Integrating Early Literacy Skills into Your Story Times

6 BY 6 IN STORY TIME

Why Add Early Literacy Skills to Story Time?

•Demonstrate how to encourage specific early literacy skills.

•Highlight aspects of books that best lend themselves to teaching the early literacy skills.

Why Add Early Literacy Skills to Story Time?

•Train adults to select books that promote specific skills.

•Help adults understand the benefits of what librarians do during story time.

Have Fun with Books

• If they have fun with books,

children develop an interest in

reading.

• If children think reading is fun, it will be easier for them to learn to read.

• Print Motivation

Books that promote this skill:

• Books about topics that are especially interesting to the child;

• Books that have vivid, colorful illustrations;

• Rhyming books;

• Silly books.

Talk, Talk, Talk

• Talking to children teaches them

the names of things, concepts,

and emotions.

• The larger a child’s vocabulary is the more words s/he will recognize when learning to read.

• Vocabulary

Books that promote this skill:

• Nonfiction books;

• Books with lots of descriptive words;

• Rhyming books.

Taking Time to Rhyme, Sing Songs, & Play Word Games• Rhymes, songs, and word games all help children hear the smaller sounds

that words are made up of.

• Being able to hear these smaller sounds helps a child sound out words when learning to read.

• Phonological Awareness

Books that promote this skill:

• Books with rhymes and songs;

• Books with alliteration;

• Books with nonsense words;

• Books with animal sounds.

Notice Print All Around You

• Noticing print in the environment helps children recognize that we read words.

• Seeing adults read teaches children how to handle books and how to follow the words on a page.

• Print Awareness

Books that promote this skill:

• Books with different sized print or print that moves around the page;

• Books with big, clear print.

Look for Letters Everywhere

• Paying attention to letters expands

a child’s understanding that letters

are different from each other.

• Recognizing individual letters and knowing that they make different sounds is essential to learning to read.

• Letter Knowledge

Books that promote this skill:

• Books with alliteration;

• Books with rhymes;

• Alphabet books.

Tell Stories about Everything• Making stories out of everyday

events demonstrates to children

how events and stories follow patterns with beginnings, middles, and ends.

• Knowing that stories have predictable parts helps children comprehend when they start reading.

• Narrative Skill

Books that promote this skill:

• Books with predictable patterns;

• Books with clear cause and effect events;

• Folk and Fairy tales.

SELECTING AN EARLY LITERACY SKILL

Selecting a 6 by 6 skill

•Select the books, rhymes, and songs for story time as usual.

•Reread the books looking for an early literacy skill that appears in one or more of the books.

Selecting a 6 by 6 skill

•One technique can encourage multiple 6 by 6 skills

•6 by 6 skills rhymes promote:

Take Time to Rhyme

Talk, Talk, Talk

Have Fun with Books

•Most books support more than one early literacy skill

My Books

My Many Colored Days

Taking a Bath with the Dog

Don’t Worry Bear

•My Many Colored Days

by Dr. Seuss

My Many Colored Days

•Which skills does it promote?

1. Take Time to Rhyme

2. Have Fun with Books

3. Tell Stories about Everything

•Taking a Bath with the

Dog by Scott Menchin

Taking a Bath with the Dog

•Which skills does it promote?

1. Noticing Print All Around You

2. Have Fun with Books

Don’t Worry Bearby Greg Foley

Don’t Worry Bear

•Which skills does it promote?

1. Noticing Print All Around You

2. Tell Stories about Everything

How do I pick?• My Many Colored Days

1. Take Time to Rhyme

2. Have Fun with Books

3. Tell Stories about Everything

• Taking a Bath with the Dog1. Noticing Print All Around You

2. Have Fun with Books

• Don’t Worry Bear1. Noticing Print All Around You

2. Tell Stories about Everything

How do I pick?

• My Many Colored Days

1. Tell Stories about Everything

• Don’t Worry Bear

1. Tell Stories about Everything

• Taking a Bath with the Dog

1. Noticing Print All Around You

• Don’t Worry Bear

1. Noticing Print All Around You

What else can I use?

