resources and activities to use with very young children
Dr. James L. Thomas

ILA

Thanks to Zach & Youth Services Subdivision for their support and my selection!

4 CEUs

for attending today!

Who is Dr. James L. Thomas?
“Mr. Jim”

why such passion for early literacy?

-how I evaluate a workshopone good idea that I can and will use

ask questions!
make comments, please

Language Play for Infants
The Young and the Restless (1s)
Making Story Times Memorable for 2s, 3s, and 4s

OVERVIEW
“Ready to Read”
#1 and #2 combined

…won’t you sing with me; sing with me?
Won’t you sing with me?
Hello, my friends, won’t you sing with me?
Won’t you come and sing with me?
-clap -march -read

who makes a difference in a young child’s life?
-parents
-grandparents
-relatives
children’s librarians
-early childhood care providers

early literacy and the adult’s role out of my mind
Sharon Draper

essentials for young children books/reading singing finger plays signing

why books/reading with young children?
 introduces the left/right reading process
 exposes the child to an exciting, new world through stories and informational titles
 allows the child to hear the linguistic patterns of his/her language
 connects a child with an adult

why singing with young children?
 powers the brain: connects neural pathways *
 influences: stimulates creativity
 connects: brings diverse groups together
 transports: in time and emotions
 comforts: security and memories * from “Sing into Reading” by Nancy Stewart

why finger plays with young children?
 promotes love of rhythm and movement
 helps children to develop creativity
 encourages greater self-esteem
 promotes & encourages verbal and motor skills
 teaches concepts (body parts, counting, colors, up/down)
 helps a child observe and follow along/focus *

why sign with young children?
 reduces frustration and provides a means to express themselves *
 increases parent-child bonding
 lets babies communicate vital information *

 children who learn sign actually talk and comprehend language better than those who don’t
 2 year-olds who were taught sign, have a bigger vocabulary and were able to put together significantly longer sentences than those who did not learn sign

other necessities for young children
-practicesplaying talking writing

why playing with young children?
 main way children learn about the world
 helps them build skills necessary for critical thinking and leadership
 learn how to problem solve and feel positive about their ability to learn
 provides opportunities to explore, ask questions, and use imagination
 allows to practice and refine motor skills

why talking with young children?
 allows for conversation between two people
 models for infants natural tone and language
 relates and gives meaning to objects in their world
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 makes children feel important building self concept teaches appreciation with “pleases” and
“thank yous”

why writing with young children?
threes and up
 develops eye and fine motor coordination
 allows for experimentation with paper and pens
 encourages self expression
 makes for conversation between two people
 builds self concept

Purpose
The purposes of this presentation are to enable adults
-to understand the needs for early literacy
-to help children (ages birth – 5 years) become aware of and comfortable with language

Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to
define “early literacy”
-describe ways in which reading and early literacy can nurture brain development
-list the six essential early literacy skills and describe ways to incorporate them into daily routines
-practice ways to read picture books the promote language development
-understand and apply the dialogic reading method when sharing a picture book

Four Essential Facts About Brain
Development – (GROW)
GET ACTIVE

G = Get Active
 early childhood —time of incredible growth
 children learn by doing/ repeatedly !
( “Welcome today friends of mine” )
 children learn best using all five senses; therefore, activities we provide should engage as many of the senses as possible
( use of touch for infants: “Up, up, up…” )

Four Essential Facts About Brain
Development – (GROW)
RELATIONSHIPS
MATTER

R = relationships matter!
 learning happens best in a relationship with a caring adult
 having fun with young children is still the best way to promote learning and brain development! Hand, hand, fingers, thumb*
 active involvement in a stimulating, challenging and loving environment causes the brain to grow and flourish
 babies seek to imitate, and they imitate YOU!

Four Essential Facts About Brain
Development – (GROW)
OVER AND OVER

O = Over and Over!
 repetition and emotional response build pathways ( sequence in circle time —same )
 the brains of infants come pre-wired for learning simply by the creation of millions of neurons, or brain cells
 connections between neurons and synapses are formed and strengthened as a result of repeated experiences
 REPETITION! REPETITION! REPETITION!

what does this number represent?

