Every Child Ready to Read at Your Library®

• A joint project of the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children   

• Libraries play a key role in “disseminating early literacy information to parents, child care providers, early childhood educators, children’s advocates, and political decision makers.”

• Ohio Ready to Read is a local project designed to help Ohio public libraries incorporate the 6 early literacy skills into library programs and to help librarians educate and support parents and caregivers.

What is Early Literacy

Early literacy is what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read or write.

Why is it so important to get children “Ready to Read”?

• 38% of the 4th graders in the US can’t read at a basic level.

• Knowledge of the alphabet at entry into Kindergarten is a strong predictor of reading ability in the 10th grade.

• California and Indiana use 3rd grade reading tests to accurately predict future prison needs.

Why is early intervention so successful?

• By age three, children’s brains are twice as active as those of adults.

• Secure relationships with primary caregivers directly affect the way the brain is wired!

• Early experiences impact the architecture of the brain.

Permission to use for PLA?ALSC Early Literacy Project granted by Dr. Harry Chugani

Synaptic Density

From Rethinking the Brain: New Insights into Early Development by Rima Shore (NY: Families and Work Institute, 1997)

Synaptic Density: Synapses are created with astonishing speed in the first three years of life. For the rest of the first decade, children’s brains have twice as many synapses as adults’ brains. (Drawing supplied by H.T. Chugani)

Why is our work so important?

• Because early intervention works!

• 90-95% of poor readers can reach average reading levels with early intervention.

• 9 years old is too late for intervention to work reliably, we need to intervene before kids get to school. 75% of kids who receive intervention after age 9 will still have trouble reading.

What does Early Literacy have to do with my Storytime?

• We have a captive audience with the parents in storytime.

• Parents/Caregivers know their children best.

• Children model parent/caregiver behavior.

• The first 5 years are crucial to building language skills.

PhonologicalAwarenessthe ability to hear and play

with the smaller sounds in

words.

Narrative Skillsthe ability to

describe things and events and to tell stories.

Letter Knowledge

learning to name letters. Knowing

they have sounds, and recognizing

them everywhere.

Print Awareness noticing print,

knowing how to handle a book, and how to follow the

written words on a page.

Vocabularyknowing the

names of things.

Print Motivation

a child’s interest in and

enjoyment of books.

What you do helps your child get ready to

read.

Six skills every child needs to learn to read;Starting from birth!

Early Literacy leads to later reading!Early Literacy Skill Reading SkillPhonological AwarenessLetter KnowledgePrint Awareness

Alphabetics

VocabularyPhonological AwarenessLetter KnowledgeNarrative Skills

Fluency

VocabularyNarrative Skills

Comprehension

Print Motivation Throughout

Storytime Demonstration

What does a storytime with the 6 skills look like?

PRINT MOTIVATION: Loving Books

A child’s interest in and enjoyment of books

PRINT MOTIVATION: Loving BooksBooks:

• Choose books that you like and enjoy reading.

• Include non-fiction books for all age levels

• Be aware of the interests of the age group you are planning

Activities:

• If you use themes, include flannel boards and activities to fit your theme

• Pick books that you enjoy – your enthusiasm is contagious

• Keep children involved, even if it means not reading the book word for word

VOCABULARY: Words

Knowing the names of things – including feelings, concepts, and ideas.

VOCABULARY: WordsBooks:

• Pick books that will introduce new words or ideas

• Choose books with words not used in daily conversation

Activities:

• Introduce new words repeatedly, have the children repeat the word throughout the story

• Add descriptive words or more information to what is in the book

• Explain unfamiliar words, do not replace them with familiar ones

•Label more than just things, label feelings and concepts as well

ALA granted permission from Janellen Huttenlocher.

PRINT AWARENESS: Using Books

Knowing that print has meaning, how to handle a book and recognizing print in their environment.

PRINT AWARENESS: Using Books

Books: • Use books that have writing as part of the story• Use books with larger print that are part of the illustrations• Use big books or oversized books

Activities:• Hold a book upside down or backwards and see if the children notice• Point to words as you are reading (especially repeating words)• Point to the title, author and illustrator on cover or title page• Use props with print on them such as signs or numbers• Use multiple copies of books if possible, teach to turn pages and follow the print

LETTER KNOWLEDGE: ABCsKnowing that letters are different from each other, have different names and have different sounds.

LETTER KNOWLEDGE: ABCsBooks:

• Use books with shapes that look like letters

• Use books that emphasize a particular letter, sound or the whole alphabet

Activities:

• Use nametags to encourage parents to help children find their names

• Point out a specific letter throughout a book

• Learn shapes to get ready to learn letters

• Tell parents to encourage drawing, scribbling, and writing

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS: SoundsThe ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words.

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS: Sounds

Activities:• Use lots of music. It helps to show where the syllables are in

words.• Share tongue twisters• Share fingerplays and flannelboards that rhyme• Share fingerplays or nursery rhymes more than once

Books:• Use stories in rhyme such as Sheep in a Jeep• Poetry/Nursery Rhymes can be very effective

Say it Slow / Say it Fast Game

NARRATIVE SKILLS: StorytellingThe ability to describe things, to tell events in sequence and to retell stories.

NARRATIVE SKILLS: StorytellingBooks:• Books with a simple sequence of events• Books that have a clear beginning, middle and end• Use books with repetitive phrases, cumulative storyline

Activities:

• Encourage participation, saying repeated phrases together

• Pause during a book and ask questions

• Act out the book using puppets or props

• Use flannel boards to tell the same story with enough pieces for each child to help remember the order of the story

• Listen to the children when they tell you stories if appropriate

• Have children draw pictures of the story retelling it, or make up their own

Dialogic ReadingThe more actively involved children are in the story, the more learning is going on inside their minds.

While Reading:

• Ask “What do you see in this picture?”

• Ask open questions (not just yes or no answers)

• Repeat what the children say and then build on it

• Relate to the experiences of your storytime group

• Ask “What do you see happening in the story?”

• Be prepared for conversation in storytime. It may take longer to read a book using this method.

Communicating with Parents and Caregivers

Practice time using materials

Storytime Planning

• Restructuring storytime

• How will it look?

• Idea brainstorming

Partnerships and Resources

Questions and Evaluations

Acknowledgements

• Ohio Ready to Read gratefully acknowledges Columbus Metropolitan Library for sharing their Every Child Ready to Read staff training materials.

• Many, many thanks to Krista Tokarz of Cuyahoga County Public Library for revising this presentation for Ohio Ready to Read.