Deepen your understanding of the science behind teaching literacy.

It allows children to engage in pretend play, mimicking everyday situations and developing their imaginations.

Children can act out scenarios they observe in their own lives, such as caring for a baby, having a tea party, or going to the grocery store.

Playing with dolls, especially those representing different ethnicities or characteristics, helps children develop empathy and social awareness.

Reading is one of the most important ways to expose children to language and develop a love of reading. Ensure that books are in or near every center in the classroom to support content and easy access to reading.

Writing activities stimulate brain development and help children develop phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge and is one of the early literacy skills essential for effective communication and understanding the world around them. 

Toy microphones can encourage children to articulate their thoughts and feelings more clearly as they mimic voices or sing songs. Exposure to clear speech through the use of real microphones to amplify sounds for a child can introduce new words and phrases, expanding children's vocabulary. 

• It encourages participation and interaction, fostering a sense of community. 

• The call-and-response pattern helps develop listening and speaking skills. 

• The game can be used to teach about taking turns, cooperation, and social interaction. 

By identifying and describing sounds, children can expand their vocabulary related to sounds and their sources. By focusing on auditory input, children can develop a stronger connection between their senses and their environment and possibly reduce stress and anxiety.

Concentrating on the commands and the actions of others helps children develop their ability to focus and sustain attention. Stopping immediately on "Red Light" helps children learn to learn self-regulation and safety skills.

• Oral Language Skills: Acting out rhymes encourages children to speak the words, developing their mouth and tongue muscles, and improving articulation and enunciation.

• Vocabulary Expansion: Rhymes introduce new words in a fun, contextualized way that helps children remember them. For example, words like "diddle," "fiddle," and "moon" in "Hey Diddle Diddle" might be new vocabulary.

• Phonological Awareness: The rhythmic and rhyming patterns help children hear the sounds and syllables in words, crucial for early reading and writing skills.

• Listening Comprehension: Acting out necessitates paying close attention to the rhyme's words and actions, enhancing listening comprehension.

Label shelves

Label containers

Label cubbies

Label mats

Label spots on carpet or seats

Label pictures around the room with letters and words.

o Alphabears

o Animalia

o Billy Bloo is Stuck in Goo

o Buzz Said the Bee

o Catch a Little Fox

o Families, Families, Families

o A Giraffe and a Half

o The Hungry Thing

o Jamberry

o Old MacDonald Had a Dragon

o Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza

o Pigs in Pajamas

o See You Later Alligator

o Sheep in a Jeep

o Silly Sally

o Some Smug Slug

o There’s a Rumble in the Jungle

o There’s a Wocket in My Pocket

o The Worrywarts

o Yours Till Banana Splits

o Zoophabets

The repetitive phrases and rhyming patterns in the "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" song or story help preschoolers learn new vocabulary, improve their listening skills, and practice language sequencing. Acting out the story, like stomping through "swishy swashy" grass or wading through "splashy, sploshy" water, encourages gross motor skills and movement. Collaborative play, whether in a classroom setting or with family, helps preschoolers develop social skills like turn-taking, cooperation, and communication. 

A child chooses an item and describes the item for the others to guess or to guess themselves.

You might choose to use objects related to a book or a theme. You are building vocabulary, memory and communication skills.

• huge, large, medium, small, tiny house

• triangle, square, rectangle, circle, diamond house

Hearing stories read aloud models correct pronunciation and intonation, helping children learn new words and phrases. This is particularly beneficial for English Language Learners or children with speech and language delays. 

Listening centers encourage active listening, which is a crucial cognitive skill. Children learn to focus, follow directions, and process information, all of which contribute to their overall cognitive development. 

• Print Awareness: Understanding that the printed words carry the meaning of the story and that reading progresses from left to right and top to bottom.

• Word Recognition: By following along with a pointer, children can start to associate spoken words with written words, a crucial step in early literacy development.

• Building Vocabulary: As you point to new words, you can discuss their meaning and context, expanding the child's vocabulary.

• Comprehension: Pointers can help children make connections between the words and the illustrations, leading to better comprehension of the story.

Collect new vocabulary cards with photos to use throughout the day, week or month in drawing, writing, center play, in games, and with related shared reading. Refer back to them later as the year continues.

Andy and his Yellow Frisbee

The Boy Who Didn't Want to Be Sad

Bread, Bread, Bread

Chickens Aren't the Only Ones

Edward the Emu

Exactly the Opposite

Fish Wish

Freight Train

From Head to Toe

From Seed to Plant

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

My Granny's Purse

Planting a Rainbow

Russ and the Firehouse

Signs for Me: Basic Sign Vocabulary for Children, Parents, and Teachers

This is the House That Jack Built

Tortilla Factory

Trucks

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Wheels

This supports early literacy development by making reading more accessible and engaging, fostering phonemic awareness, and building vocabulary. 

The letter font was specifically chosen to be close to simple letters for students to have fluency in learning.

Sung to the tune of "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

What goes together?

A button and a coat.

What goes together?

Grass and a goat.

What goes together?

A dog and a flea.

Putting things together,

Good friends like you and me.