100 billion
# of neurons in the infant brain
- neurons are specialized to transmit information throughout the body
“How is your brain wired?” You Tube program

Brain Quiz (true/false)
1. Basic brain connections are laid down before birth.
2. Babies are born with the ability to learn all the languages in the world.
3. A human baby's brain has the greatest density of brain cells connectors (synapses) by age 3.
4. Because the brain is making so many connections pre-birth to age 3, the first three years of life are the most critical for brain development. After age 3, the "window of opportunity" closes.
5. Reading to a newborn infant is the best way to help a child learn to read in the future. from zerotothree.org

synapse comparison

Brain Development – PET Scan

an infant 45 minutes old will imitate an adult sticking our his/her tongue

at five months, an infant will learn sequence and anticipate between two individuals: one three times and one twice

at five months, an infant is able to discriminate between 2 mouths: one making a noise and the other not; looks and focuses on the one making the noise 10 times longer

Four Essential Facts About Brain
Development – (GROW)
WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY

W = Windows of Opportunity!
 the early years are the most critical for literacy development
 recent research has demonstrated there are some times which are more opportune for certain types of learning than others

Windows continued…
– the brain of a one-year-old is more like an adult brain than an infant brain, but is two times as active!
SHOWN IN BODY MOVEMENT
– children are born with the ability to hear the sounds of all of the world’s languages, this is why children are wired for learning multiple languages in the early years
( exposure to words from various languages with one-year-olds)

concrete words: various languages hat shoe
French
Spanish

Group Activity

instructions
-open your book
-look for first word starting with the letter “b”
-when you find it, put your finger on it, and look up at me

What did you know to accomplish this task?
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 print awareness letter knowledge print motivation knew what a book is what a word is started at the beginning understood and followed my directions listened to what I said right-sidedness

early literacy defined
“early literacy” is what children learn about reading and writing BEFORE they can actually read or write

-by age 3, children have already developed many literacy skills and attitudes *

-children who are read to have a large vocabulary and better language skills when they start school

-early literacy skills are a predictor of later reading success

The 6 Early Literacy Skills
 Print Motivation
 Print Awareness
 Vocabulary
 Narrative Skills
 Letter Knowledge
 Phonological Awareness

The 6 Early Literacy Skills
MUST be combined with developmentally appropriate practices!

developmentally appropriate & early literacy infants
-hearing our language ones
-making sense of our language twos and up
-responding to our language

Print Motivation/Loving Books
a child’s interest in, and enjoyment of, books

What can you do?
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Read often .
Let children see you reading .
Read with enthusiasm .
Keep reading materials lying around .
Treat books as toys.
Read nursery rhymes in book form
Visit the library .
most important?

Sharing to promote print motivation
Hungry Hen by Richard Waring

Print Awareness/Using Books
-noticing print everywhere
-knowing how to handle a book
-knowing how to follow the words on a page

What can you do?
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Point to words and signs around you and say the words. ( STOP or EXIT ) *
Read books with your children, and let them handle the books and turn the pages .
Occasionally follow the words on the page with your hand (sweeping action) .
Make a game of putting a book right side up; backwards, etc.
Give children access to paper and writing tools.

Vocabulary/Understanding Words
-knowing the names of things

What can you do?
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Use many words and a variety of words .
Talk and read with your child.
“baby, baby what do you see?”
Explore the feelings/emotions in words. “hurt”
Pause in your reading to explain unfamiliar words.
Use your home language to develop complex neural connections.

Narrative Skills/Story Awareness
-understanding and telling stories
-describing things
-talking with others/conversation

What can you do?
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Name things and add descriptions.
Listen as children try to talk . (Amanda’s shoes) *
 Tell children stories.
 Narrate your life and theirs.
 Label things and talk about them.
(in the home) *
 Encourage interaction .

