Activity: Spelling mixed up words

Mixing up letters in a word that you just spelled together is a great way to work on letter sounds and help children understand that the letters have to be put in a certain order to communicate the intended message.

The other day while Isadora and I were eating breakfast I spelled out her name with marker while she helped me sound it out and then I suggested that we cut out each letter and then paste them on a piece of construction paper that she chose. She thought it was a great idea. Now I probably should have let her cut out some, but as you can probably note from the picture, I cut them all out quickly so that I could speed things up. As I cut them out, they dropped to the table in a mixed up mess and I presented the problem to Isadora - "How do we get the letters back in the right order?" Isadora initially thought that it didn't matter what order that they were in - DRAASIO was just as right as ISADORA. So I told her that actually, no, the letters have to be in the right order. So here's a little how it went:

"What makes the /i/ sound?"
"I!"
"Okay - after the /i/ sound what do you hear? s-s-s..."
"S"

We continued like this until we had spelled out her name. The only tricky part was the OR in her name, where I explained that the /or/sound was made by the letters O and R together. Normally I would let her by with invented spelling, but I think the name is important to spell correctly.

Next time I'll explain the bunny story that you can also see in the picture. :)

Alphabet Bingo

Alphabet Bingo is a fun game that can reinforce letter names.

Aak! I've been working on my dissertation day and night, leaving little time to update and add new stuff. I'm doing well now and feeling good about where I'm at - only a few more weeks until I'm all done!!

But back to the interesting stuff - we were at a friends house for a birthday party the other day and we found a game of alphabet bingo stuffed among all the other toys. Isadora and I played a couple games and she seemed to really enjoy it (of course I'm sure it had nothing to do with me saying, "Wow Isadora, isn't this alphabet bingo a FUN game!? This is so much FUN!")

We got home and I looked up the game on Amazon, but it was fairly expensive for just a bunch of printouts. I decided that there must be something on the internet, and indeed there was! Here is the link to the webpage where I got it. I printed out two copies of the boards, cutting up one and then pasting the whole boards down to some construction paper. This is more work than I usually do for a literacy activity, but I figured that it's a game that we will be returning to often, so it's worth the 15 minutes I spent cutting and pasting. Then I just turned the letter cards over, call out the letter name, and we put coins over the letters that we each got. Isadora actually prefers to use poker chips, so we are using those now. There are supposed to be rules to filling in four in a row, or two at each side in order to win, but right now we are just filling up the boards.

*It also has uppercase and lowercase, something that I think is great. Once Isadora has mastered her uppercase, we will move to the lowercase.

Activity: Shaped Notebooks

Make special shaped notebooks to inspire writing and drawing.
Do you remember when you were a kid and you would get the cool new notepad with the brightly illustrated cover? Mine had rainbows and unicorns on it, but yours may have been different. I was so inspired to write and draw in it! Taking that source of writing inspiration, I have been making special notebooks for Isadora to "write" and draw in. Here is one I did in the shape of a butterfly that we created after re-reading the Fancy Nancy book Bonjour Butterfly. Isadora noticed that one of the main characters has a very fancy notebook in the shape of a butterfly. So with a little bit of typing paper and a neon pink cover, voila! Butterfly notebook. (Notice how I label her drawings underneath. Picture of the left: Fog. Picture to the right: Lincoln is sick.)

Activity: Valentine's Day Cards

Valentine's Day cards can introduce writing as a means for communication and a trip to the mailbox.
A few days ago Isadora and I put together some Valentine's cards to give out to her good friends. She just sent out a few, but it was fun to see that she is starting to see some of her little preschool buddies as "friends."
I have a box of blank notecards with matching envelopes that I got at Target a while back, and she scribbled crayon and oil pastel over the fronts. Before she gave each card a big sweep of glue and glitter, I asked her what she wanted to write on each card. She told me very solemnly that I should write, "I love you." I obediently did this, sounding out each letter as I wrote down the three words (something that she was mildly interested in, although not that much). The next day when they were dry, I showed her how I was finding addresses for her friends and then wrote those on the envelopes while I gave her a rather confusing explanation of why we have to write addresses on envelopes. She stuck the stamps on and then we took a trip to the mailbox where she pushed them into the slot.
The only caveat in this entire experience was that, while writing down her message of "I love you" to all her friends, I forgot to also write Happy Valentine's Day. I can only hope that her little friends realize that her card is for Valentine's Day and not a proclamation of undying love. Although there is something kind of sweet about it. :)

Activity: Playdoh Letters

Use playdoh to make words and letters.

I just made an amazing batch of playdoh out of the book First Art. It is gooshy and soft and so much better than the commercial playdoh I don't think I'll ever go back. It has inspired Isadora to make all kinds of wonderful towers, people, and tea party treats with it. But when we aren't making all those fun and creative items, I (of course) slip in a few letters.
Making letters with playdoh is fun! And it is actually a great activity for kids to do. It gets them to really see the structure of the letter before those clumsy little hands can handle the likes of a teeny little pencil. I don't know the research behind it, but I know that almost every kindergarten class that I have ever visited had their students doing playdoh letters.
I keep it pretty low key. I just ask Isadora if she want to spell her name, and can she help me make playdoh snakes for the letters. On this particular day she did not want to spell her name, but wanted to spell "pink" in the dough. Go figure.

Activity: Labeled Drawings

Label your child's drawings to demonstrate sounding out words and to show that writing communicates a message.

