Environmental Print

In some books, you can find text in the pictures, showing examples of environmental print, like the signs and labels we see around us every day. Pointing these out to your kids, and asking them to help you find them, helps to reinforce the early literacy skill of print awareness. In Go! Go! Go! by Roxie Munro, each scene has two spreads. The first is just an illustration, but there is a sign or label within the picture that you can point to or that your child can help you find. The second spread has text you can read aloud as part of the story, as well as a flap you can fold out to show the action that’s happening.

--Tip by Erin E., Youth Programming Coordinator

Story Structure

You are your child’s first teacher. Researchers have noted that there are six early literacy skills that you can help your child with before they actually learn to read—one of which is narrative, the ability to describe events and tell stories. Stories like Red, Red, Red by Valeri Gorbachev have a certain structure with a beginning, middle, and an end. By exposing your children to storybooks, you help them become familiar with the way language is written. Not only are storybooks fun to share, but being familiar with their structure will also help your child know what to expect when they begin to read stories themselves.

--Tip by Brad J., Youth Technology Librarian

Puppies!

Books like Puppies, Puppies Everywhere! by Cat Urbigkit demonstrate the specific names for things, like the difference between puppies and dogs. This helps your child learn new words and to better understand differences between similar things. While reading with your child, as well as in your day-to-day speech, point out the difference between baby and adult animals, and other different words. This is one way to increase their vocabulary.

--Tip by Claire B., Youth Outreach Coordinator

 

The Sounds of Rain

Splish-splash, drip-drop, kaboom… Rain makes all sorts of fun sounds! Letters put together make fun sounds and words too! The early literacy skill of phonological awareness is being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. So on the next rainy day, make some rain sounds of your own using your hands, a drum, and especially your voice!

--Tip by Carol C., Youth Programming Assistant

 

Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Baby?

In the book Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Baby? by Barney Saltzberg, Cornelius’s mother keeps telling him that his baby sibling is still too young to do things with him by saying, “No, not yet!” over and over again.  As you read with children, having them say a repeated phrase with you throughout the book helps to keep them involved in the story.  This is one way that you can support print motivation.

--Tip by Julie D., Elementary School Liaison

 

Clapping Out Words

Clapping words helps children hear them divided into parts. This fun activity helps develop their phonological awareness, the ability to break words into parts. This is one of the skills researchers say is important for children to have before learning to read. Talk about the word “winter”—sound out the different parts of the word (win - ter). Say them separately and then together again, first slowly and then faster. Clap once for each syllable of the word. You can also try the same thing with other words, such as season, snowman, icicle, snowball, and snowflake.

--Tip by Keary B., Youth Collection Specialist

 

A is for Amos

Alphabet books are one way to help children become aware of letters, how they look, and what sounds they make. It is best not to quiz your young child on the letters, but rather to mention them in the context of something that they enjoy, like a book.

 --Tip by Erin E., Youth Programming Coordinator

 

Leaf Man

Practice the narrative skill with your child by reading the book Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert and creating your own leaf man. Once you have created him, talk about what adventures he might have and write them down so you can retell them again later.

 --Tip by Barb M., Youth Programming and Outreach Assistant

Blue Goose

Ninety-five percent of children’s attention goes to the pictures in the book, rather than the text. You can help children notice the print by pointing to a few words as you read. Before you read Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri, ask your child to pick a color from the back cover of the book. Then as you read the story, trace the word for that color with your finger. See www.SimonSaysKids.com for fun coloring sheets that go along with the book.    

--Tip by Mary S., Youth Services Department Head

Singing Together

As children learn to read, they use many of the skills we practice in storytime. One of these skills is phonological awareness, which is the ability to play with parts of words. An easy and enjoyable way for children to practice this skill is by listening to and singing songs. So sing with your children, even if you don’t have perfect pitch! In songs, each syllable has a different note, so children are hearing words being broken down into parts.

These are some of the artists you may hear in storytime: Wiggleworms, Jim Gill, Carole Peterson, Laurie Berkner, Raffi, and more!

--Tip by Claire B., Youth Outreach Coordinator