Utah State Library Youth Services

Since 2006, Jumpstart has held an annual “Read for the Record” campaign, where librarians, teachers, and other community organizations have pledged to read the same book on the same day.

From Jumpstart’s website,

On October 6, 2011, more than 2 million voices will call for an end to America’s early education achievement gap by reading Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney – setting a world record in the process! Sit down to read in your community.You’ll be standing up for children everywhere!

To track participation, Jumpstart encourages participants to pledge to read by filling out an online form, and then record and submit the number of children that you read to that day.

Your library can participate by including Llama Llama Red Pajama in your storytimes that day, or by having a special reading of the book throughout the day. Children and parents will have fun being part of a day when more than 2 million people read the same book and helping to reach the goal of breaking a world record in the process!

I’ve covered the six early literacy skills that make up Every Child Ready to Read. I think it is important to clearly state that these skills are designed to get children ready to read, not that children should start reading at age 3 or 4. The organization Zero to Three has some excellent research available on all subjects early childhood. On a document about early literacy, they state:

“Our current understanding of early language and literacy development has provided new ways of helping children learn to talk, read, and write. But it does not advocate ‘the teaching of reading’ to younger and younger children. Formal instruction which pushes infants and toddlers to achieve adult models of literacy (i.e., the actual reading and writing of words) is not developmentally appropriate. Early literacy theory emphasized the more natural unfolding of skills through the enjoyment of books, the importance of positive interactions between young children and adults, and the critical role of literacy-rich experiences. Formal instruction to require young children who are not developmentally ready to read is counter productive and potentially damaging to children, who may begin to associate reading and books with failure.”

As a children’s librarian, I saw fairly often parents pushing their very young children to read. There is such a pressure for children to succeed and get ahead that some parents feel like their child is behind if they aren’t ahead. It’s worth remembering, and even reminding, that literacy is a process and children will begin to read when they are ready. It’s also important to stress that the relationship the child has with the people who he or she cares about the most (including the literacy relationship) has the greatest effect on when the child begins to read and the success he or she will have. In the meantime, use and teach the six skills: Print Motivation, Vocabulary, Print Awareness, Narrative Skills, Letter Knowledge, and Phonological Awareness.

Check out StoryBlocks.org, a website put together by Colorado Libraries and their PBS affiliates. Librarians show how to integrate early literacy techniques into storytime or at-home time. Each video is one-minute, and there are a number of bilingual videos.

The American Library Association will be releasing updated information about Every Child Ready to Read in the upcoming weeks and I thought it would be great to review Early Literacy skills before the new information is released.

There are six main Early Literacy skills that librarians can help parents develop to ensure a child’s success in reading: Print Motivation, Vocabulary, Print Awareness, Narrative Skills, Letter Knowledge, and Phonological Awareness. Today, more about…

Phonological Awareness: The ability to hear and play with the smaller parts that make up words. This helps children learn to sound out words as they begin to read.

In storytime, you could talk about how each syllable of a song usually gets its own beat.  Clapping along with the syllables in a song helps children develop an ear for the smaller sounds in words, which makes it easier when it’s time to learn to read.

The American Library Association will be releasing updated information about Every Child Ready to Read in the upcoming weeks and I thought it would be great to review Early Literacy skills before the new information is released.

There are six main Early Literacy skills that librarians can help parents develop to ensure a child’s success in reading: Print Motivation, Vocabulary, Print Awareness, Narrative Skills, Letter Knowledge, and Phonological Awareness. Today, more about…

Letter Knowledge: Knowing letters are different from each other, knowing their names and sounds and recognizing letters everywhere.  This skill helps children understand that words are made up of smaller parts.

• Use shapes, e.g., foam, wood, with babies.  If they become familiar with shapes, it will be easier for them to see the differences between letters.
• Find and point out letters in different places: like the car, the doctor’s office, or the store.
• Teach children about favorite letters, such as the letters in their names or in words that they especially like (e.g. dinosaur or mermaid.)
• Make letters out of different things, like your body, yarn, playdough, etc.
• Read alphabet books with children 4 and up.  Remember it’s not necessary to read the book from beginning to end.  Let the child look at the letters that are important to him.
• Point out letters and words on book jackets and in the text of the book. Make flannel or paper letters that are related to the book or storytime theme to reinforce letter knowledge.
• “Letter of the Day” will help children remember and think about a particular letter throughout the day.  Choose a letter, and during the day find and talk about things that begin with that letter.  Give a letter to children after storytime to help them remember that letter.

The American Library Association will be releasing updated information about Every Child Ready to Read in the upcoming weeks and I thought it would be great to review Early Literacy skills before the new information is released.

There are six main Early Literacy skills that librarians can help parents develop to ensure a child’s success in reading: Print Motivation, Vocabulary, Print Awareness, Narrative Skills, Letter Knowledge, and Phonological Awareness. Today, more about…

Narrative Skills: The ability to describe and tell stories.  Narrative skills develop as children have the chance to converse and tell stories.  Strong narrative skills will make it easier for a child to understand what he or she is reading.

• Parents can perform a play-by-play of their day with babies.  Narrate what is happening and what you are doing throughout the day.
• Tell children stories about what happened during the day.
• Encourage children to talk and listen with patience.
• While reading together with 4 and 5 year olds, ask the child, “What do you think is going to happen next?”
• Dialogic reading (talking about the story while you are reading it and pointing out details in the pictures) helps children learn narrative skills.
• Using flannel board stories and songs during storytime will enhance children’s narrative skills.  Children can help retell a well-known story or picture book.  Help children understand the sequence of stories, that stories have a beginning, middle, and end.
• Share with parents that asking children to retell stories will help them understand what they read.
• Give children plenty of time to respond to questions–at least five seconds or more.

The American Library Association will be releasing updated information about Every Child Ready to Read in the upcoming weeks and I thought it would be great to review Early Literacy skills before the new information is released.

There are six main Early Literacy skills that librarians can help parents develop to ensure a child’s success in reading: Print Motivation, Vocabulary, Print Awareness, Narrative Skills, Letter Knowledge, and Phonological Awareness. Today, more about…

Print Awareness: Noticing print, knowing how to handle a book and knowing how to follow the words on a page.  Children who have this skill will be comfortable with books and will understand that print is useful.

• When reading a book together, point to and read any text that is in the illustration. This helps children connect that the letters actually mean something and aren’t just decorative squiggles.
• Point out and read signs, packaging and other print in the environment around you.
• Use nametags in storytimes. Children will be excited to learn to spell and write their name and will connect their name with the writing on the nametag.
• When introducing a storytime book, pretend you don’t know how to hold the book properly and let children tell you the correct way.
• Let parents know that when children are assessed before kindergarten, they are often asked to demonstrate that they are comfortable and familiar with handling books.