•Tie the 6 by 6 skill to another piece of story time:

1. Songs, rhymes, finger plays

2. Flannel/Magnet boards

3. Activities

4. Crafts

to one 6 by 6?

Can I connect them all

My Many Colored Days

Don’t Worry Bear

Taking a Bath with the Dog

Tell Stories about Everything

Notice Print all around You

Integrating an early literacy skill into story time

ADDING THE 6 BY 6

Integrating a 6 by 6 skill

•Reading order

1. My Many Colored Days

2. Taking a Bath with the Dog

3. Don’t Worry Bear

• Treatment of theme: broadest to narrowest

• How does each tie into the skill?

How does Noticing Print All Around You connect?

•My Many Colored Days

The printed words on the page move around and change size, font, and color

•Taking a Bath with the Dog

Repeated phrase that always appears in the same place on the page

•Don’t Worry Bear

Repeated phrase that is the book’s title

What Can I Say

•Find the skill

1. Notice Print all around You

• Match it to the right type of material

1. Books

• Read through the statements and find one that fits the rationale for selecting the skill

My Many Colored Days• Original explanation:The printed words on the page move around and change size, font, and color

• What Can I Say statement:“Books with text that moves around the page make it easy to point to the text and talk about how we normally read from left to right and that the words are what we are reading.”

Revised statement:

• Book 1 statement:

Books with words that move around the page or change size, like My Many Colored Days, make the print easy to notice and allow you to point out the words and demonstrate that you are reading the words not the pictures.

Introductory Statement

Our next book is My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. The words in this book move all around the pages and even change size. An easy way to help your child notice that you are reading the words is to point to them where ever they appear on the page.

Taking a Bath with the Dog

• Original explanation:Repeated phrase that always appears in the same place on the page

• What Can I Say statement:“Books with repeated phrases provide children with an opportunity to recognize the repeated words and allow them to feel like they are reading along with you.”

Follow up Statement

• Book 2 statement:

“Did you notice that Taking a Bath with the Dog has a repeated phrase that appears in the same way on each spread. This makes it perfect for helping your child notice that printed words have specific meanings. Inviting a child to “read” the repeated phrase reinforces this idea.”

Transition Statement

• Between book 2 and book 3 statement:

“Did you notice that the little girl in Taking a Bath with the Dog keeps repeating “What makes you happy?” Our next book, Don’t Worry Bear, has a repeated phrase too. See if you can guess what it is.”

Connecting the early literacy skill to rhymes, songs, or other activities

6 BY 6 AND STORY TIME FILLER

What Can I Say

•Find the skill

1. Notice Print all around You

• Match it to the right type of material

1. Only Books!

• Adapt

1. Turn the paper upside-down

2. Point to the words as you sing them

I’ve Got Something in My Pocket

• What Can I Say statement:

Hold book upside down. See if children notice that it is upside down. If not, point it out.

• Adaptation:

“What’s wrong with my rhyme? I can’t read it. Oh, it’s upside down! I can’t read like that. How should I read it?”

Where else should I talk about the 6 by 6 skill?

ANYWHERE ELSE?

Always add it to the Introduction

• Explain the skill in the story time introduction1. What is it’s name?2. What does it mean?3. Be brief

“The 6 by 6 skill we’re focusing on today is Noticing Print All Around You, this means helping your child recognize words in the environment and teaching them how to hold a book, turn the pages, and follow the text. Understanding that we read words and how text works is an essential step to someday learning how to read.”

Always mention it in the conclusion

• Wrap up the skill1. Repeat the name2. Call attention to any 6 by 6 materials in the library3. Mention tip in the take home flyer

“Thank you for coming to story time. I had a great time! The early literacy skill we focused on was Notice Print All Around You. On the flyer, I’ve included an activity you and your child can do at home. I’ll see you next week for Zoo story time.”

Sample Story Time Plan• This is a sample of my typical story

time planning sheet.

• I always use a planning sheet

• Because it helps me

• But also because it allows someone to substitute if I’m unexpectedly absent.

• I like to write everything I’m going to say on my planning sheet.

• This keeps me from forgetting things

• And holds me to my good intentions.

Feelings Story Time Plan