The Missouri Reader Vol. 36, Issue 2 | Page 22

CREATING A LITERATE ENVIRONMENT
Lara Sims
eachers must be cognizant of the
learning environment they create for children. A
literate environment encompasses many aspects
of the classroom such as daily reading and writing
instruction, read alouds, classroom libraries, and
classroom design. This type of environment is
especially important in the pre-kindergarten and
kindergarten classrooms, while students are in
the emergent stage of learning. “Emergent
Literacy is defined as the process of developing an
awareness and control of print language, which
occurs before young children begin reading and
writing conventionally” (Inan, 2009, p. 2518).
Students in the emergent stage of reading
are in the process of building a relationship with
reading and writing. “Young children in the state
of emergent literacy discover the critical set of
concepts about print which is necessary for being
successful in later stages of literacy and learn how
pleasurable reading books and being read to is
(Inan, 2009, p. 2518).” Inan further contends
that educators must be mindful of the
environment they create for children, as it has a
large impact of their children’s emergent literacy
skills. An environment that is exciting and
promotes literacy skills encourages children to
try out new literacy experiences. The following
ideas will address the literate environment in the
kindergarten classroom in order to better
improve children’s emergent literary skills.
Environmental Print
According to Seefeldt and Galper (2001), a
literary classroom should have print throughout
the room. This type of print is called
environmental print and is often the first
experience students have with letters and words.
“Environmental print is the print found in the
natural immediate environment of children,
which includes logos, labels, road signs,
billboards, clothing labels, coupons, newspaper
advertisements and fast food paraphernalia”

(Kuby & Aldridge, 2004, p. 106). To provide
kindergarten students with a print-rich
environment, take advantage of all your wall
space. Labels should be placed throughout the
classroom with corresponding pictures. By using
pictures, children can make a connection
between the word and its meaning. A teacher can
also spot light print by creating charts with new
words or to anchor what you have been
discussing to display in the classroom. For
example, in my classroom, the students have
been learning about the author Mo Willems. We
created an anchor chart of all the things we
noticed about his books and it hangs in our
library. “These displays offer children the
opportunity to see how print is used to document
their experiences and activities” (Seefeldt &
Galper, 2001, p. 10).
Classroom Libraries
Well developed classroom libraries help
develop strong independent reading skills in
students, as measured by standardized tests
(Routman, 2003). “In classrooms that contain
Lara Sims is currently a kindergarten teacher
at Jeffries Elementary school in Springfield,
Missouri. She received her B.S. in Elementary
Education from Drury University in 2009.
Lara will graduate with her Masters in
Literacy from Missouri State University in fall
of 2012. She loves seeing young children
develop into readers and writers.

well-designed library centers, children interact
more with books, demonstrate more positive
attitudes toward reading, choose reading as a
leisure time activity, spend more time reading,
and exhibit higher level of reading achievement”
(Fractor, Woodruff, Martinex & Teale, 1993, p.
480). The classroom library should be a place that
is inviting to students and where they are
©The Missouri Reader, 36 (2) p. 21