Today, the term emergent reader defines a child from the time they are born and continuing through the preschool years. Early literacy begins at birth, as babies listen to all the language that surround them. Adults help infants increase their language skills by linking what they see and hear with concrete objects and pictures in books. Beginning steps into reading include the acquisition of language by singing, saying nursery rhymes, doing finger plays, and reading aloud simple picture books that are rich in rhyme, repetition and are cumulative tales. Listening and speaking are closely linked to later success at reading and writing. The emergent reader is learning basic concepts about print, such as which way to hold a book, reading starts at the top of the page and goes to the bottom and progresses from left to right, illustrations tell the story in pictures and the words on the page tell the story that is being read.
Every child should be read to on a daily basis and should have access to books at all times. Have the child "read" to you. Allow the child to create their own story based on the pictures they see within the book. Reread stories multiple times. Omit words of a familiar story and allow the child to fill in the blank. Allow the child to experiment with words. Point to the words on the page as you read out loud to the child. This enables the child to understand that sentences consist of separate words.
Listening, speaking and reading aloud are all parts of emergent literacy.
3 comments:
Thank you for developing this web site. It is encouraging to see the continued interest in emergent Literacy. It appears that research in this field came to a screeching halt about ten years ago. I am a preparing myself to become a literacy volunteer. Again, thank you for encouraging us to keep our eyes on the early learning skills of children. I look forward to participating in discussions at your site.
I have been a literacy volunteer for a number of years. I took a class that is called Training Effective Literacy Tutors (TELT). The class introduced me to a website for Pro-Literacy. If you haven't seen it, it is very informative. Go to www.proliteracy.org. I have tutored children in elementary grades, adults in ESL, and families through our local Even Start Program. Let me know if you want further info on any of those programs, because I bet you have similar programs where you live. I almost have my website www.exploringbooksforchildren.com up and running. You can look at it now, but can't order anything. I, also, just linked the words that are bold in my blog to go to my website. So, if you click on any of those words, you will go directly to my website. I am so glad we have made a connection. I look forward to our continued discussions.
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