Language and Literacy Child Portfolio by Madeline Cole

Focus Child Introduction: Meet S!

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-05 21:59:06 UTC

S. is a four year old child in Ms. Autumn's classroom. S. has an outgoing and energetic personality. No matter who you are, S. will come up and chat up a storm. S. is incredibly outspoken, creative and engaging. When communicating with S, you immediately notice her expansive vocabulary. She has an incredible ability to articulate thoughts, opinions and feelings. S. lives with her Mom, Dad and younger brother. S. loves to play outside, engage in the arts and play with her friends. With S's loud personality, she tends to struggle to communicate in a socially acceptable way. This can sometimes lead to arguments, hurt feelings or yelling. Over all, S. is a very capable child who's expressive personality captures the attention of the room!

Sample 1: Artistic Ability

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-06 16:20:19 UTC

During this activity S. and I sat together drawing. This experience helped me understand her personality and interests. While she created her artwork, she told me stories about home and her family. Her narrative skills were strong and detailed. She had the ability to give detailed descriptions of family members and friends. It was clear she loved her family very much. While chatting about, she drew several different pictures. She explained to me the meaning of each drawing. She had a strong sense of style when choosing each color and picture.

Print motivation - a Childs interest and enjoyment in books

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-06 16:33:11 UTC

This is a great example for S's love for books! This was during lab 3. I decided to read a book to some of the children around me. S. was the first one to run up and sit at my feet. She picked this book out for me to read because it the main character shared her name. She asked questions, shared thoughts and smiled throughout the entire book. It was clear she loved being read to!

Print Awareness: Ability to follow words, understand how to handle a book, notice print

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-06 16:36:59 UTC

S's ability to follow words, handle books and notice print was clear off the bat. She handed me the book closed, with two hands. She pointed to the words on the page when I read.

Letter Knowledge: Learning to name letters and knowing they have sounds and recognizing them

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-06 16:39:11 UTC

As I was writing down S's name one day, I asked her what her last name was. She said her full name aloud, then said her last initial. S. was able to recognize the sound of her last name with the name of the letter. This connection between down and name demonstrated letter knowledge.

Vocab: Knowing the names of things

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-06 16:44:06 UTC

S's vocabulary is one of the most impressive things about her. When talking to S. you will find her using words most 4 year olds have not been taught/exposed to. As an example, in one of my observations a friend started moving around toys S. had been playing with. She grabbed the toys out of her hand and states, "Stop! I'm trying to organize!" Although the situation should have resulted in a teachable moment about kindness to friends, I was thoroughly impressed with her use of language. That example demonstrated her ability to use vocabulary.

Narrative skills: The ability to tell and explain stories and events

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-06 16:47:06 UTC

Narrative skills are one of S's strong suites. S. has an amazing ability to explain stories and events. Often when we play together she explains moments at home, playing with friends or seeing family. Many of the stories have a beginning, middle and end. I used this image as this was a moment of narrative skills. This was S. showing me the story behind her art work. She explained it was a planet and how it became one.

Phonological Awareness: The ability to notice and play with smaller sounds in words

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-06 16:50:16 UTC

Although I do not have an image/video of S. singing, I notice her ability to rhyme and sing every lab. S. loves to make songs, sing popular music and connect people using songs. One specific lab day, S. sat with her friends singing for at least 10 minutes straight. She made her own songs up and attempted to rhyme. She sang ABCs and Katy Perry's Roar at least 5 times each. She broke down the words and sang them in unique ways as she colored to herself.

1.1 PK.A Practice appropriate book handling skills.

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-07 15:37:51 UTC

Book handling skills are a strong suite for S. often reads and uses books. She carefully picks them up, holds them gently and reads from them. I have never seen her throw, rip or drop a book. She always handles my materials and books with care. After several lessons, S. takes the book and reteaches it to her friends. She carefully holds to book in her lap. She turns each page gently. She follows the words on the page with her finger. (She makes up different words that go along with the illustrations)

1.1 PK.B Identify basic features of print.

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-07 15:38:12 UTC

In every lesson S. usually pauses and points to words on the page. If I have a simple letter or number, she points and says the verbal sound. (ex: A or 3) She recognizes sentences start at the top left and end bottom right of the page.

1.2 PK.B Answer questions about a text.

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-07 15:38:51 UTC

S. has great memory skills and cognitive functioning. She is able to remember characters, names and story points. During our felt board, S. knew the characters names when I asked at the end. Throughout the story, I will often ask questions about the characters as it relates to her life. S. is able to connect the story to her own experiences. My open ended questions challenge her thinking and cognitive functioning skills.

1.2 PK.LWith prompting and support,actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-07 15:39:53 UTC

S. is extremely outgoing, confident and engaged. Without support or prompting she asks questions, stays hands on and collaborates with other children. S's ability to actively engage shows in every lesson plan. In our very last lab, she offered to hold the mouse while her classmates fed him cheese. She allows the other children to stay involved while activity participating herself.

