PRINT-RICH CLASS ENVIRONMENT

PRINT-RICH ENVIRONMENT

If your classroom has all of these quality indicators that relate to literacy and developing pre-reading skills, and you are able to articulate what and how children learn from these things, you will be in a much better position to address parents who want their children to be bringing home daily worksheets. Many very well intentioned parents think that children are not learning if they are not doing worksheets, and do not understand that children learn best through hands-on, meaningful play experiences within a prepared environment.

Ultimately the children benefit the most from these developmentally appropriate practices. They are then able to learn these concepts in a way which is both meaningful and fun to them – instead of by rote or by being forced to sit and write a page full of ‘R’s. Learning should be spontaneous and fun when you’re 4!

Enhancing Classroom Literacy With a Print Rich Environment- A Print Rich Environment Includes:

Child-made books (individual and group-process made)
Teacher-made books
Books made by the class based on shared experiences
Picture books
Children’s magazines
Pillows, rugs, rockers (to create a soft, comfortable area)
Flannel board with stories children can re-tell
Familiar books that children can ‘read’ from memory
Pictures of children reading
Story tapes
Books for reference
Dictation taken by the Teacher and posted on large sheets of easel paper. Children should be asked open-ended questions (preferably on the curriculum topic of interest for that week) and then their quotes should be written down verbatim. This gives children the message that there are symbols for their words. You will also find when you write down exactly what children say as they say it, over the course of time you can see real strides in language development.
Quotes on children’s artwork, again word for word. Ask the child if he/she would like to tell you about his/her work. Ask if they would like for you to write it down, and where they want it on the picture. What children say about their own work tells us what they are thinking and feeling and their views on the world. It is also a great communication enhancer between parent and child.
Items labeled throughout the classroom. Again, this is to give children the message that everything has a set of recognizable, common symbols that are written down that universally identify it

A FEW TIPS ON LABELING:

Don’t label everything in the room. 
It becomes too visually stimulating and overwhelming. Label 5 chairs not all 20.

Make sure your labeling is neat.
 If you cannot print neatly, do your text on a computer.

Use the style of writing that is consistent with what your school district teaches,
 as that is what your children will be learning to recognize. Big ‘puffy’ letters in
 all capitals may be confusing to children when they are just learning to recognize letters.

When labeling shelves for toys, try to use a picture as well.
 If the toy is off the shelf and there is no picture, the word itself usually is not helpful to the pre-reader.

Allow the child (4 and up) to label his/her own cubbie
 If they are only able to write a ‘C’, but they know that symbol means them that is far better than anything 
cute thing we do to label their cubbie. (Adding pictures of the children works well
 for this too and is more meaningful and personal.)

Things are written Left-to-Right, starting at the top left hand of the page.
 With the exception of a child’s preference on his artwork, all writing in the classroom 
should start the same way in which children will be taught to read. We are training
 their eyes to naturally look to the top left hand part of the page. Also, when reading,
 sometimes the Teacher should use a finger to ‘track’ the words as he/she reads them,
 illustrating the progression of the story by text.

Skills and Concepts Children Learn in a Print-Rich Environment and through Books and the Library Area