This section written by the staff at Chapel Forge features writers whose books promote early reading skills. Each section includes a description of some of the skills specifically being developed and titles you may wish to read to your child to promote early literacy.
We hope you have enjoyed the articles by various Chapel Forge teachers who have contributed to the Author's Corner this year. Part of teaching reading and language skills in school is making reading fun and bringing stories to life for young children. Our staff works hard to do this everyday in a variety of ways such as creating in-house field trips to reading stations disguised as tents, caves, and activity centers. We encourage guest readers. Our children create books themselves to reread at home. We act out stories and create art related to stories and sometimes even dress up like storybook characters. These activities encourage and help develop comprehension, vocabulary, expressive language and attentional skills - all of which help make better readers.
Patricia Polacco will be our last featured children's author for this school year. The child of Russian and Ukranian parents, Polacco's fondest childhood memories include sitting around a fire, popping corn, and listening to family members tell stories about their homeland and the past. "With each retelling our stories gain a little more Umph!" she recalls. As an author herself, Polacco's stories are often told from the point of view of a child or grandparent (Babushka is the term for grandmother that she often uses). Her stories address childhood themes such as fear of thunderstorms, the changing of the seasons, and repaying a kindness. Each story is colorfully and beautifully illustrated. The stories are simply told for young listeners who will want to hear them again and again. As an adult, I still feel a very warm, satified feeling every time I read this author. Two of my favorite Polaaco works include Thunder Cake and Rechenka's Eggs. These books make great gifts and rewards for young readers. To view more of Polacco's titles, visit www.penguinputnam.com/yreaders. This is a fun website for folks interested in children's literature.
(Submitted by Carol Beswick, Special Education Teacher, Infants and Toddlers Program)
One of my very favorite children's books is a classic called Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. It is a story of a boy named Max who is sent to bed without his supper for being "smart" with his mother. In his bedroom, Max dreams a most adventuresome tale of a faraway land where wild things live. Max tames the wild things and joins them in a "wild rumpus", but he becomes hungry and homesick. He then sails back through his dreams to awaken to his warm supper on a tray in his room.
Children love the repetition of what the wild things do: "The wild things roared their terrible roars, gnashed their terrible teeth, rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws." This is followed by Max's trick for taming the creature.
This book can be read with suspense, drama, and then reassurance. Create your own wild things masks, make a crown for Max, the king, and have a wild rumpus in your very own living room!
Research has shown that children who are read to are children who love to read themselves. Make a special time every night to read aloud and give your child the gift of books for life!
(Submitted by Niki Kohn, Preschool Teacher)
Tana Hoban is the author of many captivating books. She uses black and white or color photos to make books appropriate for a wide age range of children. The earliest books, Black on White, White on Black, and What is That? are heavy cardboard books with high contrast photos that appeal to infants. Toddlers will enjoy What is It?, 1,2,3, and Red Blue Yellow Shoe. On each cardboard page is a single photograph of a familiar object. This provides a good opportunity for parent and child to practice naming the objects, finding the objects when named or just to enjoy looking at and talking about the attractive pictures.
Preschoolers like to look at the photographs focusing on colors, numbers and shapes in their environment. Books featuring these concepts include Shapes, Shapes, Shapes, So Many Circles, So Many Squares, Is It Red? Is It Yellow? Is It Blue?, An Adventure in Color, Of Colors and Things, and Let's Count.
For older children, Tana Hoban has written books that reinforce important concepts such as size and spatial concepts. Books at this level include More, Fewer Less, Is it Larger? Is it Smaller?, Over, Under and Through and Other Spatial Concepts and Exactly the Opposite. Many children will also have fun identifying the signs they see on the street in I Read Signs. Children interested in trucks and construction will be interested in Dig, Drill, Dump, and Fill, and Construction Zone.
(Submitted by Laura Smith, Infant-Toddler Teacher)
This month's feature is The Little Engine That Could by W. Piper. This book, like many picture books, can be read to children at different developmental levels. For the youngest child, leave out the words and encourage your child to find the animals, toys, and train. The repetitive pictures make it fun to find the same objects on each page. Many children enjoy the story but may not have the attention span to allow them to sit through the entire story. Re-phrase the story and act it out with a toy train climbing up a pile of pillows as you make train noises. Encourage your child to say, "I think I can. I think I can." Enjoy getting to the top of the hill with shouting "Hurray!" Have fun!!!
(Submitted by Lois Kramer, Infant-Toddler Teacher)
Most of the preschool and toddler classes will be using Family and Homes as their language themes for November. Many authors use these as subjects for their books. Two of our favorite books are The Napping House by Audrey Wood, and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Both books give children the opportunity to participate in the reading by letting them state the familiar and often repeated lines of the story. The pictures in the books are clear and help the children make predictions about the next event in the story. The Napping House enhances sequence skills while Goodnight Moon enhances rhyming skills. Both books are "good reads". You can always tell a good book when your child wants to help you read it, wants to hear the story at least one hundred and one times, and may even be caught reading it to a sibling. Check the books out from the library. While you are there, you may want to ask the librarian about the Public Library's Storytime for young children.
(Submitted by Eileen Rodriguez, Preschool Teacher)
This month we feature the work of Eric Carle. The artwork in his books invites reading because it is boldly attractive and colorful. His stories often feature nature and creatures found outdoors. Mr. Carle's books are great for beginning readers because they use a repetitive format that helps develop memory and prediction skills. Many children will be able to help tell the story after only a couple of readings. Some of Mr. Carle's best known works include The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, and The Very Quiet Cricket. These are fun books to check out of the library and read together or give as gifts.
(submitted by Carol Beswick, Infant/Toddler Teacher)