A List of Eight Important Environmental Considerations

There are many ways you can encourage and promote age-appropriate interactions with print. Let’s take a look at some things you might consider.

1. How do you post and use purposeful and meaningful print in your classroom?
• For example, is your daily schedule posted with words and graphics?
• Do you point to this as you start each day and show children how you use the schedule to remind you what is coming next?
• Do you have directions posted for special activities, like how to make Play-doh™, or clean-up steps for after you finish painting?
• Do you have a children’s art gallery that displays the child-artists’ names in large print and child-dictated titles for the masterpieces?
• Do you have language experience charts posted that include photographs and captions of a field trip you took with the class?
  
These are just a few examples of the many ways to use and post meaningful examples of print in your classroom.


2. Do you have alphabet posters hanging at the children’s eye level?
• Do you refer to these posters often for instance, when you are showing children how to make a “D” when writing "Dear" at the beginning of the note you are writing for the class?
• Are your students encouraged to use alphabet posters to write their own messages?
  
  
3. Do you have lots of high-quality, age-appropriate story and informational books in your classroom? Do you have theme-appropriate books in each center, like books about trucks and construction in the block area?
   
   
4. How do you help children notice the conventions of print?
   • Do you point to print while reading and talk about how the print is organized as you are writing with children?
   • Do you use enlarged print with familiar songs, finger plays, and rhymes?
   • Are children allowed to use the pointers and charts during their center time to pretend read and sing their favorites?
     
     
5. Do you have a child-friendly, comfortable and inviting book corner in your room?
   
   
6. Do you have an inviting writing center available for your students during center time? Is it well-stocked with plenty of enticing writing tools and materials?
   
   
7. How do you create literacy-enriched play settings in your classroom?
   • For example, do you turn your pretend center into a restaurant with menus and order pads, or a flower shop with pots of labeled flowers, order pads, and catalogues?
   • Have you ever made a veterinarian's office in your classroom? If so, did you include books about different pets, reference manuals, prescription pads, and bills?
   • Do you play in these centers with your students to show them how to use the reading and writing props in the center and teach them new words to use for their pretend-play?
   • Do you have appropriate books and writing supplies in every center?
   • Are there colorful, inviting and engaging alphabet materials and books such as magnetic letters, letter puzzles, and letter charts available for students to manipulate?
     
     
8. Is there plenty of student-to-student conversation and adult interaction with students—in other words, do you provide an active classroom with regular opportunities for children to talk with each other and with you?

Many of the activities mentioned will be shown in the next video. Keep in mind that your classroom will grow and develop as you learn more about the importance of keeping language and literacy goals in mind to encourage this growth. Often, maintaining an adequate level of staffing and ensuring availability of materials can be challenging. We hope you will be able to place the important materials available to you in the areas that have been suggested.