Letter Knowledge/Understanding Letters
-letters are different from each other
-letters have different names
-letters make different sounds

What can you do?
 ages 0-1
– show babies how things are alike and different
( “Blue bird…yellow…red…green… ) *
– feel and talk about shapes
 ages 2-3
–
– use alphabet books!!!!!!!!!!!!!! print the name of the child! ( “ My name is…” ) *
– use toy letters: magnet letters, foam letters*

What can you do? continued…
 ages 4-5
– let children pretend and try to write letters in the sand
– find letters in the environment
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– display large letters around the room
(random)* sing letter songs ( “A, A, A, let’s sing hurray for A”)*

Promoting Letter Knowledge
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.
The Letters Are Lost by Lisa Ernst

alphabet books continued…
The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg
Absolutely Awful Alphabet by Mordicai Gerstein
Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

Phonological Awareness/
Understanding Sounds
-identifying and hearing sounds in words
-ability to recognize compound parts

What can you do?
 ages 0-3
– sing songs they become familiar
– share rhyming books Brown Bear, Brown Bear
 ages 4-5
– say tongue twisters
– read rhyming books We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
– play word games
– use your own language

What’s That Sound?
At home, or while out and about, point out or make sounds, and ask ones to imitate the sounds (if old enough), including:
-sounds in the environment
-sounds you create
-sounds animals make
“When dogs get up in the morning” song*
-sounds that people make

Say It Slow, Say It Fast (compound parts)
 choose a word with two beats, “doorbell”
 tell your child the word, and have your child say it back to you
 say the word slowly/fast, carefully separating the beats “door…bell”
 have your child repeat the word slowly;
 now say it fast use three-beat words (or even more!)
“ alligator” and clap the beat with each beat

clapping and stomping to make the beats
Steg-o-saur-us,
Steg-o-saur-us,
In a swamp,
In a swamp.
Spikes upon his tail,
Sharper than a nail,
Stomp, stomp, stomp!
Stomp, stomp, stomp!
(tune: Are you sleeping?)

Sharing to Promote Sound Awareness
Tanka Tanka Skunk!
by Steve Webb
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins

Dialogic reading method
-conversation or dialog between the child and adult sharing the book
-demonstration of pragmatic skills: listening, formulation of questions, and responding

Part I: Tips to Build Vocabulary ask “what” questions
-follow answers with another question
-repeat what the child says
-help the child as needed with responses
-give answers and child repeats
-praise and encourage the child

Part II: Tips to Build Sentence Skills
ask “open-ended” questions:
What ’s going on here?
Tell me what you see on the page?
-follow answers with another question:
Why did it happen that way?
I wonder how …?
How did that happen?
What do you think?
-expand what the child says: add another piece of information

handouts and CD let’s take a look

contents of CD
“Opening Doors to Early Literacy”
CONTENTS
Contact info for James Thomas
(Publisher document)
Man in the Moon (infants) Young and the Restless (ones)
(video file) (video file)
Infant Songs MP3
Music to songs
Young Toddler Songs MP3
Songs for 2s-5s MP3
Ready to Read--Website ItsyBitsyBabies—Website
ToddlerIcon—Website 2s3s4—Website signs for babies
Apple & An Ant English and Spanish programs for 2s, 3s, 4s
PLAY ON COMPUTER ONLY

book and CD

Ready to Read skills for all ages (3 pages)

Ready to Read for pre- talkers
1.print awareness: noticing print; knowing how to follow words on a page
-read books to the child
-let them see you turn the pages; let them try too!
-point to signs and words that are around you in everyday life
2. print motivation: interest and enjoyment of books
-let the child see that reading is fun
-make book sharing a special time for you and the child
-short periods of time are okay
-schedule is not as important as the moods of the child
cont’d for infants and ones

Ready to Read for talkers
1.print awareness
-point to words as needed for clarity
-hold the book in different positions to test for rightness
-point out signs and read them aloud
-use every opportunity to read print aloud
2. print motivation
-let children see the reading is fun
-make book sharing a special time
-create a positive mood when sharing
-keep books accessible
cont’d for ones and twos

Ready to Read for pre-readers
1. print awareness
-let the child turn the pages
-point to words so that the child sees you are reading words
-make a book together
-point out signs and read them together
-use every opportunity to read print aloud
2. print motivation
-make book sharing a special time
-short periods of time are okay
-keep books readily accessible
cont’d for 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s

other activities to promote early literacy
-writing boxes
Bank Street College of Education (Google)
-literacy toys: Lakeshore Learning, Kaplan
-learning zone in your home
-pretend, dress up, and dramatic play
-talking increases vocabulary & comprehension
-attend library programs!

END

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Parents/caregivers know their children best
Children learn by doing
• Children model adult behavior
• First five years set the stage

http://www.dltkteach.com/ alphabuddies/asl/
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schema: how connections are made