Transcript First Words - Reading Reaps Rewards

The Stages of Language
& Literacy
Development
By Cherese Bracey
Emergent
Literacy
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Reading to children in infancy stage is very
important to foster a healthy language
development. Children start to learn language from
the day they are born. As they grow and develop,
their speech and language skills become
increasingly more complex. They learn to
understand and use language to express their ideas,
thoughts, and feelings, and to communicate with
others. During early speech and language
development, children learn skills that are important
to the development of literacy [reading and writing.]
This stage begins at birth and continues throughout
the early childhood years.
First Words
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The first word a child speaks is usually an
object or familiar person. A toddler can
pronounce single words easily. The
environment around a child has an effect on
word growth. For this reason, it is important to
build language enriched experiences that will
set the foundation for successful learning in
later years. They often use symbolic gesturing
signs and these gestures have multiple
meanings that are unique to every child.
First Sentences &
Conversations
At 18 months a child has a 50 word vocabulary.
At 36 months a child has a vocabulary of 1000 words.
2 word sentences usually contain pivot words that are used often.
They are stable and fixed in meaning. Examples are: All gone, night,
night, or bye, bye.
Grammar rules become apparent and they may not use subjects in
their sentences.
During conversations, a child is
learning the following:
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how to do vocal turn taking.
Establishes joint attention through
back and forth looking.
Making gestures, words, listening and
seems to get satisfaction from his/her
efforts when successful.
Early Preschoolers
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Are 2-3yrs old.
Have continued rapid
speech growth.
Speak 6-10 words per
day.
They increase social
play.
Have still gestures.
Have non-verbal
communication.
Children in this stage have an
increase in vocabulary growth.
Receptive Vocabulary
are orally spoken words
the child understands.
Expressive Vocabulary
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Have orally spoken words child uses to express himself.
Talks primarily about himself, using frequent nouns or short
possessives.
Have brief conversation in short sentences.
Talks over the speech of others.
Exhibits emotion in speech and will begin to state cause and
effect.
Older Preschoolers
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Are 4 years old to early Five’s.
They have longer sentences 4
words and up.
Their mental categories
mature.
Have increase in articulation
ability.
Have real two-sided
conversations.
Friendships are more stable.
They engage in verbal
planning.
Are at an age where they begin
to test.
They like using words that are
wrong.
Children at this level realize that words can be powerful and
will use speech to get their way. 75% of their articulation is
correct and have a vocabulary of more than 1500 words.
They develop humor and discuss word meanings with
friends. They often talk about what one is doing.
The early childhood years are very crucial years
to learning development. A healthy development
through these years set the foundation for the
type of individuals children will grow to become,
cognitively, socially, physically, and emotionally.
Children who are older five’s
to age 8 years old are very
advanced.
During 2nd & 3rd grade children
can research topics and do
reports
on their own.
They also engage in Genre
Studies which are:
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Instructional writing
Stories
Fairytales/Fiction/Non Fiction
Poetry
Letter Writing
Teaching points
for Language & Literacy
Being the kind of teacher that
promotes language and
literacy means:
•Becoming a responsive opportunist.
•Using teachable moments to teach a lesson.
•Establishing and maintaining a warm supportive
classroom with equality respect and trust.
•Developing reciprocal relationships with student.
•Have authentic dialogue.
•Expectations for child’s success.
•Offering choices.
•Professionally handling children’s language errors.
•Creating a lively full of talk classroom.
Basic Teacher Functions
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Model
Provider
Inter Actor
Teachers should model appropriate language around
children. They should provide developmentally
appropriate experiences, curriculum activities and
materials for abundant play and exploration. As an inter
actor, they should build a child’s sense of self worth,
initiate conversation, and be an accepting focused
listener.
A Balanced Literacy Block
An effective literacy center will consist of the
following:
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Shared Reading
Independent
Reading
Writing/Interactive/
Independent
Guided Reading
Gradual Release of
Responsibility.
Why use Storytelling?
Because reading is fun! It sparks the imagination and is an excellent
way to share teacher experience and creativity. Reading books to
children:
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Highlights plot characters
and structure
Provides sharing of cultural
wisdom
Promotes oral, listening,
and audience skills.
Allows mental image
formation
Storytelling Tips:
When reading to children remember to use animation,
humor, and musicality in your voice to increase
attentiveness.
Story time is an excellent language activity that can
extend into other areas of learning. Teachers who plan
extended enrichment activities will promote a
successful learning experience that will enhance
concrete learning.