Print Rich
Classrooms
Allison DeClue
Fall 2007
Multigenre Research Paper
Rationale:
I chose print rich classrooms as my topic for the teacher inquiry project. My initial question
when starting this project was, do classrooms that are print rich really help the students and make that
much of difference in their learning? I was interested in this because in the classrooms I have been into,
it seems like there is a lot of posters and word walls everywhere. I wanted to know if the kids saw this
everyday and referred to them, if they really helped in their literacy skills. This is so important to me
because in about a year and a half, I will be starting to set up my own classroom. I want to know that if I
buy all these posters and make all these signs, if it will make a difference to the students. I want to
arrange and set up my classroom in a way that benefits and works well for the students.
Literature Review:
When I was reading through my articles, I found out a lot about classrooms with many examples
of print in them. It was very easy to find information on this topic because it is widely known and many
teachers have these types of classrooms. One of my articles talked about environmental print, one
spoke about simply print-rich environment and the last one talked mainly about how to assess different
classrooms’ print richness. There was a lot of talk about making sure that we, as teachers, focus on
connecting the literacy world to the children’s outside world. This was one of the main concerns when
talking about environmental print. Basically environmental print is print that these kids see when they
are not at school. Some examples might be the print on the cookie bag at home or the brand names of
their shampoo. When kids are coming to school in kindergarten we already assume they do not know
how to read. However, we need to consider the idea that kids read all the time. They read signs above
the restrooms that “boys” and “girls”. They read the title on their favorite book and the name of their
new toy on the box. Kids can read whether they know it or not. They are able to identify words and
phrases but as teachers we have to allow them to recognize that just because they may not know the
word “house” doesn’t mean they don’t know how to read. We need to make those connections for
them for the younger grades, which I am concentrating on. The articles that talk about specific grades
are focused on kindergarten and first grade. Because the other article focuses on how to assess
classrooms on their print richness, it does not focus on a certain grade. I like how the article,
“Environmental Print and the Kindergarten Classroom”, by Kirkland, Aldridge and Kuby, tells the reader
a great way to set up an environmental print classroom. This is a great tool for teachers because it helps
you learn how to develop a program efficiently and time worthy by both the students and yourself.
There are so many great benefits for the kids by creating this print rich environment. They are able to
see words in the classroom and relate them to the outside world. However, like I stated above, this will
need assistance from the cooperating teacher. In the article, “Developing and Validating the Classroom
Literacy Environment Profile (CLEP): A Tool for Examining the “Print Richness” of Early Childhood and
Elementary Classrooms”, by Wolfersberger, Reutzel, Sudweeks and Fawson, it states many different
tools that may be used in a print rich classroom. When I was reading over the list, I was very interested
in what this considered as print rich for classrooms. When I saw that labels, recipes, and tv guides were
listed as possible tools in a print rich classroom, I was a little surprised. After reading through the lists,
they made perfect sense. Why shouldn’t first graders have tv guides to look at and why shouldn’t things
be labeled for them? I know in my everyday life, I read labels all of the time. These are important things
to have and for kids to recognize them is a great thing. I think by being able to recognize these different
types of literacy tools, can help kids understand the message that is trying to get through. The lists in
this article were very intense and full of information! I can see why having a lot of the different tools is
great for kids to be able to use and see on a daily basis. These made me believe that a print rich
classroom is not as hard to create as it may seem. This article also gave me hope that kids are going to
be able to understand literacy better if there are all of these tools for them to use freely throughout the
classroom. The last article, “Environment and Its Influences for Early Literacy Teaching and Learning” by
Roskos and Neuman, talked about when a classroom made part of their room print rich and other part
was the normal setting. They put things like cookbooks, recipe pads, writing tools, telephone books, etc.
This space was created at a nursery school so the kids played a lot and worked on their own schedules
many times. After watching this area for a while, they started to notice that a lot more literacy activity
was going on there than before. This seems so simple, if we provide the students with these tools, they
will use them. This sounds simple and I really think it is. However, we as teachers need to be able to
make kids want to use them and use them efficiently. If the tools are there, they will want to use them
in the fashion they were intended, especially if they are in the young grades.
By reading through these articles, I really believe that kids do have better literacy experiences
when the classroom is print rich. If they are able to see and use these posters, books and whatever else
is appropriate, then they will be more influenced to use it. No matter what the idea is, we know that
the more we do something, the better we get at it. This just proves the more kids are introduced to
literacy tools, the better they will get at using them and the better they will be at reading and writing.
Therefore, we as teachers need to have these tools readily available to kids within the classroom and
have them use them often.
Field Research:
I did field research by using the article I had talked about above that has a scale on how to rate
different classrooms on their print richness. I used their system on five different classrooms. Three of
the classrooms were in my hometown of Columbus, Indiana, which are labeled A, B, and C. The other
two classrooms were located here in Bloomington at Rogers Elementary School. They are labeled as
classrooms D and E. I went into these classrooms and took a very good look around while scaling them
on different subjects which all revolved around print rich classrooms. The first half of the questions
were mainly based on the actual literacy tools within the classroom. The second half was based on the
way the classroom was arranged for the use of the literacy tools and for the students’ usage as well as
sustaining their interaction with the tools. This is how the different classrooms scaled:
Subscale 1
B A
1
C
2
E
D
3
4
5
6
7
Classroom A: scored 2.4
Classroom B: scored 2.2
According to the scale, both classrooms A and B are rated as impoverished. This means that
there is an unacceptable number of tools within the classroom for this classroom to be rated as print
rich. This may also mean that the tools are broken or unusable within the classroom.
