Everyday Literacy: Environmental Print Activities for Children 3 to 8 by Stephanie Mueller

Everyday Literacy: Environmental Print Activities for Children 3 to 8 by Stephanie Mueller
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Gryphon House (May 1, 2005)
ISBN-10: 0876592868
ISBN-13: 978-0876592861
Source of book: Review copy from publisher




Literacy is much more than being able to read a good book...it's a survival skill. Everywhere you go, you're surrounded by words--from nutrition information on food and menus in restaurants to health forms and traffic signs. If you're a teacher or parent who wants to help a child (or children) in your life build literacy skills, Stephanie Mueller's Everyday Literacy might be a good resource for you.

As Ms. Mueller states in the book's introduction, "the abundant tools used to develop early childhood include looking at books and being read to, doing fingerplays, singing songs, writing, painting, drawing and being in a print-rich environment. Of these, one is readily available despite language, culture, or socio-economic status--the print in a child's environment (community)" (p. 9).

Everyday Literacy offers over 150 activities that use this "environmental print" (newspapers, cereal boxes, business cards, product packaging, catalogs, etc.) to help children build literacy skills.

ACTIVITY FORMAT
For consistency and ease of use, each activity is organized in the following way:

The Activity: At the top of the page is the name of the activity and a short description underneath.

The page is then divided into two columns.
On the left-hand side, you'll find:

• Objectives: As explained in the book's introduction, "the objectives listed for each activity represent some of the literacy and language skills that can be addressed through using environmental print" (p. 14)
  
• Materials: A list of materials required for the activity. In most cases, the materials are inexpensive and can be found around the house or in most classrooms. Some activities require books on a specific subject, which you can check out at your local library. Some prep work will be initially required to gather environmental print within the community.
  
• Theme Connections: For teachers and homeschool parents, many of the activities list ideas for themes or subjects that complement the activity.
  

In the right column, you can find:

• Preparation: Some activities require some up-front preparation, and this section lists steps you need to take to prepare for the activity.
  
• Literacy Interactions: This section, lists the actual activity instructions. In most cases, there is more than one idea based on the literacy development of the child.
  
• Variations: Finally, many activities list variations.
  

TYPES OF ACTIVITIES
To give you an idea of the types of activities in the book, here are a couple that I really liked.

Missing Letter Labels, Page 39
"Children complete words by identifying missing letter(s) and placing them on sentence strips where they belong."

Big Letter Pocket Match, page 80
"Children sort environmental print into pockets using letter and letter sound recognition."

Bakery Shop, page 168
"Children interact and pretend using environmental print and props related to a bakery."

Crayon Rubbings: Signs on the Move, page 215
"Children obtain crayon rubbings from raised surfaces containing environmental print on walks or field trips."


With the wide variety of activities in the book, teachers and parents are sure to find some activities that both fit within their budget and schedule and that will engage their children while helping them develop critical literacy skills.

Jump Into Literacy by Rae Pica

Jump into Literacy: Active Learning for Preschool Children by Rae Pica
Paperback: 136 pages
Publisher: Gryphon House; 1 edition (June 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0876590091
ISBN-13: 978-0876590096
Source of book: Review copy from publisher


Every now and then I'm going to share some wonderful resources that parents and teachers can use to help their children develop language and literacy skills. Jump into Literacy: Active Learning for Preschool Children is one of these resources.

Theory Behind the Book: The introduction to the book thoroughly discusses the theories behind the book and references a number of studies. The basic gist is that the components of emergent literacy are listening, speaking, reading, and writing and children learn best through active involvement--by moving, by participating, by having fun.

Divided into four sections with activities to help children develop skills in the four components of emergent literacy (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), the book offers fun activities for preschool children.

At the top of each page is a brief description of the activity's role in emergent literature, "Promotes listening skills and auditory discrimination," and "Develops letter recognition," for example. After a very brief introduction, the activity is divided into at least two parts: "To have," which lists the materials you need to complete the activity, and "To Do," which gives step by step instructions.

Some activities have a "More to do," section which gives ideas for expansion activities. The good news is that many of the activities require no materials, and those that do require inexpensive items such as lists of words, chart paper, markers, and a beach ball--probably things you can find around the house or things that are in typical preschool classrooms.

The activities themselves are organized from lowest to highest difficulty for the child to do, so there is a nice variety of activities for children who are different skill levels. All of them seem easy to prep for and to conduct, averaging around 3 to 5 steps.

In addition, they are engaging and diverse, so you and your children won't get easily bored.

Some of my favorites include:

• "Retell Me a Story:" The teacher/parent reads a short book to children, and the children take turns acting it out from beginning to end.
• "Little Miss Muffet:" The teacher/parent reads the nursery rhyme to children, and the children repeat each line, acting it out at the same time
• "Pass out a Rhythm:" The teacher/parent and children sit in a circle. The teacher/parent claps a simple rhythm, and each child in the circle repeats it.
  

There are over 100 activities like this that will help children develop early literacy skills through moving and through having fun. Parents and teachers can easily flip through the book to find and implement activities that are appropriate for their children. This would make an excellent resource for a preschool teacher, a home school teacher, and parents who have preschool-aged children and want to have fun with learning.

Also check out Gryphon House's website, which has tons of free activities.