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1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

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1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is a board book about a small caterpillar that pops out of his egg with a ravaging hunger! Every day, the caterpillar eats his way through many different foods and sweets.
This book is great to read-aloud with children. Hornsby & Wilson suggest using books for their "intended purposes first. Allow books to cause faces to smile, hands to clap, minds to stir, hearts to swell" (2014, p.13). To support early literacy learning, I would include repeated readings of this book, especially if it becomes a favourite! In fact, Pelletier recommends enhancing
"storybook comprehension by reading the story out loud two or more times, explaining word meaning" (2011, p.4). I believe this book could quickly become a favourite for any child, with the quirky story and the colourful illustrations!

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Nursery rhymes are a great way to "provide activities that increase children's awareness of the sounds of language" (Hornsby & Wilson, 2014, p.3). Hornsby & Wilson recommend first discussing the rhyme, and what is happening in the story. Children could also dramatize the rhyme to "consolidate and express what they have learned" (Christie, Richgels & Roskos, 2003, p.4). Jack and Jill is a very popular nursery rhyme that could easily be acted out by children. The rhyming in this nursery rhyme is also very obvious and would be a great start with young learners.

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Touch and Feel ABC by Scholastic is a great way to familiarize young learners with the alphabet. Christie, Richgels and Roskos suggest "[engaging] children with materials that promote identification of the letters of the alphabet" (2003, p.3). This book has a "Touch and Feel" aspect to engage children with the text, and could benefit many different learners. This book also relates specific letters to objects or things to help young learners make the connections with the letters and real world items. This book could be used in many different ways, such as read-alouds, independent reading, or in use to pay attention to specific rhymes!

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4. Five Little Monkeys by Natalie Marshall 

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4. Five Little Monkeys by Natalie Marshall 

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Five Little Monkeys by Natalie Marshall is a short board book about five monkeys jumping on the bed, as they each fall off one by one. This book is a great resource when focusing on rhymes with children. Pelletier recommends "[having] children attend to words, syllables, rhymes and phonemes" when reading texts with young learners (2011, p.3). In fact, rhyming texts "repeat sounds and thus provide a rich resource for learning not only the sounds of a language, but also the letters which represent these sounds" (Hornsby & Wilson, 2014, p.13-14). When reading this book with children, I would use the opportunity to encourage them to use their fingers to engage with the story. I would have them count down the number of monkeys left on the bed!

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Magnetic letter boards are a great resource when teaching the alphabet! All that is needed is a cooking tray and magnetic letters. It is a great way for students to spell out sight words, or to focus on the different letters that appear in different words, such as "dog" and "log".  It would also be a great way to teach young learners' the letters in their name. Christie, Richgels and Roskos also suggest "[using] direct instruction to teach the letter of the names that have personal meaning to children" (2003, p.3). Including a personal meaning to the letters, such as one being the first letter of their friend's name, could engage many different learners!

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According to Pelletier (2011), "play is a natural context for children's language development" (p.1). Incorporating literacy through play related print. Christie, Richgels and Roskos suggest incorporating "signs, menus, employee name tags in a restaurant play center" (p.3). This is a great example of introducing print in a play related way to young learners, as they begin to recognize words from the menu and associate them with the pictures while engaging in play. In fact, "environmental print is a genuine reading resource" according to Pelletier (2011, p. 1). To set up a restaurant play center, I would include a table with chairs, plates, utensils and plastic food, and include menus that have both pictures and words. A large sign with the restaurant's name would also be a great addition to the play center.

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Epic! is an application found on tablets that includes interactive reading opportunities for young learners. I would model this at first, and demonstrate how this can be used as a great resource for reading. Semmingson states that when "using e-books, children can explore interactive activities, such as touch-screen features, sounds, videos, animations, and voice-over narration" (2017, p.31). I think this would be a great addition to board books, and could change the way young learners look at books!

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ABC puzzles are a great way for young learners to become familiar with the different letters of the alphabet. Alphabet activities are included in the "Essential Early Literacy Teaching Strategies" outlined by Christie, Richgels and Roskos (2003, p.3). I believe this would be a great resource to have for young learners to either independently work with the puzzles, or for parents/guardians to focus on certain letters with children. The puzzle introduces an aspect of play to learning the different letters of the alphabet, and so I believe this is a great resource to support early literacy learning.

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Rosalind Zimbalatti recommending using ribbon wands, created by "using ribbons (40 cm) taped to straws" (2018, p.5). She suggests using these ribbon wands to make large, exaggerated motions to spell out letters with the wand. I believe this is a great activity for many learners, as it also includes a kinaesthetic aspect and would engage different types of learners. I would use this activity to focus on specific letters, and only a few at a time so that learners can direct their attention to the letters chosen. I think this is a great resource when teaching letters to children, as it encourages movement and play while learning!

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Songs are a great resource for early literacy learning. Pelletier encourages using "songs to emphasize rhymes" (2011, p.3). The "Apples and Bananas" song is a very fun and engaging song for young children. It actually replaces the vowels in the words
"eat", "apples" and "bananas" for a fun way for children to realize the different sounds that different letters make. "Apples and bananas" quickly changes to "opples and bononos" when the vowel is replaced with an "O". I would write this song in large letters (such as on a chart paper or a white board) to emphasize the different vowels that are being exchanged, and go through them with the child. I think this is a great way to demonstrate the sounds of letters and vowels in a fun way!

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Christie, J., Richgels, D., & Roskos, K. (2003). The Essentials of Early Literacy Instruction. The National association for the Education of Young Children, 1-8.

Horsnby, D. & Wilson, L. (2014). Early Literacy is More than Phonics. Practically Primary, 19(3), 12-15.

Pelletier, J. (2011). Supporting Early Language and Literacy. What Works? Research Into Practice, 37, 1-4.

Semingson, P. (2017). Digital Literacies for Young Learners and Writers. Literacy Today, 30-31.

Zimbalatti, R. (2018). Powerful Printing.