Early Literacy: Tips for Teachers

Tips for Teachers

Child Interest

• Use child interest as the basis of language and literacy learning
• Interest in an activity will keep a child engaged longer
• Use a child’s personal interests to promote language and literacy learning
• Create learning situations that attract a child’s curiosity
• Child interest + Engagement + Competence = Mastery

Literacy-Rich Environments

• Use literacy-rich environments as the context for stimulating learning
• Provide a variety of materials related to writing and reading
• Create interesting, age-appropriate, easily accessible environments
• Create literacy-rich environments inside and outside the classroom
• Use community environments that are literacy rich when possible

Everyday Literacy Activities

• Be sure literacy activities are interest-based
• Provide activities that enhance language learning
• Provide activities that enhance early literacy learning
• Be sure language and early literacy activities happen frequently
• Increase the number of language and literacy opportunities within an activity

Responsive Teaching

• Notice children’s interests and participation in everyday literacy activities
• Pay attention to children’s attempts to interact with others or literacy materials
• Respond promptly when children want to interact with you or use literacy materials
• Introduce new information to expand language and literacy learning
• Support and encourage children to try new skills and behaviors

Adaptations

• Adaptations can help ALL children fully participate in activities
• Use the least intrusive adaptation possible
• Make any environmental adaptations that make access easier 
• Adapt materials to make them easier to handle and use 
• Make adaptations to the activity to allow more participation
• Use instructional adaptations to give children more time, more cues, or less steps
• Use direct assistance when other adaptations fail
  
  
  Source: Early Literacy Learning