Concepts about Print

This is a term often used by teachers, particularly in junior classes. The Concepts of Print is a set of knowledge about books, letters and print. They include:

*directionality - knowing that we start reading and writing by going from the left-hand side of the page to the right-hand side and we start at the top of the page and read down the page)

*Front/back of book - knowing which is the front of the book and which is the back

*Knowing which is the title page - usually the first page in the book before the story begins

*Being able to identify the title (name) of the story (i.e.Where is the story's name?)

*Knowing the difference between a letter and a word e.g. B is a letter, big is a word

*Being able to identify the picture

*Knowing where to start reading if the text isn't at the top of the page

*knowing where the page ends and where to start reading after that

*knowing that the print carries a message or story that is constant

*knowing how to handle and care for books

*Recognizing things that don't 'fit' with our predictions

Shared reading

This is a popular method of teaching used in junior classes in schools. Often the teacher will use a big book with large text however at home you can share any type of book or text. At Grasslands you may have observed the staff reading familiar and well known stories with the tamariki that have quite repetitive texts. These books allow us to encourage the children to predict the text and read along to known parts of the story.

We use big and little stories we share as opportunities to model the process of reading. We can demonstrate tones and expression for children to imitate during our reading and after when they are reading independently. We can use shared reading to talk about concepts of print and develop letter/sound knowledge and recognition.