EDU10002 Understanding Language and Editing and Proof Reading Services

Introduction

Project Overview

To learn to talk and communicate is not an easy task for children aged three to five years or for their teachers and instructors. It is tough for the young minds to learn the sounds, make words and how to combine them into coherent sentences within a culture or marketing environment. The children literacy project aims to demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that can stimulate children's emergent language and literacy with the help of play-based learning experiences such as play, music, and interactions.

Although most preschoolers are not seen scribing words and sentences at their desks, it does not mean that they are incapable of understanding or creating stories. The preschoolers carry a never-ending supply of stories to talk and write about (King, 2012). Reading aloud is an effective way to engage the young children socially, emotionally, and intellectually (Kreider, 2018). Teachers get trained in five district modules to support children’s literacy development in the school classrooms. These include an interactive book reading and guiding conversations. Phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge and writing (Byrnes, & Wasik, 2009). Preschool teachers and administrators can design a classroom literacy center with adequate literacy activities and reinforce the home-school connection. Research has evidence that parental involvement provides a supportive role in learning for children at home and school. They can provide support by communicating with the school or volunteering their time in the school (Motlhagodi & Kasule, 2015). Positive results can be seen by collaborating with the school community regularly. Parental involvement in school-based activities and interactions can help with literacy development of children. Teachers can add excitement to reading and writing for preschool children by using the right literature. It is essential that the preschool children's literature should be both enjoyable and easy to understand.

The current theme of the project is based on storytelling and the use creative techniques to make it more alive and exciting with the use of props, sounds, and images. The story is chosen carefully as per the appropriateness for the group and to enhance children’s learning and literacy. It is essential that the book be colorful, with lots of pictures and the words are simple and easy to read.

Learning Experience Analysis

Several literacy-building activities can be employed in the classrooms. The objective should be to enhance the language and literacy among the age group of three to five-year-old. It is essential to keep the activates simple and enjoyable for the children with the use of print information, arts, and crafts, music or communication. Practical examples hold importance in preschool classrooms for professional and literacy development. As early childhood educators, it is essential to focus on supporting literacy-rich environment for young children with practical and interesting activities. There were about seven children in the classroom, three boys, Smith, Bob, and David. The girls' names were Carol, Karen, Sally, and Maggie, and they are all about four years old.

The classroom environment was made interesting and enjoyable for the children. The chairs and desks were arranged so that they can see the teacher and the backboard easily. Each of the children was settled comfortably on the chair. As children enjoy literature and stories which are predictable, the teacher has selected a story that is sure to interest them. They take more interest as they can understand the a simple and colorful story and feel motivated to read along. Predictable literature means include stories with rhyme, receptions and familiar sequencing (Morrow, 2007). It is the hardest to write books and literature for children, as the authors have to keep in mind that the children have just started recognizing sounds and words and have just started learning to read on their own. Thus, it is essential to use a book that will motivate them to read and hold their interest. The challenge lies in motivating the young reader and at the same time ensure that the challenge is not too challenging to lose their interest (Corbett, 2018).

The objective of reading the story is to enhance the language and literacy among the children. New words will be introduced by speaking, listening, reading and writing. The teachers will explore the alphabetic principle concept and awareness of the Phonological awareness in the children that include rhymes and making the differences in sounds. The students would be encouraged to engage in enjoyable interactions and construct sentences using verbal and non-verbal language.

Experience One

Children’s familiarity with alphabet knowledge is an essential component of emergent literacy. Their knowledge of letter names and sounds are a good pointer towards their reading and spelling abilities. Knowledge letter name and letter sound predict their literacy skills. It is essential to develop an alphabet concept in preschool and kindergarten students so that they develop strong literacy skills (Piasta, & Wagner, 2010). The session with alphabets is kept short enough to not to overwhelm the students with too many alphabets. Only five to six alphabets are selected for the session. Too many alphabets and a longer session can make the children lose interest.

Before starting the story, the students were given alphabetical cards and were asked to come and place their card on the felt paperboard. For example, when alphabet “A” was called out, each student picked up the alphabet card and placed it on the felt board. Everybody was clapped and motivated to bring the right card. Only ten alphabets are used to develop an alphabet concept in the children. The letters and their sounds were emphasized on. For example, the letter an “A,” was called out as “aah,” or “D” as “daaaad” and so on. At the end of the session, a fun alphabet song was played to revise all the alphabets.

All the students were able to follow the alphabets and the sounds clearly. As Carol was a bit slow in responding she was given extra time and the session as revised with her again. Repetition is always a good way of enhancing emergent literacy during the experience. The teacher plays an essential supportive role here to extend the children’s learning. She can further extend children’s learning of alphabets y asking the children to pick the letter for their name. For example, David can pick the alphabet “D” or Maggie can pick the alphabet “M.” That will help the children to learn the alphabet in their friend’s names. The teacher can link the alphabets of their names to colors and other daily objects to increase the familiarity.

Experience Two

The next objective was to raise the phonological awareness in the children, and the stage is set for book reading. The children are shown the book to get them interested and are given a little brief on the story. The teacher reads the title of the book aloud and talks about where the story takes place and who are the main characters. The children are interested and show a keen interest in the colorful book.

