Growing Early Literacy Skills Through Interactive Read-Alouds Interactive read-alouds help children build literacy and language skills in ways that are developmentally appropriate and fun, inspiring a lifelong love of books and reading.
• Alphabet Knowledge involves more than singing the ABC song. When you explore letter shapes, letter names, and letter sounds, you are helping children begin to develop sound-letter correspondence, which builds their alphabet knowledge. • Phonological Awareness is the ability to hear and play with smaller units of sound in words. It is strengthened through music and movement; listening for repeating, rhythmic language; imitating the sounds of animals and machines; and other wordplay. Facility with this skill is a particularly strong predictor of later reading success (Landry, 2004). • Comprehension Skills include the ability to describe things, recount events, and tell and retell stories. When you use pictures and props to have children retell a story, share books interactively, or ask open-ended questions—or simply ask children about their day—you are supporting development of comprehension skills. • Vocabulary reflects the number of words children understand and use. Stories, and the story talk modeled in Cozy Corner, introduce children to many new words in context—and the vocabulary used in literature involves many more words than occur in everyday speech (Beck, McKeown & Kucan, 2002). The more words children know, the better they will be able to link the written and spoken word when they begin to read.
Beyond the Traditional Storytime Experience Sharing stories with children supports their literacy development, which in turn supports later academic success (Strickland and Riley-Ayers, 2007). But the quality of the interaction between children and the adults who read to them makes a big difference (National Early Literacy Panel [NELP], 2009). That is why Cozy Corner offers prompts for interactive reading and discussion. Six Key Early Literacy Skills Researchers have identified specific oral language, print knowledge, and sound awareness skills that young children need to acquire in order to be ready to read. Although different researchers have used slightly different terms to describe these skills, the validity of these skills has been demonstrated in countless studies (NELP, 2009). Cozy Corner focuses on the following six skills: • Print Motivation builds a child’s interest in and enjoyment of books. When you model this skill, invite children to participate as you read a book together. Keeping them engaged without getting in the way of the story enhances their positive feelings about books and reading. • Print Awareness is knowing that print has meaning. Identifying environmental print, noticing conventions of print such as reading from left to right, pointing out a book’s title and author, and recognizing words in a book show print awareness.
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