Category Archives: Early Literacy Storytime

Early Literacy Storytime: Paintbrushes

It takes a lot of time to master all the marks and strokes we use when writing letters! When learning their writing strokes, children first scribble, then at 2-3 years work on first vertical (up and down) strokes, then horizontal … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Early Literacy Storytime: Wordless Books

It might not seem like wordless books have much to do with getting children ready to read print on a page, but they do! One study found that parents used richer language and more complex sentence structures with their children … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Early Literacy Storytime: Here Come the Animals

One of the things that helps children get ready to write is building strong muscles in their shoulders, because these muscles provide stability to the smaller muscles in the forearms and hands. More stability means less effort is needed to … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | 2 Comments

Early Literacy Storytime: Underline a Phrase

A foundational pre-reading skill is being able to literally see that there are words on the page as well as pictures. Children need to know that when they are being read to, the readers aren’t just making up stories that … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | Leave a comment

Going on a Picnic: Flannel Friday AND Bonus Staff Training Activity

Today I’m sharing a flannel set that I did not make for an idea I did not come up with! But it’s a good one, plus I wanted to tell you how our team has used it for a staff … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime, Flannelboards, Training and Mentoring | 1 Comment

Early Literacy Storytime: Fill in the _____

Speech therapists talk about setting up “communication temptations” in order to motivate children to communicate or speak. A communication temptation is a situation that a child really wants to resolve in a certain way, so they are willing to try … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | 4 Comments

Early Literacy Storytime: Mixed Up Mother Goose

We know that learning how rhymes “work” is a critical pre-reading skill. Nursery rhymes and Mother Goose songs are such a fabulous way to introduce rhymes and rhyme-play to children. But in addition to helping to boost “decoding” skills such … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | 9 Comments

Early Literacy Storytime: Act Out Letters

We know that children learn through all their senses–it’s why so many toys go in their mouths during baby storytime, or why math manipulatives such as unit blocks or Cuisenaire rods can be so insightful to play with. The kinesthetic … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | 2 Comments

Early Literacy Storytime: Reading a CD

Yup, reading a CD. Good readers don’t just read books…they read maps and signs and recipes and forms and instructions and labels and dozens of other print sources. When we call out that type of reading, modeling it and naming … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | 3 Comments

Early Literacy Storytime: When They Woke Up

Young children enjoy learning all the sounds that animals make, don’t they? We make a lot of animal noises in baby storytime, that’s for sure. One thing I like to tell the parents is that when we talk about what … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Early Literacy Storytime | 6 Comments