Whole Child Development
It’s never too early to start reading with your little ones! Even the simple act of holding a baby on your lap as you turn pages and ad-lib conversation about the pages will lay a foundation for reading. There are the obvious benefits of simply knowing how books work, the print concepts like how to hold it, turn pages, and that those marks our fingers dance over at the bottom are actually the words coming out of our mouths.
It’s no secret that I’ve long had a love for all things Seuss. As a child, as a teenager, as a teacher, as a mom. I have just always loved those books! (In fact, here’s a piece of trivia for you. In my high school it was tradition to decorate the top of your cap for gradutaion. My artistic older brother gave me one of the best graduation presents by doing a perfect ink drawing of the Cat in the Hat on mine! So there’s the proof. I’ve always been a Seuss-ophile!)
Phonological Awareness is quite possibly my favorite early literacy skill to discuss. Partly because many people are already implementing it to some degree without recognizing it (remember: recognize, emphasize, maximize…), but also because many resources and studies suggest that it is the #1 predictor of reading success. Which is often surprising to people, since it has nothing to do with letters on a page.
OK, for those of you looking for more Dr. Seuss activities, here are five favorites to start off with! More to come!
(Does anyone else ever feel like they’re juggling this many things?)
This is a great song for learning about colors and for building rhyme recognition, an important skill for pre-readers (read more about phonological awareness here). Use this song during large group, music and movement time, or just as a filler during a transition. The little ones love it! Eventually, they’ll be ready to be the ones giving the clues!
I was first introduced to Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler’s The Hungry Thing at a workshop on phonemic/phonological awareness (learn more about that here). So, obviously, this book and activity are great for building those critical prereading skills. In this story, the Hungry Thing shows up in a town, asking for food. The people can’t figure out what he wants. When he requests “shmancakes” they each have a different idea about what “shmancakes” actually are. One boy makes sense of it all, reminding them that “shmancakes” sound like “pancakes”. So they give the Hungry Thing some and he eats them all up! This continues on to include “feetloaf” and “gollipops”, “boop with a smacker” and “tickles”. As I read this story, I always pause a bit, allowing the children to chime in with the appropriate rhyming word.
Here’s an activity I think I picked up in a phonemic awareness book once upon a time. You begin by telling the children you have a friend who wants to be an invisible man, perhaps as a Halloween costume. (You may need to explain what “invisible means”.) Show a picture of a person (stick figures are ok) or just a face, if you’re working with younger children, drawn on a chalkboard or dry erase board. This man is not invisible at all! Tell the children that if they want to make part of the man invisible, they have to say the rhyming word. Give a few examples. If you or the children say “pies”, you erase the eyes. If you say “farm” erase an arm. Accept nonsense words (“gegs” rhymes with legs) as rhymes. Rhyme production is more difficult than rhyme recognition, so for younger children, you would say the rhyming word and give two options for the part to be erased (rhyme recognition). “What if I said “south”? Would that be the mouth or the eyes? South-Mouth, or South-Eyes?” For older children, you might say, “What word rhymes with arm?” (rhyme production)
Photo by phillip13.
Photo provided by Bies
“A bandaid feel me better.” We relish the quirky sayings our children devise as they wade through the task of decoding the furtive rules we use as we communicate. Our children’s faulty contrivances are not only endearing, but give us some insight into their progress as they decipher our mysterious code.
The development of language and literacy skills are key to success not only academically, but in life. Brilliance of thought or tenderness of feelings can easily go unnoticed without the ability to properly and effectively communicate. In the words of psychologist Lev Vygotsky, “A word devoid of thought is a dead thing, and a thought unembodied in words remains a shadow.” Moreover, language serves as the channel for most learning, as it involves the ability to receive information whether it be instructional, social, or otherwise.
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