“Studies have shown that it’s ‘print knowledge,’ and not just general experience with books, that advances children’s reading ability.
‘Print knowledge’ is an awareness of the mechanics of the reading process, like the fact that English is read from left to right and that written words map on to spoken ones… Ohio State professor Shayne Piasta and her coauthors report that when preschool teachers drew students’ attention to print while reading to them, the children’s skills in reading, spelling and comprehension improved. These positive results were long-lasting, too, still showing up a full two years later.”
How do you encourage print knowledge? For example:
“Ask, ‘Where should I begin reading on this page?’, and ‘Do you know this word?’ Say, ‘I spot three capital letters on this page—see if you can find them,’ or ‘This dot here is a period, and it tells me I’ve reached the end of the sentence.’ Point out, ‘This is the title of the book—it’s on the cover and also on the inside,’ and ‘This is the name of the author—she wrote all the words that you see.'”
KID LIT ADVENTURES 