Guided Reading and Writing

Children Participating in Guided Reading

Learning to read and write is one of the most critical predictors of a child's success in school and later in life.  The early childhood years, from birth to age eight, are the most important time for literacy development (Neuman, Copple, Bredenkamp, 2000).  Literacy development begins in the toddler years.  Young children need to be engaged in literacy activities that are meaningful and that build on their prior experiences and learning.  When an early childhood classroom is literacy rich, it encompasses the following components:

• shared reading activities
• guided writing experiences
• children have immediate access to an expansive classroom library with many types of literature
• activities that encourage children to "play with language" using rhyme and rhythm to engage them in phonological experiences
• opportunities to use the language in a meaningful way in their daily interactions in the classroom

Literacy goals for children exiting Discovery preschool for kindergarten are consistent with the recommended accomplishments from the National Research Council's Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children.  The child leaving Discovery Preschool for kindergarten will:

• recognize print in the local environment
• understand that different text forms are used for different functions of print (i.e., a list for groceries is different from the list on the menu)
• understand and follow oral directions
• be sensitive to some sequences of events in stories
• show an interest in books and reading
• identify about 10 alphabet letters, especially those in own name
• write (scribble) messages as part of play activity
• begin to attend to rhyming sound in salient words