Isadora has recently really been into drawing - it's a new thing. While they were little scribbles before, there are now heads emerging and occasionally a leg or hand. In any case, I will ask them what they are and she has a quick answer. "Lincoln with crazy hair" or "Fog" or "Wonderland."

(A parental side note: Fog and Wonderland look almost exactly the same by the way...just a lot of crazy circling. I think Fog was probably the most appropriate title.)

I have been taking a pen and writing her titles underneath, sounding the words out methodically as I go along. Occasionally I will stop and ask her for a letter if I think she knows it. Most of the time I just let her watch me as I sound it out.

Almost all kindergarten or first grade classrooms do this exact exercise - the children will draw a picture and the teacher comes around, asks them what the drawing is about, and then writes it down for them or writes it on a post-it note for them to transcribe onto their paper. Since Isadora doesn't have the fine motor control for that, I am just writing them for her.

Making the most of reading aloud 2

Becoming aware of your own reading process can help your child notice details in a book that they might not otherwise.
Today Isadora and I were reading a book together. I don't even remember the name of the book, except that it was about a cat and it was illustrated by Steven Kellog, one of my favorite illustrators. But this is what Isadora did that made me so surprised. As we opened the book, I asked her one of my favorite questions, "What do you think this story is going to be about?" And she responded, while stabbing at the photo on the front, "About the cat!" So this actually wasn't the surprising part - I'm getting to it. The surprising part came as I flipped to the the title page where the illustration showed a girl and an orange tabby cat walking among orange and red leaves that were falling across the page. There was no text other than the title. But I paused because I realized that as a reader I was already starting to gather quite a bit of information about the story just from the cover and the title page. I believe at some point I remarked on the leaves, but I asked Isadora, "Well, what time of year do you think this story takes place?" I really didn't expect much of an answer, because she only just turned three, but without missing a beat she said, "Fall! Because the leaves are falling!"
Now I really couldn't believe it!! And maybe this is something that only a geeky mother like myself would love, but here's what she was doing: she was using the pictures to gather information about the story just as I was! So I shared this long and drawn out story for two reasons. First, as you read aloud to your child become aware of the process that you engage in as a reader. Because picture books have such little text, the pictures contain lots of details that enrich the story, and you may notice (as I did) that you gather information from other sources besides just the print at the bottom of the page.
Two, once you become aware of your own reading process, talk about the book as you go through and explore some of these things with your child. In this way, you are making your own process explicit. Some of the questions I ask Isadora are about the characters emotions ("How do you think the cat feels about that?") because they rarely go into this in picture books. And of course my famous, "What do you think this story is going to be about?" I'll also ask her, "What do you think will happen next?" Occasionally, if she makes a prediction, I'll ask her why she thinks that. That last question hasn't produced any results yet - she usually gives me a blank stare and says, "I don't know," as she impatiently waits for me to turn the page of the book. All in good time.

Stickers for Stories

It's been a while since I last posted anything. Holidays - baaah! Isadora just turned three, so we had a big party for her and she got tons of Hello Kitty stuff (she just adores it all).
One of the the presents she got was a big bag of stickers and some re-usable stickers with scenes to put them on. So much fun! She has been really big into this: "Mom, tell me a story about these..." (She points to the unicorn and the fairy). This was fun for a while until I just plain ran out of stories. So a while back the conversation shifted..

Isadora: Mom, tell me a story
Me: Who are the characters? (Isadora gives me a blank stare) Who is the story about?
Isadora: Kitty and doggy...and frog
Me: What's the problem?
Isadora: Um, the dog steps on the kitty all the time
Me: Okay... (I go on to create some weird story about her plot)

So here is the literacy connection...Isadora is learning about characters, setting, and plot. These are the building blocks of crafting a fiction story. This will also aid in her comprehension of reading stories as she begins to recognize the story structure and will become more receptive to literary elements.
Isadora has "quiet time" in her room (since she kicked her naps to the curb several months back) and I can hear her talking away, creating her own stories. By the way, that example I wrote about - the dog stepping on the kitty all the time - that was a real plot she came up with. Weirdest story ever!

Books on CD

Right now Isadora is listening to Strega Nona on a CD while she turns the pages at the tones. Wonderful! It took her a couple times to get the hang of turning the pages on the tones, but she is an expert at it now. I'm keeping a tub of books on CD upstairs for Isadora to listen to - she likes to hear them over and over again. Some of Isadora's favorites are A Weekend With Wendell, Sheila Rae the Brave, and Millions of Cats. I love all the different voices and sound effects, something that helps bring the story to life. And it allows me time to make myself a cup of tea! :)

More on dictated stories

Bridge (1989) offers the following guidelines for the dictation process:

1. Students should be able to read back the story, so it shouldn't be too long (Isadora tends to refuse to do this right now, but I read it back to her).
2. If possible, wait until the student's thought is complete, then record exactly what the student says (I have to slow Isadora down to one sentence at a time because she tends to spill it all out in one breath).
3. Say each word as you write it, asking the student to watch (I sound out the words as I write them).
4. As you record, provide some reading instruction appropriate for this student (So I try to correct some of her words, pronunciation, etc. - but not too much! I want it to be fun and if I do much correcting it will change that).
5. Read the story aloud for the student, encouraging students to join in as they are able (Isadora is better able to "read" back one or two word sentences - "The End" is her favorite).
6. Have the student read the selection independently when she or he is able (This may take a while!).