Sharing Good Practice
DEVELOPING EARLY LITERACY SKILLS
BY READING TO VERY YOUNG CHILDREN
BY GIANNA ULYATT
B
eing able to read and write
(being literate) is crucial for all
aspects of daily life. However,
before a child becomes
literate, they must have a very good
grasp of the spoken word. At home
and in school, vocabulary is generally
limited to the ‘here and now’. Therefore,
the words adults use in everyday life
are generally basic and repetitive. In
order to widen children’s vocabulary,
adults must read books to them on a
very regular basis. The adult’s attitude
to books greatly influences children.
They should openly value books and
when reading, they should use their
voice to show enthusiasm and curiosity.
This will encourage children to listen to
the story, even though they might not
understand all the words and phrases
at first. Talking about the illustrations
and images presented helps children
have visual contact with new words,
phrases and unfamiliar scenarios.
Stories help children develop a
complex language structure as well as
dramatically improving vocabulary.
Sharing books with children stimulates
their imagination and expands their
understanding of the world. For
example, through books, they may
visit a deep, dark jungle, travel to the
moon or to the bottom of the sea. The
wealth of new vocabulary for these
three scenarios alone is immense. It is
important for the reader to emphasize
new
words
with
appropriate
expressions
to
help
children
understand. For example, use a creepy
voice in the jungle, an astronaut-
type voice when on the moon and a
hollow tone when under the sea. The
variation in voice tone holds children’s
interest and encourages high levels of
concentration, while they are learning
a range of new expressions.
When choosing a book to read, talk
about the cover and what you think
this story might be about. When
reading, stop at times to discuss what
might happen next, or why a character
is behaving in an unusual way. These
strategies help children gain clues
from the illustrations and help improve
listening skills. Asking open questions
makes sure children use their thinking
skills to respond and they also help the
reader to check for understanding.
Select stories with a variety of genre,
so that children visit places outside
their personal experiences. Choose
stories that help children develop
empathy with the characters and
feel different types of emotion. Offer
them time for reflection about serious
incidents that may occur in the text
and discuss the rights and wrongs of
the actions of the characters. These
focused discussions support children
as they learn the words needed to
rationalize their personal thoughts and
ideas. Choose stories where the main
characters are not human, so children
view life through the eyes of a cat or an
elephant.
Through handling books and turning
pages, children see the value of the
written word as they are spoken out
loud. Read the same story a few times
to help children develop familiarity of
the sequence of events and to help
them gain confidence in the use of
new vocabulary.
well and adults can further promote
this by providing small role play, based
on the characters within the stories.
By using pegs, painting faces on them
and attaching fabric with elastic bands,
the stage is set. The children will re-
enact the story and develop the story
line using their own ideas and use new
vocabulary and phrases.
Checklist
1. Provide a varied selection of books,
displayed at child height.
2. Encourage all adults to allocate time
in the day to read to small groups of
children.
3. Practise using the voice with
exaggerated expression.
4. Read stories more than once to
ensure new words and phrases
become familiar.
5. Provide simple equipment for small
role play purposes and encourage
the use of new vocabulary within the
story line.
Stories stimulate children’s imagination
Gianna has extensive experience as a teacher, principal and inspector. She is a
consultant with expertise in KG and has spoken at conferences in Hong Kong,
Spain and the U.K. She sometimes works in the UAE. To connect with her, email
[email protected]
Class Time
|
|
May - Jun 2019
| 17