Here are some tried and true activities that you can adapt online, in class, or in one of the thousand other ways school districts are operating!!
Environmental print is one way young children “read pictures” and develop visual literacy. Using environmental print at the beginning of the school year is a great way to help children make print connections, develop visual memory skills, and motivate them to read.
Note! Some of these activities would be great to share with your parents so they could encourage their children to "read" around the house.
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard
Glue wrappers from snack foods, cereals, etc. that children would be familiar with to sheets of paper and write this rhyme at the top of each page: "Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard to get her poor dog a bone. But when she got there, the cupboard was bare, and so the poor dog had...(Children read food logo.)"
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard
Glue wrappers from snack foods, cereals, etc. that children would be familiar with to sheets of paper and write this rhyme at the top of each page: "Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard to get her poor dog a bone. But when she got there, the cupboard was bare, and so the poor dog had...(Children read food logo.)"
Ask children to bring their favorite cereal box to class. Let them take turns holding up their box and challenge their friends to "read" what they like to eat.
Clothes
Read sayings on T-shirts, sports jerseys, shoes, and other clothing the children wear.
Read at Home Book
This is a project that children can do at home with their parents.
Read sayings on T-shirts, sports jerseys, shoes, and other clothing the children wear.
Read at Home Book
This is a project that children can do at home with their parents.
Directions: Cut five 9” x 12” sheets of construction paper in half. Write “I Can Read” on the front and let the children decorate with their name and picture. Encourage parents to help their child cut out words they can read from boxes, magazines, and advertisements.
Invite children to save labels from foods. Write the words “I” and “like” on index cards. Model how to place the cards "I" and "like" on their desk or table. Choose a label to put after the index cards. Encourage the children to read, "I like (logo)." Comment, “Look at you reading!!!!”
Block Engineers
Cut store logos from Sunday advertisements. Tape to wooden blocks and make your own mall in the block center.
Out the Door
Last January when I was in Pleasanton, TX, Nadine Barrow shared this idea. She posts words and environmental print on the inside of her door. Students have to read two of the words before exiting the classroom.
Last January when I was in Pleasanton, TX, Nadine Barrow shared this idea. She posts words and environmental print on the inside of her door. Students have to read two of the words before exiting the classroom.