Early Literacies

An online course from The Education Hub

This is the personal workbook of

Below are the activities that you did in the Introduction to this course.

Your focus child

Who is your focus child? Start by thinking about what you already know about this child and their family, and make some notes on their interests, culture, strengths, and existing goals. What types of literacies might be valued and experienced in their home?

Below are the activities that you did in Part 1 of this course.

Before we get into our content about early literacy. Think about what it means to you.

How would you define literacy?

Notes and reflection from An introduction to supporting early literacy

Key ideas from ‘An introduction to supporting early literacy’.

The reading highlights some of the different ways that children learn to make and share meaning with others using a variety of texts, and the important role that teachers play in supporting and extending these multiple literacies in early childhood settings. As you reflect on the reading, ask yourself:

What are the different ways that you have observed children communicate meaning with others in your early childhood environment? As a teacher or teaching team, what aspects of literacy have you tried to support and extend with children in your setting? Are there aspects of literacy that you would like to explore and develop further in your practice?

Notes and reflections from Literacy and multiliteracies

Key ideas about multiliteracies:

So far, we have considered the idea of literacies as encompassing the multiple ways that we make meaning for ourselves, as well as how we communicate meaning with others. As you reflect on Mary and Bill’s video, you might like to:

Think about how the idea of multiple literacies resonates with your own experiences of learning as a child, as well as the children you work with. Think of examples of children engaging with various texts for making meaning, such as images, space, objects, body, sound, speech, and print.

Notes and reflections from A kaupapa Māori perspective on multiliteracies

Key ideas from a kaupapa Māori perspective on multiliteracies: How do Hana’s examples of literacies match your own perspectives and experiences? Do you see these kinds of meaning-making as being aspects of literacy learning for young children in your early childhood setting?

Which of Hana’s meaning-making examples do you recognise from your centre?

print reading writing books weaving carving waiata pūrākau kapa haka storytelling gardening waka navigation quilting

Her list is not exhaustive.

What other forms of literacies can you think of from your centre or your own culture?

Notes and reflections from Principles for culturally responsive teaching in early childhood education

Key ideas from principles for culturally responsive teaching in early childhood education:

Culturally responsive teaching involves teachers learning from children and families about their cultural heritages, languages, and literacy practices. Teachers can then incorporate and extend those aspects of literacy in early childhood settings. Thinking about Hana’s insights and the reading about culturally responsive teaching, consider the following:

How might you seek to understand and learn from families about their cultures and literacy practices at home? What are some ways that you could support and promote children’s home cultural literacy practices in your early childhood environment?

The article discusses the importance of relfecting on your own cultural values, beliefs, and practices as the first step of understanding others.

Use this space to reflect upon your upbringing and family values, cultural beliefs and biases, and the assumptions around learning and childhood to which they lead.

Relate your learning to practice

Let’s return to the child and family that you identified at the start of the course.

Jot down the different ways you have noticed the child communicating meaning with others, under the headings below. Keep a note of examples of each form of communication as you observe or think of them.

Bodies: Objects: Sounds: Images: Space: Speech: Print:

Discuss your observations with the child’s parent or caregiver. How do your observations match theirs? What other things can the family add to your observations? Are there any specific cultural literacy practices the family engage in at home?

Add these notes to the ones you made above.

Below are the activities that you did in Part 2 of this course.

Revisit your learning

Think back to your observations of literacies for a child in your centre. What did you learn about the ways the child shared meaning with others using their bodies, objects, sounds, images, space, speech and /or print? How did your conversation with the family further shape your understanding of their home literacy practices?

Notes and reflections from Embodied literacies

Key ideas from embodied literacies In what ways have you seen children in your centre communicate meaning in embodied, nonverbal ways during play interactions and everyday routines like nappy changes or meal times? Can you think of times that children use combinations of body language, facial expressions, images, space, objects, sounds, speech, and print to make and share meaning with others? After reading this guide, you may have discovered that you have actually witnessed more examples of children communicating meaning. If so, add those here:

Your focus child

Now think again about your focus child.

Have you noticed any patterns in the kinds of embodied or nonverbal modes used by your focus child? Are any behaviours particularly prevalent in certain learning areas in your early childhood environment?

Now that you have documented your focus child’s behaviour, think about how you can use this to their benefit.

What are the child’s communicative strengths, capabilities, and challenges? Make notes on possible ways to address these strengths and challenges:

Notes and reflections from Supporting the literacy development of infants and toddlers

Key ideas on supporting the literacy development of infants and toddlers

In their interview, Irene and Angela describe the importance of noticing eye contact, body language, gestures, and touch in communicating with infants and toddlers who are not yet talking. Noticing embodied signs of meaning is an important strategy for teachers when engaging with children of any age.

Can you think of children in your centre who have strengths in communicating using their bodily senses and actions? What have you noticed about the kinds of embodied actions they use to share meaning with others? Now that you have noticed these actions, how will this help your practice?

Relate your learning to practice

Over the next week, think about how your focus child is learning to explore different kinds of literacies through their play and social interactions in the early childhood environment. Document examples of meaning-making in relation to the following literacies as you notice them:

Gestural: Tactile: Spatial: Visual: To what extent does your focus child use digital technologies as part of their literacy learning opportunities?

Building on your first observation in the previous part of the course, you might start to notice patterns in terms of how the child uses their body, face, objects, images, and space or positioning to communicate their meaning with others, in a range of different ways.

If you are able to, discuss your observations with parents or whānau - do these align with what they have noticed at home?

Below are the activities that you did in Part 3 of this course.

Revisit your learning

What have you learned so far about the ways your focus child uses different kinds of literacies through play? Take notes in the categories below:

Gestural: Tactile: Spatial: Visual: What did you learn from the parents and/or family? Did you see any patterns in how the child engages in literacies across both home and early childhood settings?

