EEX 3113 Print Awareness, Letter Knowledge, & Formation Handwriting Romie Garcia Galliani, M.S.,CCC-SLP Florida International University College of Arts, Sciences, and Education School of Education & Human Development Print Awareness • Knowing about the forms and functions of print • Involves knowledge of: • Conventions of print • Physical structure of written language • Text organization • A child’s earliest introduction to literacy! Development of Print Awareness • Before age 6 • Child gains awareness of: • Print • Sounds • Gradually learns to make associations between the two Development of Print Awareness • Children who have been exposed to home literacy environment and to print media have improved: • phoneme awareness • letter knowledge • vocabulary Development of Print Awareness • Knowing that print carries meaning • Knowing what books are used for and how it is used • Holding book, finding top & bottom, turning pages, identifying title • Children are exposed to print before starting school • Develop concept of a word Print Awareness • The understanding of the forms and functions of printed language. • Awareness of forms • Knowledge of the conventions of print • Knowledge of book conventions • Awareness of functions of print • Knowledge that print is a communication device • Knowledge that printed words are symbols for words in spoken language Print Referencing • Read-aloud strategy • Can be used to direct students’ attention to: • Forms • Features • Functions • Through verbal and nonverbal cues. Print Referencing • Involves: • Asking questions • Making comments about print • Making requests about print • Pointing to the print • Tracking print when reading aloud Print Referencing • Most effective when: • Used with big books • Used with regular-sized illustrated storybooks • Print is a salient • Highly noticeable feature Why is Print Awareness Important? • Some children have limited exposure • Provides foundation for reading and writing • Research tells us that knowledge of print awareness has predicted future reading success! When to Teach Print Awareness? • Print awareness usually develops in preschool • By the end of Kindergarten, basic concepts should have been acquired By the end of Kindergarten… • Parts of book • How to hold a book • Identify title, author, illustrator • Print flows left to right • Relationship between print and pictures • Message is in the print • Differentiate between letters and words • Sentences are made up of words • Print represents spoken language Print Awareness Assessment • Assess print awareness in • Fall • Winter • Spring • Identify students who need additional instruction. Print Awareness Assessment • One-on-one informal assessments allow students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of print concepts • Formal assessments for print awareness may be used for: • Screening • Screening diagnostic • Diagnostic assessments Alphabetic Phase • First phase of formal reading acquisition • Kindergarten through second grade • Children begin to decode the alphabetic system Letter Knowledge Letter Knowledge • Letter knowledge is a complex process that involves • Learning letter shapes • Associating these shapes with their letter names • Learning the sound of each letter Letter Knowledge • The relationship between the name and the sound is NOT arbitrary • Most letter names contain their sounds • i.e., Letter ”m” makes the phoneme /m/ when you say it • i.e., Letter “f ” has the phonemes /f/ at the end of its name Letter Knowledge • Part of the difficulty for children who are learning letter names is that many letter shapes are similar. • The phoneme that a letter represents is usually heard in its name • Knowing the names of the letters makes it easier for students to learn the letter sounds. Letter Knowledge • Students often confuse letters that have similar names as well as similar shapes. • e.g. The letters Mm and Nn are similar in both name and shape and are often interchanged by children • Make sure students master a letter before introducing the other letter in the visually similar pair Letter Knowledge • English is iconic • Letters contain the sound that the letter represents. • Learning letter-sound correspondence is easier once students realize that most letter names contain their sounds. • (e.g. The letter name b begins with its sound /b/.) Teaching Letter Knowledge • Most children learn to sing or recite the alphabet by age 5 • Children need systematic formal instruction in order to: • Name • Recognize • Write the letters Teaching Letter Knowledge • There is not a strong consensus on the best sequence for teaching letters • Students appear to acquire letter knowledge in a sequence: • Letter names • Letter shapes and formation • Letter sounds. Teaching Letter Knowledge • Students require more time to learn the sounds of some letters than other • The common practice of spending the same amount of instructional time on each letter may not be effective. • E.g., “letter of the week” Letter Knowledge Research • Letter knowledge has a foundational role in literacy development. • The ability to identify the letters of the alphabet in and out of sequence is one of the best predictors of how readily a child will learn to read. • Students can learn and recall letter shapes through handwriting practice. • Knowing the names of letters makes it easier for students to master the sound/spelling correspondences necessary for efficient decoding. Letter Knowledge Assessment • The speed and accuracy with which students identify letters, not only measures whether they can identify the letters, but how thoroughly they have learned them. • One minute letter naming fluency assessments are administered in the fall, winter and spring in Kindergarten. • Formal assessments for letter knowledge may be used for screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessments. How to Teach Letter Knowledge • In Kindergarten it is recommended to teach lower case letters first • Modify the traditional alphabet song • Use instead the melody of “Mary had a Little Lamb” or “Old McDonald Had a Farm” • Refer to pages 96-113 in the CORE text for step-by-step instructions The Process of Writing • Not the reverse of reading • Children must learn to represent phonemes with letters • Writing is using knowledge and new ideas combined with language knowledge to create text. Emergent Writing • Young writers identify writing and speaking as “two separate systems” • 3-year-olds: “write” without realizing that writing