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One of my favorite ways to incorporate literacy in my classroom is to provide a notebook and writing utensils in our dramatic play area. They will go crazy over writing grocery lists and taking orders like they are working at a restaurant.  I also love to provide words and their illustration based on the theme in our writing center for students to practice writing.

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I incorporate literacy as much as possible within my classroom environment. We have a library of books within our classroom that the students can explore. We also have an area of read aloud books such as "Caps for Sale", "The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear" and so many more. Children also tell their own stories and I plan guided questions ahead for them to comment on. We play literacy games like hide and seek words and when we are doing the "Weather Watcher", in the morning instead of using the word hot I try to incorporated a word I know that they may have not used before like sweltering and than I define that particular word for them, which pretty much means the same. Another activity we provide in our classroom in reference of literacy would be literacy cards with questions to help my children engage more in conversations with their teachers and their friends. Here is an example of my cards.

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Julia Gargis - Children's World Learning Center

The children in my class love creating class books to enjoy. They get to be the authors and illustrators as they create the pictures and then write the words to go on their page. The most recent class book that we created was about the children's favorite animals. Animals are always of interest in my classroom and the children wanted to share their favorite animals with their friends, so we decided to make a book about them. Each child made a picture of their favorite animal and worked to sound out the letters of their animal name so they could label it. The page that is shown in the picture below was created by a child who knows all of her letters and letter sounds so she was in a great place to sound out the word butterfly. We slowly said the word together and she picked out the sounds that she could hear. Once each child was finished we put the book together and it was added to our classroom library.

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A Great Article for developmentally appropriate ideas

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A Great Article for developmentally appropriate ideas

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The Essentials of Early Literacy Instruction (smartbeginningsse.org)

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I have one virtual student this year that joins us on Tuesday and Thursday each week during group time and I came up with a way for him to interact with the students that are in my class using the Letter land wrist bands.  I will have each child wear a letter on their wrist throughout the morning.  When my virtual student comes on, I show him the Letter land Letter card and he calls it out using the character name and then the letter.   The child that is wearing the wrist band with that letter stands up, says his/her letter and the letter sound.  This works really well.  They also enjoy making letters in manipulatives with tinker toys and small cubes while wearing the wrist bands.

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Naishell McGuire Literacy- Writing Mail Study

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Naishell McGuire Literacy- Writing Mail Study

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We are studying Mail in my classroom. To help with our literacy the children wrote words from our word wall. They been writing letters to family and friends and really have enjoyed receiving letters back from Family and Friends.

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Part of our morning routine is to sign in using their name cards if needed. I have began to use the letter land bracelet as a way to help them recognize the letter sound,. Next, they look for it on paper and recognize the actual letter and then write their name beside it. This has helped to increase their letter sound recognition as well as the actual letters.

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Grocery List in Dramatic Play-Annie Whitehead

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Grocery List in Dramatic Play-Annie Whitehead

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It was the students ideas to turn dramatic play into a grocery store. So a way to add literacy was to print out picture cards of food items with labels, add environmental print by bringing in empty boxes (cereal, rice, crackers, pizza boxes etc.) They asked for baskets so they could go grocery shopping. I purchased baskets and we talked about having a grocery list to go shopping.. They write out their grocery list. Get their baskets and shop and then we pay using pretend credit cards and practice social distancing. They love it.

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It was during my tree study that I was thinking of ways to be more creative and yet find a way to make literacy more engaging for my students. So we made a Chicka Chicka boom boom literacy tree. While at the literacy tree the students will find the letters to spell the posted word. Say it and then write it. This activity increases their phonological awareness, writing, and letter recognition.

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Ricketta Boone- Emergent Writing; Transportation Study

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Ricketta Boone- Emergent Writing; Transportation Study

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Students used their fingers and shaving cream to write letters seen on Transportation Letter cards I would hold up for them. The focus on this activity was to increase letter formation by the repetition of making lines and curves with fingers and to improve letter recognition​. Prior to this activity I ensured to consistently introduce students to the letters they would see in transportation words such as car, truck, bus, etc. As a transition to centers students were asked to write their name so I could send a picture to families.

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To show collaboration between our virtual and face to face students we made a class book . Parents met in break out group as well as found ways to communicate with each other through social media  Messenger etc and made book . Michele Nowell

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When I was teaching, it took me a while to really understand the DAP way to introduce and teach letters to preschoolers. There is so much misinformation out there about how to do it, especially online! The NCFELD literacy strategies are really what helped me understand that young children should be introduced to letters in a meaningful and relevant way and not in isolation. Once I learned this, I started focusing on the letters in the children's names, and the letters connected to the important people in their lives and the food, books, and characters that they love! Along with topic-related vocabulary and just things that mean something to the children and their everyday experiences and interests. Giving them a variety of opportunities to explore letters in a playful and fun way while facilitating conversations about the letters, and ways they connect to the child. Adding pictures to words is another strategy that makes a difference because most preschoolers can't read, so any words being written or presented need pictures to represent them as well. I highly recommend referring to the strategies in NCFELD if ever in question of DAP; they helped me a lot!

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Kathy Gillette-----Diversity book shelf 

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Kathy Gillette-----Diversity book shelf 

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Here i have a diversity book shelf along with my regular book shelf so the children can read about other children from different cultures and with disabilities .

