Reading Methods Ch.4

the matching or gearing of the reading curriculum to children’s developing activities.

unstructured, spontaneous, and expressive classroom activities requiring little planning.

print that surrounds children in their everyday lives such as traffic signs, restaurant signs, charts, and labels.

how family interactions influence the language development of young children and provide context in which they learn to read and write.

spellings children use early in their reading and writing development as they begin to associate letters to sound.

activities using the natural language of children and their background experiences to share and discuss events; listen to and tell stories; dictate words, sentences, and stories; and write independently.

the stages of language experience.

designated classroom area designed around familiar contexts or places and furnished with props to provide an environment in which children may play with print on their own terms.

an environment that fosters and nurtures interest in and curiosity about written language and supports children’s efforts to become readers and writers.

the spontaneous creation of stories—including setting, characters, goal, plot and resolution—during children’s play.

one of the primary forms of written expression; the fountainhead for writing that occurs from the moment a child grasps and uses a writing tool.

strategy allowing all children in a classroom or small group to participate in the reading of a story, usually through the use of a big book with large print and illustrations.