Weekly 5 Creative Literacy Activities #1

3 Comments » // July 21st, 2007

This post is one in a series of weekly posts listing 5 creative reading activities to help build literacy skills.

1. Become your child’s Literacy Learning Partner — although your child may be reading independently, she or he can still gain a great deal from you reading to or with her or him. Choose books based on your child’s age and interest rather than reading level — this exposes your child to a wider variety of information and experience.

2. Telephone Directory — Use your telephone directory to find last names of people that are the same as: flowers, colors, fruits, first names.

3. Words That Tell About – Encourage your child to keep lists of “Words That Tell About” in a special notebook. For example: “Words That Tell About People,” “Words That Tell About Time,” “Words That Tell About Space,” “Words That Tell About Travel.” Add to the lists and create new ones as your child learns new words. Variations: 1. Make a list of season words: summer words, winter words, autumn words, spring words. These word lists will be useful in writing activities. 2. List the words in alphabetical order.

4. Let’s Eat — Choose an initial consonant for the day. Ask your child to find pictures of foods or food words that start with the letter you’ve chosen. Example: P — pizza, pasta, pears, pie.

5. Name That Picture — Look at a picture taken from a magazine or newspaper. Ask your child to list all the details she or he can find in the picture. When the list is complete, talk about the details that are important to the picture. Based on these details, ask your child to make up a title for the picture. Variation: When your child is able to read independently, have her/him make up titles for stories or paragraphs using the same technique of first listing the important details.

These ideas come from: “Expressway to reading: 101 creative activities to put readers in the fast lane to literacy” (Beatrice G Davis)

Related Reading:
“Bonding While Learning: Activities to Grow Your Relationship While Preparing for Reading Success” (Gary Kosman, Grace Chiu)
“Planning Creative Literacy Lessons (Informing Teaching)” (Andrew Lambirth)
“Fun Literacy Activities for After-school Programs: Books And Beyond” (Sue Edwards, Kathleen Martinez)
“Playful Reading: Positive, Fun Ways to Build the Bond Between Preschoolers, Books, and You” (Carolyn Munson-Benson)
“Ready, Set, Read: Building a Love of Letters and Literacy Through Fun Phonics Activities” (Janet Chambers)