Notes and reflections from Fostering spoken and written literacy in early childhood education

What were your responses to Claire’s interview on supporting the development of spoken and written literacies in the early years?

In what ways do you and your team intentionally support and extend children’s oral language, phonological awareness, and print awareness in your early childhood centre?

Notes and reflections from Lifelong literacy success in reading and writing

In the article, Claire emphasises ways that teachers can foster oral and visual or written literacies in early childhood settings, which recall suggestions in the reading in Part 1. Think about your own practice.

What are your strengths as a teacher or teaching team in supporting oral and written literacies in your setting? What areas would you like to develop further?

Notes and reflections from Encouraging the development of spoken and written literacies

Which of the methods that are mentioned in the video on facilitating spoken and written literacies do you use in your centre? Do you use any other methods in your centre that are not mentioned here?

Jodi and Kelly talked about using intentional strategies to support spoken and written literacies in their kindergarten. Claire also talked about some fun ideas for fostering phonological and print awareness in her video.

As a teacher or teaching team, do you have favourite activities for fostering children’s phonological and print awareness in your setting?

Relate your learning to practice

Over the next week, record one or more aspects of spoken and written literacies in relation to your focus child. For example, you could answer some of these questions:

How does the child demonstrate their understanding of spoken language during play and conversations? How does the child express themselves using sounds and words during everyday interactions in the early childhood environment - what are some examples of the vocabulary they use? Try out some of the ideas to encourage phonological awareness during play and conversations (rhythm, rhyme, syllables, identifying the first sounds in words). Make a note of what works well and what you might do differently next time. Try out some of the ideas to encourage print awareness during play and conversations, or think about how you could enhance your environment to ensure it is print-rich and stimulating. Make a note of what you have tried and what changes you have enacted.

Below are the activities that you did in Part 4 of this course.

Revisit your learning

Give an example of a form of embodied literacy. Give an example of a form of spoken literacy. Give an example of a form of written literacy. Which aspect(s) of spoken and written literacies did you focus on last week with the child in your setting? What actions or changes did you make, and what did you notice as a result?

Notes and reflections from The power of stories for learning and development

Write down some of the ways of sharing stories that Hana suggests. What can we learn through stories and story-telling? What types of stories does Hana suggest? What kinds of stories do you share with children in your early childhood centre (such as books, oral storytelling, role-played stories, songs, conversations, and Learning Stories)? Can you think of stories that represent aspects of home languages and cultures for particular children?

Notes and reflections from The role of stories in literacy development

Key ideas about the role of stories in literacy development: What are your thoughts on encouraging children to be storytellers, or partners in sharing stories? What strategies do you use to support children to take an active role in sharing stories in your early childhood setting?

Notes and reflections from Stories and story-telling in early childhood education

Key ideas about the role of stories in literacy development: As a teacher or teaching team, what are your strengths in sharing stories with children? What ideas or strategies would you like to try out, or develop further?

Relate your learning to practice

Over the next week, plan to try something new around the sharing of stories with your focus child. This might include:

• making time for sharing small stories with the child and family at drop off and/or pick up times
• building in conversational stories with the child during routine moments (such as mealtimes or changing clothes/nappies)
• sharing stories through books and action songs
• reading a book and then acting out the story using costumes and props
• talking about photos or videos of past experiences
• making a book with children that has personal relevance to them, perhaps using their pictures or photos
• sharing stories using a variety of art materials and media

What activity have you chosen to incorporate into your week? What resources will you need? What will your role be in supporting your focus child to tell or enact stories? In what ways could you offer provocations to extend their opportunities for storytelling over time in your early childhood setting?

Below are the activities that you did in the conclusion of this course

Put your learning into practice

At each stage of learning in this course, we have presented opportunities for you to reflect upon and relate the course content to your own practice. You might like to revisit this work, and the judgements you made about your strengths and weaknesses in regard to creating a positive environment along with interactions that support early childhood literacies. We now invite you to consider some of those key areas again, in order to identify the next steps you will take to further embed the learning in your everyday practice.

Here are some questions to revisit and consider either on your own, or in your team

Literacies as ways of making and sharing meaning, shaped by culture:

What are the different ways that you have observed children communicate meaning with others in your early childhood environment? What aspects of literacy have you tried to support and extend with children in your setting? How might you seek to understand and learn from families about their cultures and literacy practices at home? What are some ways that you could support and promote children’s home cultural literacy practices in your early childhood environment?

Embodied, nonverbal literacies:

In what ways have you seen children in your centre communicate meaning in embodied, nonverbal ways during play interactions and everyday routines? Can you think of times that children use combinations of body language, facial expressions, images, space, objects, sounds, speech, and print to make and share meaning with others? In what ways do children learn about and through digital technologies using visual, tactile, auditory, and other modes in your early childhood setting, and how could you further extend these aspects of learning?

Spoken and written literacies:

In what ways do you and your team intentionally support and extend children’s oral languages, phonological awareness, and print awareness in your early childhood centre? As a teacher or teaching team, do you have favourite activities for fostering children’s phonological and print awareness in your early childhood setting? What new things will you try to further support children’s vocabulary, sound, and print awareness?

Stories:

What kinds of stories do you share with children in your early childhood centre (such as books, oral storytelling, role-played stories, songs, conversations, and learning stories)? Can you identify stories that represent aspects of home languages and cultures for particular children? As a teacher or teaching team, what are your strengths in sharing stories with children? What ideas or strategies would you like to develop further? How will you encourage children to actively participate in a range of different stories, as listeners and tellers, in embodied and verbal ways?