Early Literacy

When reading aloud to students, when is the best time to give several examples of how new vocabulary words are used in other contexts and to make connections between new vocabulary words and students' experiences?

• about halfway through the reading of the selection

• after the story has been read to the class

• at point of use when the vocabulary appears in the selection

• in language development sessions about a week prior to the reading of the section

Which of the following concepts of print is the most basic, and one that you would most likely teach first?

• Written words are divided by spaces.

• What we say can be written down.

• Sentences begin with capital letters.

• Books have titles.

How does a child demonstrate concepts of words?

• by telling what a word is

• by attempting to write a word

• by pointing to a list of words written on the board

• by pointing to printed words as they are read aloud

Children's "pretend reading" should be _________ because it___________.

• discouraged; leads to "pretend writing" and excessive use of invented spelling

• discouraged, distorts their language perception and makes future phonics instruction more difficult.

• encouraged; complements the writing portion of an advanced literacy program

• encouraged; helps them construct more advanced understandings about reading

Which of the following would be the best technique to use to introduce concepts of print?

• incorporating shared reading of a big book

• setting up reading centers

• encouraging children to "pretend read"

• having children copy words from newspapers or magazines.

The current emphasis on writing in kindergarten involves

• techniques and copied examples

• personal satisfaction and self-esteem

• exploration and expression

• spelling and handwriting

A preschool child draws a stick figure and makes some unintelligible scribbles around it. When she shows it to her teacher, she points to the scribbles and says, " This says ' I love mommy.'" This behavior suggest that the child most likely:

• is ready to learn the concepts of letter-sound correspondence.

• is beginning to develop awareness that words are made of distinct phonemes.

• has a basic understanding of the alphabetic principle

• has grasped the idea that the function of print is distinct from that of a picture.

At the end of each school day, a preschool teacher encourages the children to talk about the day's events. As the children describe each event, the teacher writes it on large block paper. Afterward, the teacher reads the list back to the class. The activity would contribute to the children's literacy development primarily by promoting their:

• basic understanding of the alphabetic principle.

• awareness that speech can be represented by writing.

• basic understanding of word boundaries

• awareness of the relationship between syllables and the spoken word

At the end of each school day, a preschool teacher encourages the children to talk about the day's events. As the children describe each event, the teacher writes it on large block paper. Afterward, the teacher reads the list back to the class. This activity is an example of which of the following literacy approaches:

• Basal/Anthology Approach

• Literature Based Approach

• Language-Experience Approach

• All of the Above

A preschool teacher is reading a story to his class. As he reads, he holds the book so the children can see the words and pictures while his finger follows the line of print. This activity would contribute to the children's reading development primarily by:

• promoting their development of letter recognition skills.

• helping them to recognize phonemes that occur frequently in print.

• developing their awareness of left-to-right directionality.

• promoting their understanding of letter-sound correspondence.