the group. You can also use words that students use often but misspell, miscue on frequently, or even multisyllabic words. Write the first word on a large chart or whiteboard and ask children what they notice about it. Have them look for special features (diagraphs, blends, vowel patterns, etc.) and note what sounds the letters make. Have them name rhyming words, words with the same onset/rime/affix, or the same sound in the middle. Cover the word, ask the pairs to think about the spelling, and then take turns writing it down. Have them check their work, then write as many words as they can with the same onset, rime, affix or root. Record their words on the chart, sorting into appropriate columns. Repeat often with different words and word parts.

Word Sorts – In this activity, students use prepared word cards to sort and study words. Word sorts help students develop their phonics and word knowledge. Assessments such as spelling inventories and letter/sound assessments can help determine which types of words students need to sort. Also supply blank cards so students may add their own words to the sorts. Some types of word sorts to consider are: