Kaitlin Winn
Dembroski
Concepts of Print
Male
DOB: 2/18/2006
Age: 6
Name of book: On Our Street
Concept of Print Categories:
Book concepts is the child understanding the physical layout of a
book. In order to be able to open and read the book, they must know where the
front of the book is compared to the back. Even if the child is unable to read, it is
important for the child to know where to locate the title and title page.
Reading concepts are understanding that the words on the page carry
a message. Reading concepts also recognize that the entire sentence is made
up of individual word that has its own purpose.
Directionality concepts are understanding the basics of how a book
works. Directionality concepts are when the child knows where to begin reading
the story. They also would know which direction they read, and what to do at a
line break.
Concepts of letter and words is being able to recognize the words and
letters on the page. The individual should also be able to locate the first and last
word. If the child is able to understand letter and word concepts they would also
be able to recognize two of the same words located on a page.
The final category of concepts of print is punctuation marks. This is
the basics of understanding what certain punctuation marks are and where they
belong. Within this category, the child should also be able to recognize capital
and lower case letters within a text.
1. What does this checklist tell you about this child’s literacy development (use
the chart below to categorize their performance?)
The child I assessed is very knowledgable about literacy concepts. He
was completely aware of his book concepts. He could easily show me the front,
back, title and title page of the book. When I first asked him to show me the front
of the book, he looked at me with a silly smile because to him that was so easy.
This child was able to understand the reading concepts as well. He was able to
point specifically to the words as I was reading. When I asked him “Where does
it tell the story?” he looked a little confused. At first he started to point to the
picture. I think he was answering the question about the setting of the story. I
asked it once more, and he was able to figure out that I was referring to the
words. I feel this child understand that the words are where we read the story
but the question was somewhat confusing for him. When asking the questions
about the directionality concepts, he was able to understand and produce the
correct answer. When asked “Which way do we go when reading?” he moved
his finger across the page. He did not verbally respond with “left to right” but he
understood the concept clearly. He was also able to tell me where to begin
reading the story, and where to go next at the end of the line. For the most part,
this child was able to understand the concepts of letter and words, however at
times he did seem confused. When asked to put his fingers around a word, he
simply circled the word with his finger. I was not sure if this was exactly how the
test wanted him to answer, but since he was able to clearly understand what I
was asking I figured it was an acceptable answer. He was able to identify the
first and last letter of a sentence, and two words that are the same. When asked
to put his finger around the first letter in a word, he circled the first word in the
sentence. However, he was able to circle the last letter in a word. He was also
able to name random letters on the page. This child had the most difficulty with
punctuation marks. He know what a capital letter, lower case letter, and a period
were. He did not know what a comma or quotation marks were. He was able to
identify a question mark and exclamation point. After he told me what the
question mark was, he continued to tell me that when you see them it means
“you need to draw a picture.” I found this interesting and adorable. He knew
what the mark was but does not understand when or why it is used. I would say
the child I assessed
1. Do you feel that this child’s literacy development is appropriate to her/his age?
Why?
I do feel this child’s literacy development is age appropriate. This child is
able to identify the main concepts of a book. The child is able to understand the
concepts of reading, and directionality. The child understands the concepts of
letters and words mostly. They seem to be struggling with the punctuation
marks. This is academically appropriate for a six year old child in kindergarten
because many students come in knowing no letters or concepts of writing.
1. What instructional resources/strategies can you use as a classroom teacher to
support the child’s concepts of print development (for deficiencies or
enrichment)?
To help this child in the classroom, I would focus on his somewhat
weaker areas. I would continue to practice word and letter recognition with them
to reinforce what they already know. This would be something you could do
individually, or with small groups, or even the whole class. I would provide a text
in front of the classroom and have the students practice pointing to the words as I
read them. As a teacher, you could also have the students point out certain
words, or certain letters. To make it exciting for the children you could have them
use a pointer, or a highlighter to mark the word or letter. I would also have the
entire class work on their punctuation marks. You could assign a signal for when
they see specific punctuation marks, and during an interactive read aloud the
students could act out their symbols.
1. What did you learn about literacy development through completing this
assignment?
I thought this assignment was interesting because I learned that the
concepts of print starts at the basic. People often think teaching literacy is only
about teaching the children how to read. When preparing young children to read,
you have to start at the basics which is different for each individual child. The
child has to understand how a book works, what a letter is, and how a word is
formed all before they begin to read.
Concepts of Print Reflection
Course: ECED 360 Spring 2012
NAEYC Standard 3b Knowing about and using observation,
documentation, and other appropriate assessment tools and approaches
INTASC Standard 6: Assessment: The teacher understands and uses
multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to
document learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s ongoing planning
and instruction.
This artifact is a concept of print assessment. I administered this
assessment on a kindergarten student at Beall Elementary School. This
assessment was designed to pinpoint where the child is with their
understandings of concepts of print.
This artifact falls under the NAEYC standard 3b because through observation and
documentation I was able to figure out where the child was in their understanding
concepts of print. This concepts of print assessment provide a quick and organized way
to interact with the child and record their responses. This is one form of an assessment
done to narrow down how much a child knows about concepts of print. This artifact also
falls under the INTASC standard 6 to use multiple forms of assessment. This is one
form of an assessment used to locate their understanding of concepts of print.
Through this concepts of print assessment I found how basic teachers need to
start. As a student studying to be a teacher, you are focused on literacy. When thinking
of literacy, you focus on teaching them to read but as teachers we need to back up and
start from the beginning. Some times the basics of concepts of print could easily be
overlooked by assuming the child already knows the basics of a book and words. It
really broke literacy down into its components for me.
In this specific assignment I do not feel the assessment was beneficial to the
child. If I was their teacher performing their assessment on the child it would be very
beneficial to them. As a teacher, after assessing the child in this way I would then focus
in on the things they need added work on. This assessment would help me locate the
child’s understanding of concepts of print and allow me a chance to change things
around to better teach them.