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Activities 1

Sound Matching, where children match pictures of objects that start with the same sound (e.g., "cat," "cup," and "car" for the /k/ sound). It assists the students in recognizing and differentiating the sounds. Visual cues or auditory supports (for example, recording the sounds) can be given to students with exceptionalities to help them match (Reading Eggs, 2014). Picture Cards

Clear, simple pictures representing everyday objects

Multiple sets of pictures for each target sound

Laminated cards for durability (especially important for young children)

Pictures should be age-appropriate and easily recognizable

Activity 2

Rhyming Games, children identify and make rhyming words based on stories and poems. Differentiation can be provided for exceptional students by providing a smaller group of words or using gesture-based cues to help identify rhymes.

At Home activity

Parents can engage their children in a Sound Hunt around the house to find objects that start with the same sound, helping connect sounds to real-life objects.

Website

The website is valuable for parents because it provides clear, research-based strategies and resources to help improve their children's reading comprehension skills.

https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness

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Explore reading basics as well as the key role of background knowledge and motivation in becoming a lifelong reader and learner. Watch our PBS Launching Young Readers series and try our self-paced Reading 101 course to deepen your understanding.

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Phonics:

Phonics is knowing that there is a predictable relationship between sounds and letters. Teaching early reading skills requires a crucial component — it helps children to decode words and understand word formation rules.

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Activity 1

Word Walls. Teachers reinforce vocabulary by displaying words in the classroom that the student encounters in reading. It allows visual representations and simplified words for students with exceptionalities to be used to make them accessible(Reading Eggs, 2014).

Activity 2

Picture Books and Story Retelling are activities where students can practice new vocabulary in context.

The new vocabulary learned is encouraged to be read and retold by the children.

It can be differentiated by presenting the story in bits and pieces or giving vocabulary support to a student with a learning disability or speech delay.

At home Activity

Parents can read books with their children and discuss the vocabulary words within the story, using context to help define them or use VocabularySpellingCity for interactive word games.

Website

This website is great for parents because it provides many vocabulary-building resources and activities to help children improve their English language skills. https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/vocabulary

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Fluency:

Fluency is the art of reading a piece of text without making mistakes or being overly slow or rushed. Good readers remove themselves from decoding words and concentrate on understanding the meaning of the text. Practice is a sign of a fluent reader and one who is reading proficiently.

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Activity 1

Story Mapping helps students visually represent key elements of a story, such as characters, setting, and plot.

This activity aids comprehension by allowing students to break down the story’s components. Students with exceptionalities can be given templates or technology to create their story maps(Reading Rockets, n.d.-b).

Activity 2:

Question and Answer Sessions involve asking students questions after reading a story to ensure they understand the text (Reading Rockets).

This encourages students to recall and interpret key details. For students with exceptionalities, the teacher can offer multiple-choice questions or use visual aids to assist in comprehension.

At Home Activity

Parents can support children by asking them to retell the story in their own words, using guiding questions or visual aids. PBS Kids offers interactive games and stories to strengthen comprehension skills.

Website

This website is valuable for parents because it offers comprehensive, research-based strategies to enhance their children's reading comprehension skills and deepen their understanding of texts. https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-101-learning-modules/course-modules/comprehension/depth

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Oral language is the foundation of literacy. Pre-kindergarten children are not reading yet, but they are building comprehension skills through listening, the lively back-and-forth of every day conversations, pretend play, and active read alouds where parent and child are having a dialogue about the book.

Parents can develop oral language and comprehension with these activities:

Active every day conversations

Sharing oral stories

Reading books together

Singing and playing rhyming games

Listening games, such as "Simon says"

Dramatic play where your child takes on imaginary roles

One shift that will advance your child's oral language skills

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte . Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper .

Every day conversations with your child are so important! Sometimes those interactions are necessarily brief and direct - "Let's put on your socks and shoes so we can get to the store." Try to also build in open-ended conversations each day - talk that is active, with lots of back-and-forth between you and your child (sometimes called "multi-turn conversations"). You're teaching your child how to take turns listening and speaking, and showing your child that you value their thoughts and ideas.

Ask your children questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Some questions that help them to talk more openly are "Why do you think that happened?" "What do we do next?" "What would happen if we did it this way?" "What can we do about that?" "How can we make this better?"

Reading aloud is one of the best ways to help your pre-K child absorb new words. It's also a great way to help young children learn about the world and make connections between their own lives and what's in the book - that helps children see the world with empathy. And last but not least, it's a wonderful time to snuggle up with your child and share the experience of reading and discovery together.