Vocabulary recognition game

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-09 16:45:49 UTC

Here, S. is playing with an activity that promotes vocabulary recognition. During this game she calls out an item on the stick, then finds the matching card with it's name and image. She matches the two images together. This material/activity encourages language development and vocabulary recognition.

Puppets Activity

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-09 16:48:37 UTC

This was during my very first lesson plan: reading with puppets! For this lesson plan, we read a story and used my DIY puppets to retell the story. I encouraged narrative and memory skills for this activity. I "quizzed" them on the sequence of events in the story. As an example, "Does anyone remember who Little Rabbit met after the bird..?" The next puppet would be brought out as we reenacted the scene together.

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-10 22:35:27 UTC

This is part of the book nook in Ms. Autumns classroom. These books are in constant access for the children. There are plenty of diverse books for the children to read during free time and play.

Letter Board

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-10 22:35:45 UTC

S. Enjoys using the letter boards during free time. She often sits and traces the lines with her magnetic pen. This helps develop her literacy skills. I recommend using toys to develop print potivation. We should use toys to make literacy fun!

Social Painting

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-11 15:36:06 UTC

This was during my second lesson plan activity. The children love painting, coloring and socializing. Using a creative outlet allows them to chat together, collaborate and share materials. This process helps them practice appropriate language and communication. I recommend using the arts in a social setting to help develop language skills.

Color names and shapes

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-11 15:37:58 UTC

This material helps support literacy development by placing the names of colors and shapes on the puzzle. S. can see the vocabulary word on each shape. This helps her connect names to shapes and colors.

The Language of Literacy

2025-07-26 15:29:07 UTC

1. Children represent and express ideas through verbal and

written languages when they imitate friendly words,

signs/gestures, and actions: S. Is an incredibly expressive girl. She is easily able to articulate her thoughts, feelings and actions. She will often imitate my body language or mannerisms when playing and reading together. If I make a silly face or gesture, she often imitates that action. When I read to the children, I will often follow the print with my finger. after many lesson plans as decides to take the role of teacher. When “reading” to her friends, she imitates by using her finger to follow the print.

Cozy reading nook

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-26 16:01:53 UTC

This is a fantastic spot in Ms. Autumns classroom. This cozy quiet spot is meant for the children to read quietly and calm down. This is were I teach most of my stories!

Playing teacher

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-26 16:03:03 UTC

S. has a special interest in playing teacher! She loves taking on responsibility and being in charge. Several times after I have finished my lesson she has asked to use my props. She tells everyone to sit as she teaches them. This is an incredible quality that helps spark her interest in reading.

Running Record S.

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-28 13:25:08 UTC

This sample allowed me to better understand S's strong willed and incontrol personality. When communicating with others S. struggles with regulating her emotions. She will raise her voice and use short words to communicate what she wants. If another child gets in her way she quickly communicates what she wants. This often results in arguments and hurt feelings. This running record allowed me to understand S's emotional/social development.

Time Sample

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-28 13:28:16 UTC

This time sample demonstrated S's emotional and social development through tallying emotional-social behaviors. During this observation, I found she often yelled at her friends when communicating. I noticed she was easily angered when loosing control. This was a helpful learning experience to understand her temperament. The second part of the sample asked me to explain my response. I would approach this situation by creating more social/emotional themed lesson plans. S. easily understands moral and empathy. I believe taking the time to read books about kindness and friendship could help S. communicate. It's clear she loves her friends but often looses control of her temper. I would spend quality time talking about reading about feelings and emotions.

Anecdotal Sample

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-29 14:43:01 UTC

This sample shows several materials in Ms. Autumns classroom. This observation demonstrates how many materials can elevate and development language and literacy. S. uses literacy when drawing and writing in her journal. Her journal has her name and titles of drawings. She in prompted to communicate with others by sharing her drawing of the rainbow.

Playing teacher

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-29 14:46:42 UTC

The flannel board was an excellent example of S's interest in playing teacher. Her interest in playing teacher encouraged her to use both her language and literary skills. She would "read" the stories to her students sitting around her. She would then use language to explain the activity to her students. S's ability to take charge and teach others is a catalyst to better develop language and literacy skills.

Languages of Literacy

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-30 15:00:52 UTC

3. Children connect community, family, and culture through

verbal and written language and literacy when they are familiar

with diverse authors and illustrators

This sample shows lesson plan 3 action song. For this activity, S learned about culture and community through sign language and song. After we read the story Please and Thank you, S. learned how to sign 'please,' 'no,' and 'thank you.' in sign language. This experience taught her how to use manors with her friends, family and teachers. That fostered her sense of community. She learned about sign language which exposed her to a new culture and way of communicating.

Intro Video

colemadeline6 — 2025-07-30 15:39:32 UTC

(Was not able to add video straight to padlet without buying premium) Click the link!