Early Literacy Strategies

Skill development – in vocabulary, self-expression, understanding and subsequently print concepts, phonological awareness, and knowledge of letter names and sounds – cultivates proficient, happy readers. Here are some examples of strategies and how they help children become readers.

Vocabulary

  • dialogic reading 

Self-Expression

  • interactive read alouds 

Comprehension

  • asking and answering questions 
  • story retelling 

Print Concepts 

  • identifying parts of the books
  • discovering spaces between words
  • discussing punctuation
  • identifying upper and lowercase letters
  • recognizing print directionality
  • distinguishing between sentences, words, and letters

Phonological Awareness 

  • rhyming and alliteration
  • sentence segmentation
  • segmenting and blending syllables
  • segmenting and blending onsets and rimes
  • phonemic awareness – blending, segmenting, and manipulating word sounds

Letter and Sound Learning 

  • connecting sounds and spellings

Research shows:

  • reading aloud to children and having children read aloud is the best way to increase vocabulary
     
  • a child with a large vocabulary is better able to understand the context of surrounding words
     
  • dialogic reading engages the child in reading and helps the child become the teller of the story
     
  • interactive reading allows for knowledge construction through conversations around literature and encourages the use of expressive language and attention to punctuation  

  • asking and answering questions engages readers with the text

  • story retelling improves communication skills and supports comprehension

  • knowledge of print concepts prepares the reader for reading, and teaches the child how reading “works”

  • phonological awareness is the awareness of sounds in words and is critical to blending (reading) and segmenting (writing) words, laying the foundation for phonics

  • letter/sound learning helps children to sound out words

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