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Here is the cover for the word book for each center , I put them in photo albums

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Here we have a letter that we might be learning and there we have words that start with that Letter , we ask the children to add to the list of words that they might think sounds like that letter . and we add it to the other words that are listed

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 Kathy Gillette----Word for the month poster 

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 Kathy Gillette----Word for the month poster 

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This poster is use to write new words that we use for the month of Feb. each moth has a different poster that we use

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In January I started something new, I wanted to have a connection to home and the classroom so I wanted the students to bring in their favorite book, this was our show n tell with literacy. Implanting  this strategy was a great tool to promote more reading at home and in the classroom. This strategy  also helped with dialogue between students and it also helped with open ended questions with the teachers and the the students. I recommend you use this strategy for literacy in the classroom, its working out GREAT for me!

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In January I started something new, I wanted to have a connection to home and the classroom so I wanted the students to bring in their favorite book, this was our show n tell with literacy. Implanting  this strategy was a great tool to promote more reading at home and in the classroom. This strategy  also helped with dialogue between students and it also helped with open ended questions with the teachers and the the students. I recommend you use this strategy for literacy in the classroom, its working out GREAT for me!

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I have made word books for different centers wher I put words along with the picture, I try to add words as I go Laong the year, the are in ABC order.. bu using this they can look at the book when ever they are in that area of the classroom

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In our early learning environment, i have placed a miniature clipboard at each center in which the students sign in  before they enter the center. At first, I wasn't sure how this idea was going to work out, but now it is a success. When I first started the students signing into the various centers, the students would take their name card with them and copy his/her name from the name card, but now the majority of the students can write their complete first name without their name card. Also, each student has a "day book" in which we try to write daily a reflection of our day, but at times the day book turns into  'free expression" and that's okay. In addition, we have a "word wall" that the students and I have created that is housed on a trifold that has a great representation of literacy. Almost forgot, each Friday we have a storyteller "Ms. Dandelion" from Braswell Library, that comes on zoom at 9:30am and share a story,  movement activity and an additional literacy activity that is sent home for the student and his/her family to complete. These are a few of the ways that literacy is implemented in our early learning environment.

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One thing that we have set up in our classroom is an Alphabet Wall and we add words and pictures that we talk about during our theme at the time.

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Literacy is my FAVORITE tool to educate my students in the classroom. I always  incorporate books that relate to my study/theme, for example this month we are talking about Dental Awareness , I have books in Dramatic play about teeth and I also  actual(pretend) teeth and a tooth brush in that center. When you incorporate books with the topic of the month, it is more relatable to the students and they understand and comprehend the material taught. Another way I promote reading and literacy in the classroom and home is with reading logs, and monthly scholastic book flyers .I read constantly to the students, I read from 4-6 books a day, and I reread the books during the week so the children can retell the story to me and their classmates .Theses strategies help me with Literacy in the classroom:•	Literacy development starts early in life and is highly correlated with school achievement.•	All of the domains of a child's development —physical, social-emotional, cognitive, language and literacy—are interrelated and interdependent.•	The more limited a child's experiences with language and literacy the more likely he or she will have difficulty learning to read.•	Key early literacy predictors of reading and school success include oral language, Alphabetic Code, and print knowledge.•	Well-conceived standards for child outcomes, curriculum content, and teacher preparation help establish clarity of purpose and a shared vision for early literacy education.•	Increased demands for program accountability are often heavily focused on assessments of children's early literacy development.•	Highly capable teachers are required to implement today's more challenging early literacy curriculum.•	Teacher knowledge, respect and support for the diversity of children's families, cultures, and linguistic backgrounds are important in early literacy development. 

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Literacy is my FAVORITE tool to educate my students in the classroom. I always  incorporate books that relate to my study/theme, for example this month we are talking about Dental Awareness , I have books in Dramatic play about teeth and I also  actual(pretend) teeth and a tooth brush in that center. When you incorporate books with the topic of the month, it is more relatable to the students and they understand and comprehend the material taught. Another way I promote reading and literacy in the classroom and home is with reading logs, and monthly scholastic book flyers .I read constantly to the students, I read from 4-6 books a day, and I reread the books during the week so the children can retell the story to me and their classmates .Theses strategies help me with Literacy in the classroom:•	Literacy development starts early in life and is highly correlated with school achievement.•	All of the domains of a child's development —physical, social-emotional, cognitive, language and literacy—are interrelated and interdependent.•	The more limited a child's experiences with language and literacy the more likely he or she will have difficulty learning to read.•	Key early literacy predictors of reading and school success include oral language, Alphabetic Code, and print knowledge.•	Well-conceived standards for child outcomes, curriculum content, and teacher preparation help establish clarity of purpose and a shared vision for early literacy education.•	Increased demands for program accountability are often heavily focused on assessments of children's early literacy development.•	Highly capable teachers are required to implement today's more challenging early literacy curriculum.•	Teacher knowledge, respect and support for the diversity of children's families, cultures, and linguistic backgrounds are important in early literacy development. 

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In our classroom we have a word wall that has a picture with the vocabulary word, caddies in each center with paper and pencils, we have journal writing once a week, classroom stories books, and story time with Ms. Alice. This just a few things we do for literacy.

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