There are so many great nonfiction and informational books for very young kids (such as the popular DK Eyewitness series). Try to include some of these during your next trip to the public library. Even very young children love learning about the real world and are proud to share what they know!

Even a walk around the neighborhood or a trip to the grocery store can be a rich learning experience for young children. A child may see an urban bunny for the first time on a walk, and then be able to connect it to stories about rabbits. These personal connections help children connect what they read with what they know - a powerful way to build comprehension skills!

Try these oral language comprehension activities at home

Walk and talk

When you take a walk through your neighborhood, encourage your child to point out things she sees and to talk about them. React to her observations, ask open-ended questions (who, what, why, where, when, how), and add your own observations to encourage a lively conversation. During the walk you might want to stop and say, "Listen, what can you hear?" Or if you hear a familiar sound, stop and say, "Do you hear that knocking sound? What do you think that could be? Maybe it's a woodpecker -​ let's look up and see if we can spot the bird."

Act it out

Read stories such as The Three Bears or Three Billy Goats Gruff. Act out the stories using different-sized stuffed animals. This is a great opportunity to talk about the concepts of "small, medium, and large." Go on a scavenger hunt in your home to find other objects of different sizes (shoes, socks, cups, etc.) and ask your child to classify the items by size. You might also ask your child if he knows another word for small and large.

Sing it

Create or learn songs to expand your child's vocabulary. One idea: make up songs to describe your daily routines, periodically adding new verses that include new vocabulary words.

Listening games

Play "I Spy" with your child using words that describe an object's position. ("I spy something on the carpet, in front of the couch, next to the dog.") Play games such as "Red-Light Green-Light," "Mama, Puedo," and "Simon Says" that require talking, listening, following directions, and giving directions.

Grocery store literacy

Position words are used every day at home and in preschool. Use the items on the grocery shelf to give your child practice finding something above their belly button, below their nose, on the bottom shelf, and between other items on a shelf. Opportunities to use superlatives, those little endings that help describe size, are all around the grocery store. Have your child find a big fruit, a bigger fruit and the biggest fruit in the produce section. What's the smallest item in the cart? The largest item?

Kitchen conversations

Take advantage of daily activities. For example, while in the kitchen, encourage your child to name the utensils needed. Discuss the food you'll be eating, their color, texture, and taste. Where does the food come from? Which foods do you like? Which do you dislike? Who will clean up? Emphasize the use of prepositions by asking him or her to put the napkin on the table, in your lap, or under the spoon. Identify who the napkin belongs to: "It is my napkin." "It is Daddy's." "It is John's."

We're going on an adventure

Ask your child to draw a map of an imaginary place he would like to explore. Have him tell you a little bit about the setting and who might live there. If you like, you can dress up (sometimes a hat or cardboard tube spyglass is all you need) and set out on your adventure. Encourage your child to tell you all about the journey and what he's experiencing. Your child will love it if you are "all in" for this imaginary journey!

Active reading

Model active reading when you read with your child. Talk about what's happening as you're reading. Stop and discuss any interesting or tricky vocabulary words. Help your child make pictures of the story in his mind. Ask your child, "What just happened here? How do you think that character feels? Have you ever felt like that? What do you think will happen next?" Not only will this develop your child's comprehension, but critical thinking skills as well.

Tell me about it

After a read aloud, one of the best and easiest ways to check for understanding is to ask your child to summarize what the book was about in their own words. You can ask a question or two to help your child clarify her thinking or to add more detail.

Family stories

This is a wonderful activity for a family picnic or for a rainy day when you're snuggled together on the couch. Share a favorite story about your childhood or a family story that's been passed down from generation to generation. Use vivid language and details about people, places, and things. Funny or scary will really get your child's attention! Your child will probably have lots of questions, which keeps the storytelling alive. You could also ask your child if she has a favorite family story of her own.

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Oral Language Comprehension: Activities for Your Pre-K Child

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Pre-K children are actively absorbing spoken language and experiences to make sense of the world around them. Engaging in rich conversations about everyday things and reading lots of stories are two terrific ways to help young children strengthen oral language skills and comprehension.

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Activity 1

Letter Sound correspondence is a foundational phonics activity involving students matching letters to the sound they’re making (e.g., “m” makes the /m/ sound).

Letter Tiles: Use letter tiles that students can move around and match with corresponding sounds. This tactile activity is great for kinesthetic learners.

Audio Recordings: Play audio recordings of individual sounds and have students match them with the correct letter.

Blending Sounds: Once students have mastered letter-sound correspondence, they can practice blending sounds to form words. For example, blending /c/, /a/, and /t/ results in "cat."

