Reading Notes 1 What do you understand by the term literacy When I hear the term literacy the first thing that comes to mind is being able to absorb written words on paper I think it directly refers to a person s ability to understand written language Smith Read What are we doing in our heads when we read o page 10 according to Smith and Read good readers break down words that they do not understand in their head in order to figure out what they are reading o They use thing like context clues to help them o They use syntax to figure out the word that they don t understand o They may also use phonics to help themselves to understand what they are looking at and to understand the meaning of the word that they do no know and to later learn it What are the basic components of reading What are some of the subcomponents o page 4 researchers believe that there are most likely three major components of reading Word identification Comprehension Attitude towards reading o the subcomponents are alphabet knowledge phonemic awareness phonics structural analysis sight vocabulary context syntax Why are reading attitudes considered a critical component of reading literacy o page 18 it is one of the most important components of reading o how a child feels about reading can speak to how they have been taught about reading in the past o most children at the age of kindergarten read to want to learn but by 12th grade less than 25 read for fun o there is a very high level of alitericy in this country people who can reads but simply choose not to If they had a better reading attitude they would have a higher level of aliteracy Green Book Bennett Armistead Duke and Moses What is emergent literacy o page 18 has to do with the point in children s development right before they are conventional literate o Emerges gradually overtime What are children learning about literacy from birth to five o page 19 21 between birth and three years old Begin recognizing things Begin to understand specific books by their cover Look for pictures in books Begin to scribble Pointing to letters o Three year olds to four year olds accomplishments They know their ABC s uses new vocabulary Shows interest in books and reading Connects to stories with real life events Ask questions and comments on stories o Kindergarten accomplishments Knows parts of the book and its functions Starting to read Can recognize uppercase letters lowercase letters Connects information and event that they read to real life Can recognize some words by sight Can write most letters and some words when they are dictated writes to express own meaning Can write own name Why are literacy rich environments and experiences important for young children o The world we live in is a literary rich one o There are literary signs all around us o In a pre school or early childhood setting kids need to have that in their environment o It can help children to understand the world they live in better through tags on cubbies and clothing o It can bring a great source of joy to their lives Key Terms Emergent Literacy o page 18 literacy and the youngest learner emergent literacy refers to the point in children stand out let me before they are conventionally literate that is before they can read on their own or write text that others can read Unlike Reading readiness emergent literacy as soon as that illiterate learning begins from birth and emerges gradually over time There is no magic time when children are readers and writers Children are always becoming readers and writers they are born ready to learn about literacy and continue to go in their literacy understanding throughout life the concept is important to all of us early childhood educators because it implies that work we do around children s literacy development is crucial and consequential The magic age is now Word Identification o page 348 early literacy instruction another Instructional term for using letter sounds contextual and syntactic information to identify printed words Word identification is more comprehensive than phonics which focuses only on using letter sounds to help pronounce words Comprehension o page 343 early literacy instruction Procedures that students initially apply to improve reading comprehension such as predicting Clarifying questioning and summarizing Background Knowledge o What the reader already knows before beginning to pick through a word Comprehension strategies o Some of the most common strategies are predicting clarifying summarizing and visualizing Text genre o The way the sentences are structured Literacy rich environment o An environment that has different elements to being help engage children in preschool and younger to help enhance their literacy from a young age