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* Children who enter kindergarten knowing many different words, carrying on conversations with other children and adults, and sharing information and asking questions are better prepared to learn to read and write. * During preschool years, they learn to form the different sounds words make through hearing stories read to them and by reciting nursery rhymes and playing other word games. When young children hear books read aloud to them, they learn how to listen and how to talk about the stories, and they add new words to their vocabularies. * Parents and preschool teachers help children become competent and confident readers and writers by reading to and with them and providing them with the materials they need to practice their reading and writing skills. Hands-on experiences show young learners the enjoyment and power that come from reading and writing well. Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency
| What this means: Be able to read well by sounding out words, recognizing the word in print and reading the words out loud easily. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Read their first and last name. * Recognize and say some upper case (A, B, C) and lower case (a, b, c) letters. * Recognize letters in their first name. * Know that letters are used to make words, such as c-a-t, d-o-g. * Be able to read some common words by sight such as STOP on a stop sign. * Recognize rhymes in familiar stories, poems and songs. * Recognize when words begin with the same sound such as bat and bird. * Tell the number of syllables (word parts) by clapping hands or snapping fingers while saying the word.
Acquisition of Vocabulary
| What this means: Be able to read new words by using clues in a story, asking questions, listening and talking to adults and friends. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Use pictures to learn the meanings of words. * Recognize words, signs and symbols in everyday life such as the word SCHOOL on the side of a bus, a street sign, symbols seen along the road such as deer crossing and park signs, or the word EXIT on a sign in the grocery store. * Use words and group them in common categories when asked such as color words (blue, red), food words (apple, pizza), and direction words (up, down). Reading Process - Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies
| What this means: Children learn the basic ideas and meanings of different types of print materials such as storybooks and reference books, recipes, greeting cards. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Understand that print has meaning by retelling a story or giving information related to print. * Hold a book right side up, turn pages from front to back and pretend to read words from left to right. * Know the difference between pictures and print. * Use pictures to show the order of events in stories read aloud. * Be able to ask and answer questions about what has been read aloud. * Identify favorite books. * Predict (what's next) in stories read aloud. Reading Applications - Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text
| What this means: Reading, understanding, explaining and giving feedback about different kinds of written materials such as story books, magazines, science books, maps and computer Web sites. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Use pictures to help understand the story or information.
* Follow simple directions. Reading Applications - Literary Text
| What this means: Being able to read stories, poems, fables, short stories and plays. Explain the meaning of what is read, name the main characters, understand where and when the story takes place and guess what happens next based on what has already been read. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Identify characters in favorite stories.
Writing Processes
| What this means: Using the steps of prewriting (planning, getting ideas), writing (first attempt), and then revising and editing to produce the final product. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Create writing ideas by talking to others. * Begin to tell why he or she is writing such as writing invitations to a birthday party, thank-you notes to grandmother or a note to the teacher. * Express ideas by telling them to a parent or teacher who writes them down. * Begin to use lists of simple words or help from a teacher to put thoughts into writing. * Share writing samples and pictures with others. Writing Applications
| What this means: Learn about, select and use words for different kinds of writing such as letters, essays and stories. Learn how to write for different readers. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Write simple stories using pictures, letter-like marks or letters. * Name and label familiar objects (with help from an adult). * Show what he or she knows about writing by starting at the top of the page and scribbling or "writing" in horizontal lines left to right, top to bottom. * Retell or act out a story that has been read. Writing Conventions
| What this means: Understanding and applying punctuation, grammar and spelling rules (i.e., a sentence begins with a capital letter, a sentence may end with a period, question mark). What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Print letters of own name and other common words (e.g. color words, animal names, words of interest to child), with help from an adult. * Try to write familiar words using letter-like marks or letters. * Begin to be aware that letters come together in groups to make words (c-a-t is cat), and that words group together to make sentences with spaces between groups (The cat is fat.) Research
| What this means: Know how to gather information for all school subjects using books, computers, magazines and other sources. Tell about what is found by writing and speaking to others. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Ask questions about school activities and areas of interest. * Use observations and books to learn about new things (with help from an adult). * Remember information learned about new things and talk about them with others. Communication: Oral and Visual
| What this means: Speaking to others about different topics. What children know and can do at the end of the preschool years, with adult guidance: * Listen to speakers, stories, songs or poems. * Follow simple spoken (oral) instructions.
* Tell others about own experiences or creations. * Join with others in reciting poems and nursery rhymes and in singing songs. |
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