Activity 2

Assistive technology such as text-to-speech apps can be differentiating tools used with exceptional students, as they can give additional visual or tactile cues to support the learning of sound blends.

AT Home activity

Parents can use flashcards with letters and corresponding pictures to teach letter-sound correspondences, enhancing the activity with color or touch-coding for accessibility.

Website

This website benefits parents by offering practical, research-backed guidance on phonics and decoding to support their children's reading development.

https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/phonics-and-decoding

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Explore reading basics as well as the key role of background knowledge and motivation in becoming a lifelong reader and learner. Watch our PBS Launching Young Readers series and try our self-paced Reading 101 course to deepen your understanding.

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Activity 1: Echo Reading

The teacher reads a passage aloud, and students repeat it after them. This procedure helps promote fluency by teaching proper pausing and intonation.

Differentiation: Teachers can provide additional modeling for students with exceptionalities or adjust the reading pacing for slower practice.

Activity 2: Choral Reading

The teacher and students read the exact text together. This encourages fluency in a supportive, collaborative environment.

Differentiation: For students with exceptionalities, using more straightforward texts or offering individualized support during the reading process helps ensure effective differentiation.

At Home activity

Repeated reading of familiar texts helps children build fluency and confidence, and Raz-Kids offers leveled books to practice this skill at home.

Website

This website is helpful for parents because it provides effective strategies and tips to support their children's reading fluency development. https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/fluency

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What is Fluency?

Reading fluency refers to the ability to read text accurately and automatically so that one understands what is being read. ( Definition from University of Oregon)

In pre-k, fluency is observing and listening to adults read aloud and model fluent reading. Pre-k children are developing early reading behaviors and are not expected to be reading words independently at this stage.

What Does it Look Like?

How can reading behaviors be supported?

What does it look like to model fluency?

Practice Activities

Model Reading Fluency: Use the following tips for Reading With Expression

Read expressively: talk the way the story's characters would talk; make sound effects and funny faces; and vary the pitch of your voice throughout the story to make it more interesting.

Expressively reread when you notice words like "shouted", "cried" or "laughed".

Expressively reread when you notice punctuation such as ! and ?.

Enjoy the time reading together! Do not rush.

Watch Reading Fluency.

ABC Books: Read ABC books to the child. Take time to name and point to each letter. Have the child repeat the name of letters. Read the books several times and notice the number of letters the child can identify increase!

ABC Cookie Cutters: Use letter shaped cookie cutters with play dough and/or cookie dough. Take time to name and point to each letter. Have the child repeat the name of letters.

Letters Everywhere: Name letters on signs, license plates, and more when you are riding in the car or taking a walk! Watch Letters Everywhere.

Be a Role Model: Don't forget to be a reader and writer yourself. One of the most effective ways to help children become readers and writers is to show them through your own example that you value literacy - and that reading and writing have useful purposes. Keep books and writing materials in the home, and talk about what you are doing when you read and write.

Practice Activities (with Printables)
If you don't have a printer, your child's school will print these for you.
Letter Sorting: Sort letters using magazines, empty boxes, junk mail, and more. This activity is written for teachers, but can be easily adapted for use at home. Letter Sorting

Pick and Write: Pick, name, and write letters with the Letter Tree activity. This activity is written for teachers, but can be easily adapted for use at home. Pick and Write

Play to Read: Use a subset of the NC Office of Early Learning Play to Read with a Caregiver resource to focus on letter naming. Print 4 slides per page for cards on the go! Play to Read: Letter Knowledge

Online Activities

Models of Fluent Reading: This resource provides opportunities to see illustrations and listen to books read fluently.

Naming Letters While Moving: This capital letter video and this lowercase video make learning fun by activating the child's brain through song and movement.

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Reading fluency refers to the ability to read text accurately and automatically so that one understands what is being read. ( Definition from University of Oregon) In pre-k, fluency is observing and listening to adults read aloud and model fluent reading.

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Vocabulary:

Vocabulary is the words that children have and know. Using words in the text and making sense of them requires a strong vocabulary critical to reading comprehension. Expanding vocabulary will increase fluency and comprehension as students progress in their reading journey.

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Phonemic Awareness: Phonemic awareness is the capacity to identify and handle sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Playing with sounds and letters is a foundation skill for reading and writing development because it helps young learners understand how sounds relate to letters. Strong phonemic awareness in a child allows her to decode words and understand word structures.

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Comprehension:

Comprehension is the ability to understand and interpret the meaning of a text, defined and explained. This includes linking structures, discovering the meaning, and recalling important details. It enables readers to cope with different texts, for example, to understand and be led to understanding.