I Said That! – We cannot deny that Language and Literacy skills are foundational to education. On a daily basis, children from the Toddler through Five Year Old classes should have their words written down and posted for view in the classroom.

Posting their words and calling attention to them gives children the opportunity to understand the connection between print and language and encourages them to feel positive about literacy and about themselves.  Writing or drawing in a journal is one of the best ways to develop skills of fine motor, language and literacy, self-esteem, and self-expression.  It is an excellent tool for reinforcement and reflection and for assessing individual progress (and giving you a ready-made item for a child’s portfolio).

Ways to Word – Word Walls created during Circle Time are one way of doing this. Others include writing and displaying children’s words on poster-size paper, or ‘quote notes’ jotted on post-it notes; giving each child an individual journal to keep/show his words and drawings; keeping individualized notes with quotes & milestones listed and displaying them for children and parents; and adding samples of these works and words to children’s assessment portfolios.

Developmentally Speaking (as usual)

• Even Infants, Babies, and young Toddlers can be exposed to literacy when teachers listen to them, write down their words, and display those words or any developmental milestones for both children and parents to see. ROBERT WAVED BYE-BYE TODAY! 5/24/17.
• Older Toddlers and Twos can scribble and pretend to write and should have daily opportunities to draw pictures and dictate words and ideas to teacher-scribes.
• Threes, Fours, and Fives must have daily opportunities to draw pictures and dictate words about their work, their play, their feelings and ideas, or about a specific ‘assigned’ topic, with children who are READY TO DO SO, printing words for display or journal.
• Dictation and Journaling need to be done with some informality and WITH NO SENSE OF PRESSURE.  Forcing children to take time out of their play to “write” or draw is not developmentally appropriate for children under four, but having a Journal Time (at a quiet moment during Center Time or afternoon Circle Time) is helpful. Teachers need to keep pen and paper at hand for writing down children’s words, ideas, and accomplishments and need to create a sense of positivity about the value of literacy rather than merely mandating daily journal entries.

WRITE RIGHT NOW? NO! – Creating the desire to dictate or journal is not always easy to do.  Some children do not yet see the importance of the connection between print and spoken language.  Use terms like these: “Oh, I really like those words, Thomas.  Let me write them down for you.”  “That’s a great mud pie, Melissa.  Let’s write the recipe up so we can make it again tomorrow.” “Where shall I write your name on this drawing, Vanessa?” “Robert, you really are happy with that machine you made.  Get your journal and I’ll help you write a story (or draw a picture) of it.”

Teachers need to be prepared for planned Dictation experiences and open to recognizing spontaneous moments for writing and displaying children’s words. 

Photographic recording is also a great tool as long as the pictures are captioned so again, the print-language connection is made.

Parents LOVE to see their children’s words and drawings posted for view and will cherish their child’s journals for a lifetime.

Next Blog: Literacy Events 3 – Labeling & Display