represents sounds • 4-year-olds: may begin to show some real letters Orthographic Knowledge • Learned through implicit and explicit instruction • Preschool and Kindergarten students learn some letter-sound correspondence • Understanding of consonant sounds develops prior to understanding vowels Spelling Development • Preliterate attempts involve • Scribbles • Drawings • Occasional letter • Child develops spelling skills to include • Some phoneme-grapheme knowledge • Letter names Spelling Development • Gradually, children become aware of conventional spelling • Can analyze a word into sounds and letter • Mature spellers can: • Call on multiple learning strategies • Tap into different types of knowledge Spelling development • Invented spelling • Connecting letters and sounds • Names of letters may be used in spelling • SKP for “escape” • Children struggle to separate words into phonemes • Shows analytical approach to spelling • Facilitates integration of phonological and orthographic knowledge Spelling Development • DA= day • LIK= like • FES= fish • LAFFT= left Spelling Development • As spelling develops children learn about: • Spacing • Sequencing • Representing phonemes in multiple ways • E.g., /f/ as f, ph, -gh Handwriting • Young writers often disregard the “needs of the reader” • Pay little attention to format • Omits proper space between letters and words • Disregard spelling • Omits punctuation Handwriting • Proper letter formation helps students distinguish between letters • E.g., d, b, p, q • Helps reduce barriers between thoughts and written texts Handwriting Development: Pre-School • Scribbles, letter-like shapes, and circular motions • Letters represent meaningful words • Their name or “I love you” • Child explores with space and form Pre-K Sample • 4 year old boy • “Me and my family” • Scribbles • Circular motions • Attempts to write name Handwriting Development: Kindergarten • Invented spelling • Beginning to translate sounds of spoken words into writing • Can read their own writing Kindergarten Sample • 5-year old boy • Uses details • People are involved • Setting • Picture is centered • May show “environmental print” Handwriting Development: First Grade • First graders write many times • Can print clearly and leave spaces between words. • Can write simple but complete sentences • Beginning to understand when to use: • Capital letters • Commas • Periods Handwriting Development: First Grade • Will combine invented and correct spelling • Especially words from a word wall or vocabulary list • First graders also begin to use “story language” • Incorporating phrases such as “once upon a time” • “happily ever after” First Grade Student • Prompt: Write a story of an unlikely friendship between animal characters • “Jay and Taylor were at Hawaii. Jay got lost in Hawaii. And then the cat came along. And then the cat and guinea pig met in Hawaii. And then the guinea pig ____.” First Grade Writing Sample • Has ideas for story • Includes setting, characters, problem • Chronological sequence • Clear spacing between words • Spelling is correct for most words Handwriting Development: Second Grade • Refining basic writing skills • Improving writing legibly • Using capitalization and punctuation correctly • Transitioning from invented spelling to more accurate spelling • Handwriting becomes automatic Handwriting Development: Second Grade • Can concentrate more on the content of their writing rather than on the mechanics • Can organize their writing to include a beginning, middle, and end • Can write a simple essay with a title and introductory sentence • Provide examples and details that support their main concept • Can write a concluding sentence Second Grade Student • Prompt: Write about an animal that lives in one of the habitats studied during science • “I like white sharks because I like how they swim and I like how they are in the water and I like when they are so cool. The end.” Second Grade Writing Sample • Has an idea • Stays on topic • Shows a beginning sense of sequencing in her text • She starts with ‘I like white sharks’ • Adds a few details about sharks and ends with ‘they are so cool.’ • She uses capital letters for the word ‘I’ Handwriting Development: Third Grade • Children are learning to express those ideas in more sophisticated ways • Sentences are more complex. • Use a dictionary to correct their own spelling. • Grammar improves • punctuation, contractions, and correct subject-verb agreement. Handwriting Development: Third Grade • Can write an essay with • Simple thesis statement • Examples and supporting details • Thoughtful concluding sentence • They are building skills in the writing process • research, planning, organizing, revising, and editing Third Grade Student • Prompt: Write about someone who is special to you and why • “Me and dad hunt for bears and deers. When my dad gets a deer he cuts them. He always hunts. I go with him too and I see him get them.” Third Grade Writing Sample • Writes with a purpose • Stays on the topic • Spells many sight words correctly and uses invented spelling for words he is unsure of • Shows a beginning sense of grouping sentences together to make a paragraph • Uses a main idea and a few details. Developing Handwriting Skills • Writing is a process • Writing with kids can be incredibly rewarding • It can also be frustrating, for the writer and for the adult. • For most writers, it’s somewhere in-between Improving Handwriting • Use dark ruled and “bumpy” paper • Tracing • Mazes • ”Wet-Dry-Try” Dark Ruled/Bumpy Paper • Helps children stay within the lines when writing • Differentiates between upper case and lower case letters Mazes • Practice staying in designated spaces Tracing • Develop fine motor control • Improve orientation Wet-Dry-Try • Materials: Chalkboard, sponge, chalk • 1. Write letter with wet sponge • 2. Trace with dry sponge • 3. Write letter with chalk Print Rich Classrooms • Children’s names and birthdays (charts, name tags, lists) • Rich assortment of children’s books (fiction and non-fiction) • Labels around the room (e.g., art, blocks, sink, table, computer) • Message board Print Rich Classrooms • Drawing, scribbling, and writing tools (paper of different sizes and colors, crayons, paints, markers, colored pencils) • Alphabet books, posters and charts at children’s eye level • Letter-shaped sponges, cookie-cutters, damp sand, play-doh • “Cubbies” or “mailboxes” labeled with each child’s name
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