Classroom C: scored 3.3
Classroom D: scored 3.6
This states that these two classrooms are rated as minimal. This means that there is an
adequate number of tools within the classroom for all the students. It also means that they have more
of an option of the tools.
Classroom E: scored 4.5
With a 4.5 this places this classroom as a satisfactory print rich classroom. This also means that
the tools that are present are usable and fairly accessible for the students.
Subscale 2
BA
1
2
C
D
E
3
4
5
6
7
Classroom A: scored 2
Classroom B: scored 1.8
Classroom C: scored 2.4
All three of these classrooms scored an impoverished score. This means that the classrooms
have no real organization of their literacy tools. They may have some literacy tools but have not
supported them very well at all. By doing this, these classrooms are giving off the impression that they
may not treat literacy seriously.
Classroom D: scored 2.7
Classroom E: scored 3.3
Both of these classrooms scored minimal. This means that the classrooms may have some
literacy tools but need to place a lot more within the classroom. They need to be accessible by the
students and not just the teacher. They should be better available.
By doing these little classroom evaluations, I was able to get better looks at the way different
first grade classrooms are set up. After you have been into a certain classroom for a while, it’s hard to
remember what others may look like. It was nice to see all the different arrangements. I did see a lot of
little mailboxes for students in the classrooms. That was definitely a recurrence through the classrooms.
I also saw some type of book display in every classroom. Now whether this be shelving or actually
displaying books on top of tables, it was always there. While doing the research I noticed that I had to
score on different genres of reading material for the children. Newspapers, magazines, tv guides, etc.
were on the list. This surprised me at first but after thought about it more; I figured there was no
reason that kids should not have these in the classroom. However, I do realize that they need to be
used in a resourceful manner and maybe not the best idea to be used during silent reading. Because I
did not get children’s work from each of the classrooms, I had to go by what was hung around the room.
I definitely noticed that in the Roger’s classrooms, there was much more children work hung throughout
the classroom. Now I take this as their teacher pushes literacy a lot more in these classrooms than in
the other classrooms. Another reoccurrence were the usage of word walls in the classroom. Now, each
classroom varied on the words but I believe every classroom had one.
In conclusion, with the research I did, I have decided that maybe every classroom does not have
scaled as a completely enriched print rich classroom, according to the article by Wolfersberger, Reutzel,
Sudweeks and Fawson, to actually be fully print rich. This scale may be rated a little harsh. Also,
because I had to scale each classroom myself, it was always my call as to what to rate them. I walked
around as much as I could and tried to scale as fairly as I could but sometimes I can scale maybe a little
incorrectly. It was all based on my opinion and my opinion may not always be what others might think.
However, overall, I think that kids learn literacy the best when they are around it a lot and are able to
interact with it and have fun. It should be a fun experience not a boring, dreaded one.
5 Different Genres:



Collage: I really feel like this is a great example of a print rich first grade classroom.
Poem: This was just to show an example of a poem that could be written on large paper and
illustrated by the students. This could be something that could be hung around the classroom
during the Halloween season.
Letter to parent: This is my version of a letter that I would send out at the beginning of the year
to let parents know what was going on in their child’s classroom. It would tell them about the
print rich environment and what they can do to contribute.


Word Wall: This is an example of part of word wall that could be posted on the wall in a
classroom. Word walls are great because the students have something to refer to when they
have problem words.
Wanted Sign: This would be a sign we would hang outside our classroom for people to donate
labels to us so we could put them in our classroom. This would be a way for people to help us
be a print rich environment!
Bibliography:
Kirkland, L., Aldridge, J., & Kuby, P. (1991). Enviromental Print and the Kindergarten Classroom.
Reading Imporvement, 28 (4), 1-4.
Roskos, K. & Neuman, S.B. (2003). Enviroment & It’s Influences for Early Literacy Teaching & Learning.
Handbook of Early Literacy Research, 281-283.
Wolfersberger, M.E., Reutzel, D.R., Sudweeks, R., & Fawson, P.C. (2004). Developing and Validating the
Classroom Literacy Enviromental Profile (CLEP): A Tool for Examining the “Print Richness” of
Early Childhood and Elementary Classrooms. Journal of Literacy Research, 211-272.
Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “Oh, my it’s getting late!”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.”
The third one said, “But we don’t care.”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run, let’s run!”
The fifth one said, “Isn’t Halloween fun?”
Then wooooooo went the wind
and OUT went the lights.
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Dear Parent (Guardian),
Welcome to a new school year! I am very excited to see and work with your child
this year. I want to let you know that during this school year, we will be creating a very
print rich classroom. This means that we will have a lot of different printed words around
the room. This also means that we will need many different types of tools throughout the
classroom for the students to use to further their literacy study! I would like to like for
everyone to be involved! If you are planning on purchasing anything for the classroom,
we need pencils, markers, glue, etc. Please come and talk to me and I can let you know
what is most desirable for our classroom.  Also, I would like for you to know that we are
also collecting labels from the children’s homes. They can be sent in throughout the year
when you feel necessary. We will accept food labels, toy labels, etc. Anything that you feel
is appropriate, please send! We will be using the labels to look at see what letters and
words we can identify by them. I look forward to meeting you and working with your child
this year!
Sincerely,
Ms. Allison DeClue