Kindergarten and Preschool Reading Strategies

Below are the reading strategies that are incorporated within the Early Learning Solutions program. Suggestions how to specifically implement these strategies will be included in the bi-monthly newsletter.

SHARED READING

Shared reading is done in a whole group setting using a big book, printed on chart paper with the pictures pasted beside the print, sentence strips placed in a pocket chart, on an overhead transparency or smartboard. The teacher models the reading process by touching or tracking each word as she reads. After the children have become familiar with the text, they can join in. The teacher is providing support during the reading process. This provides a comfortable and supportive environment for the children to participate. The stories included in the Early Learning Solutions program are designed specifically for shared reading. The following methods can be used for shared reading time:

The story Jiggle Worms (found in your free Friendship Theme) was printed on chart paper and the pictures were glued beside each line to give the children a clue as to what the text says. Brooke is pointing to the words and reading the repetitive parts of the story. She has learned to to this by observing the teacher model this.

ECHO READING

The teacher reads a word or sentence. The children echo what she just read. She continues to touch each word as they read.

CHORAL READING

The children read at the same time as the teacher.

FILL IN THE WORD

The teacher leaves out a word or phrase. The children fill in the missing word or phrase. This is a very good strategy to use when teaching the concept of rhyming.

TEACHING THE ALPHABET - ALPHABET READERS

Introducing the alphabet in the context of using alphabet and sight word readers gives the children a much greater understanding of why they are learning the letters (to read) rather than in isolation. The readers also provide a powerful tool in modeling the reading process to the children. The program includes alphabet readers. For example, the reader "Cool Clouds" found in the Weather theme unit introduces the letter of sound of "Cc". The story line is a follows:

Clouds that look like an ice cream cone.

Clouds that look like a cake.

Clouds that look like a candy cane.

Clouds that look like a castle.

Clouds that look like a car.

Clouds that look like a cat

Cool clouds are everywhere.

Sample Page from the Reader - Cool Clouds

Sample Page from the Reader bw - Cool Clouds

Sample Page from the Big Book color - Cool Clouds

CONNECTION TO LITERATURE

"It Looked Like Spilt Milk" by Charles G. Shaw is a favorite book to read to young children. The simple story line and pictures are very appealing to this age group. The emergent reader "Cool Clouds" would be used as a follow-up shared reading experience.

PICTURE MNEMONICS

Letter "Cc" Recognition - Picture Mnemonic

This craft activity involves children actively participating in associating the picture to the letter sound. Research has shown that children have a better recollection of sound and symbol relationship when the alphabet letters are introduced with this association. The purpose is to have them associate the letter "c" to the initial sound heard in "cloud". This is a great activity to use in conjunction with the emergent reader "Cool Clouds" and the song "Cool Clouds" from the Alpha Tunes CD. The children would be introduced to the letter and the corresponding sound within the context of the reader and singing the song. After they would complete the activity displayed above. The children would paint or use another method to color the "c" blue for the sky. After, cotton balls would be added to represent clouds.

ALPHABET PICTURE CARDS

In the member's area you will find alphabet picture cards that are great to use for phonemic awareness activities. Each day display alphabet pictures beginning with the review sounds (found in the member's area). These can be displayed on a flannel board or white board. Discuss what pictures begin with the focus sound and those that do not. After discussing, have the children close their eyes while you remove one of the pictures. The children guess what picture is missing. The person that guesses the correct picture will have an opportunity to remove the picture for the next round. This game could continue in the Literacy Center. In the link below you will find a link to a video on phonemic awareness. The alphabet picture cards could be used for similar activities shown in the video.

http://reading.uoregon.edu/pa/pa_benchmarks_2.php

ALPHABET PROGRAM

The "Alphabet Program" is a sequential theme program that teaches the alphabet and their related sounds, printing of the letters and sight words (if you are a kindergarten teacher). In the link below you will find more information about the program.

Alphabet Program

PREDICTABLE CHARTS

These are generated by the teacher or the children. The teacher uses these charts to model reading and writing experiences. A repetitive phrase is chosen and the teacher prints what she has generated or what a child has dictated and this is printed on a chart paper or sentence strips. The chart at the right was taken from the emergent reader found in the Community Helpers theme unit. The children must find, cut and paste the correct vehicle each helper uses. This is the interactive component part of the reader. Some of the text lines read as follows:

I could be a firefighter. I would drive a fire truck. I could be a police officer. I would drive a police car.

PREDICTABLE CHART - VISUAL and AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION

A predictable chart could also be employed by children dictating the sentences. For example: John says, "I want to be a paramedic". The teacher prints this on the predictable chart with John's name beside it. John would be responsible for reading this sentence.

Predictable chart experiences can be easily transferred to the writing center. Children represent the repetitive words in the predictable chart. Place the repetitive words on a 8 1/2 X 11 piece of paper. One child holds the word I, another child holds the word would and another one holds the word like and so on . John dictates 'I would like to be a Firefighter.' The teacher prints the word on the last piece of paper. She might model stretching the sounds F-i-r-e-f-i-g-h-t-e-r-s as she prints it. She might also discuss capitals and periods used in completing the sentence. She is indirectly teaching writing skills. John holds his own word which is Firefighter. The children now can read John's completed sentence. The children are learning how words are separated by spaces and what makes a sentence.This is an excellent visual and auditory discrimination activity.

More Information on Shared Reading

Click on the links below to read my blog for more information on shared reading.

More Information on Shared Reading

Shared Reading Daily Plan

WRITING CENTER - MAKING SENTENCES

The teacher has cut the words I would like to be a in an envelope. She will now add the word firefighter. The sentence I would like to be a firefighter has been scrambled. John now goes to the writing center and unscrambles the words and then he glues them on a piece of paper. He will then illustrate what the text says. All the children in the class can do this activity. The completed sheets could be compiled and made into a class book. This can be incorporated using any repetitive or predictable story. Younger children can use a model to complete the project .

REPETITION IN READING A STORY

The stories within the theme units are intended to be read in a shared reading experience each day for the duration of a week. The more times the children read the story with teacher support the more comfortable they will become in attempting to read it on their own, which we will call pretend reading (because they are not actually reading it on their own yet). This is building a foundation for future reading success by helping children gain confidence in it and the process involved. Even though the story is read each day for a week, the follow-up activities can vary bringing more meaning to the story. I have used the story Dogs, Dogs which is in the Family and Pets theme unit as an example of extended follow-up activities that can be used. The newsletter provides more ideas.

1. The children act out different parts of the story. The story is about how to look after a dog. The children can choose one of these to act out to the rest of the class. Other classmates can guess what part of the story they are acting out.

2. The interactive component in the story requires the children to draw or cut out a dog. Present drawing lessons on how to do this (an artistic child is a valuable resource for this).

3. Children bring in pictures or their real pet to share with the class. Discuss what they do to look after them.

4. Visit a Pet Store

5. Discuss pets and have the children predict what pet is the most common within the classroom. A picture graph could be made to confirm their predictions.

6. Complete a craft like the one shown above depicting how to look after a dog.

Note: Templates to complete the craft are found in the members' area.

TEACH CHILDREN GUIDED READING

Guided reading is different from shared reading because it is done in a small group setting. The teacher works with a small group of children, focusing on specific skills. The teacher may focus on the children tracking words, identifying sight words or blending sounds. Books used for this purpose are called emergent readers because they have predictable text. The photograph shown above was taken from the "Community Helpers" theme unit. The text is predictable and repetitive making it easy for younger learners to be successful in their first reading experiences. There are over 80 printable theme-related emergent readers found in the member's area. These are great for guided reading as they can be copied and used for each member of the group.