When reading the book, the teacher goes slow and keep adding information to help the child understand what's happening. She can use puppets and props to explain the characters and the plot. Any new word is written on the blackboard, and the meaning explained. The children development are motivated to participate by shoring their views and reactions. The teacher motivates them to say the repeated words and join in with rhymes.

EYLF outcomes regarding Phonological awareness expect the children to recognize familiar rhyming verses and notice the use of rhyme in verses and stories. They learn to identify some words that start or end with the same initial sound. When students learn to make predictable differences in rhymes, they enjoy the story session because of their higher phonological awareness. They feel connected with the story and begin to understand how rhyming words link with other. They begin to understand how patterns work in words and their pronunciation. When the teacher repeats a particular word and asks for the rhyming one, they are able to answer back with the rhyming word. It shows that they understand that a word is made of letters and similar letters can create similar sounds. They can identify words beginning with the same sound and pay more attention to the sounds at the beginning and the end of words.

The student group exhibits a good grasp over phonological awareness and show enjoyable interactions when making sounds with rhyming words. The teacher can further support the learning and literacy by taking some more rhyming words used in everyday life that the children are familiar with, such as cat, bat, mat, and more.

Experience Three

It is essential that children not only raise their literacy level but enjoy the session with useful interactions. The teacher encourages them to use sentences after the need of the story sessions. The teacher asks simple questions related to the story and motivates them to experiment with new words. The students are motivated to repeat familiar texts and words from the story. They are given the book so that they can spend some time looking at pictures and the words.

EYLF outcomes here focus on the using words for interactions and build awareness that print is linked to spoken language. Children recognize some words when they see it in the book and try to say them. They ask questions about the book, the pictures, and characters, and thus are encouraged to build sentences naturally. The teacher uses both verbal and non-verbal language to make the interactions enjoyable. The students also learn the importance of books and how to handle them. The verbal and non-verbal session encourages children to communicate and express themselves with confidence. Activities like questioning and interacting g build their literacy. Children feel motivated to use simple sentence structures and learn the use of new words. They feel free to communicates with other students and the teacher. They learn to share and express their ideas and the use of language

The teacher can extend the children’s learning by involving parents in the sessions. That would make the students more excited and involved. Children’s and teen book festivals encourage children to read more. Partnerships between schools and libraries can help organize successful festivals and a strong literacy environment for the young readers (Green, 2018). However, such festivals need volunteers and financial support to be successful.

Conclusion

The children in the age group of three to five, require a thoughtful and balanced approach to improve their literacy levels, whether it is listening, writing, and reading. The material chosen for the project should be according to the age group of the children. Parents and teachers carry the prime responsibility of strengthening the early literacy practices and environment within the school classrooms and at home Research shows that regular engagement of the children in literacy support good literacy outcomes. The above project helps to understand how particular learning outcomes for language and literacy development can be achieved by providing the right environment for the child. Parent’s and teachers as adults should realize their key roles in enhancing literacy in children. For example, in the given project, the teacher encourages the students to explore the alphabetic concepts, raise Phonological awareness and engage in meaningful interactions. By emphasizing on alphabets, the sounds, use of new words, rhymes and phrases, the children feel encouraged to make observations, learn new words and make conversations. The story session helps the students to develop their alphabetical concepts, build their phonological skills and converse in simple sentences. Different techniques and experiences can focus on development of children's language and literacy with positive learning outcomes.

The language and literacy development can be further encouraged by involving parents and developing partnerships with local libraries. It is a good idea to involve parents in the early literacy development of their children. Reading stories from books is a powerful means of developing literacy skills in young children aged three to five. Thus, it is essential to read and tell stories to children in classrooms. The children not only enhance their literacy skills but also understand the concept of books and relate print to words and entertainment.

References

1. Byrnes, J. P., & Wasik, B. A. (2009). Language and literacy development?: what educators need to know. New York?: Guilford Press, c2009.
2. Corbett, S. (2018). The Toughest, Most Important Books to Write: Publishers discuss the unsung value of early chapter books in fostering literacy. Publishers Weekly, (30), 18.
3. Green, A. (2018). Promoting Literacy, Promoting Sales With Book Festivals: Some bookstores are giving back to the community by creating children’s and YA book festivals. Publishers Weekly, (23), S16.
4. Kreider. (2018). New books help start pre-schoolers on road to solid literacy skills. University, 22(4), 1–12.
5. King, K. A. (2012). Writing Workshop In Preschool. Reading Teacher, 65(6), 392–401.
6. Motlhagodi, N., & Kasule, D. (2015). 6. Parental involvement in children’s early grade literacy learning: voices from parents unable to read or write English. Nawa: Journal of Language andMarketing Communication, (1), 132.
7. Morrow, L. M. (2007). Developing literacy in preschool. New York?: Guilford Press, c2007.
8. Piasta, S. B., & Wagner, R. K. (2010). Developing Early Literacy Skills: A Meta-Analysis of Alphabet Learning and Instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(1), 8–38