Oral Language & Literacy
Emergent Literacy
1
Lay the groundwork
Practices to whakaritea te pārekereke prepare the seedbed for all children.
Start by working with all the children in your setting. Create an environment that can support children to build skills related to Emergent Literacy.
- Consider your current environment and how you could make it better.
- Talk to others about what you are already doing.
- Select practices that will be meaningful in your setting.
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Why is this practice important?
Phonological awareness - the ability to hear and manipulate spoken language - is a strong predictor of later reading and writing success. It begins with close listening and expands to include the ability to distinguish syllables, repeated sound patterns, rhymes, and individual phonemes (small units of sound in words). Phonological awareness is one of the building blocks children draw on when learning to decode and spell written words at school.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Invite whānau to share rhymes, waiata/songs, poems, and word games, including in their home languages. Share with them the value of these language experiences in their home languages.
Include books and resources that incorporate rhythm (syllables), rhyming words, sound patterns across words (e.g., alliteration and assonance), repeated sounds, and letter sounds.
Share oriori, waiata, stories, poems, nursery rhymes, made-up rhymes, riddles, songs, and poems that highlight a range of sounds of spoken language. Incorporate visual and tactile resources, such as puppets, to support children’s engagement and interest.
Use your voice in engaging ways (e.g., varying pitch, tone, and pace) to emphasise language sounds, including rhythm and syllables ('pū-re-re-hu-a re-re ru-nga hau'), similar sounding consonants (‘Noke neke nuku, niki naki nū’, ‘ssslow ssslimy sssnails’), vowels (‘we see the leaves’), rhyming words ('one, two, buckle my shoe') and repeated sounds (pakipaki, kanikani, banana).
Play with the rhythm of language using voice, body (e.g., pakipaki/clapping, takahia/stomping feet), instruments (e.g., pate /a Cook Island drum) and other resources (e.g., piupiu, poi, tī rākau).
Notice, comment on, and enjoy language play using humour, funny noises and voices, and nonsense words and rhymes. Use facial expressions, gestures, movement, and visual and tactile resources to emphasise language sounds and encourage children’s engagement.
To support children who use New Zealand Sign Language or AAC in games and experiences, ensure their participation does not rely on a spoken language response. For children who use AAC, offer choices such as objects or pictures that they can select from to indicate their response.
Why is this practice important?
A well-planned and integrated print-rich environment helps children learn the features of print and how print works to convey meaning. A learning environment that incorporates print, both inside and outside, also provides many opportunities for them to see how useful literacy is in our everyday lives. A print-rich environment enhances children’s sense of belonging when it reflects and affirms their language, identity, and culture.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Use print, in conjunction with visuals, for labels, signs. and simple instructions (e.g., for hand washing and drying). How accessible and easy to see are these for children?
Model the use of print, to record information in everyday routines and activities. Talk to children about what you are writing down and why.
Make print scripts in children’s home languages visible on greeting boards and name badges. Where possible, do the same with important instructions for adults to foster inclusion and the value of home languages. Integrate Braille, raised print and other tactile formats to support children to interact with print using touch.
Offer a variety of picture books including fiction, poetry, reference, and instructional genres. Ensure the range reflects the languages – including te reo Māori – cultures, identities, abilities, and interests of children and their whānau. Develop personalised books that harness children’s special interests. Ensure that children’s AAC systems are updated with their favourite books and book characters.
Provide books suitable for children to explore both independently and with adults. Change the books on display regularly to encourage interest, while retaining favourites. Position books so that children can see and access these easily. Make comfortable spaces for reading, both inside and outside.
Why is this practice important?
Familiarity with narrative structures in stories lays a foundation for children’s literacy success. Story comprehension is about interpreting meanings including understanding that stories follow a logical structure, and can reflect our own and others’ worlds, or invented worlds. Through stories, children learn about the world, which in turn helps them to understand different perspectives and builds social and emotional competencies such as empathy and cultural understanding.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Talk with whānau about the stories enjoyed at home (including those in their home language). Share information about the value of shared storytelling and book reading. Use your knowledge of children’s home lives to select books and stories.
Model an enjoyment of storying. Share stories and story books daily with children that connect to their lived experiences, interests, identity, language, and culture. Include pūrakau (ancient legends, stories), pakiwaitara (fables), and stories that shine a light on local history and its people, places, and events.
Take time to become familiar with available books so that you feel comfortable reading them aloud. Consider the use of props (e.g., puppets) and other resources that may support children’s engagement with the story. Use a large display core board (or home page of the Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) systems being used in the centre) to model comments and questions during shared story reading.
Use strategies, such as commenting, wondering, and pausing to help children make connections and their lived experiences and interests. Follow children’s lead and respond to elements of the story they are interested in. Highlight connections between aspects of the story and children’s experiences, as well as your own.
Support children’s engagement and understanding of stories by using facial expressions and vocal techniques (e.g., changes in intonation) that reflect the actions and emotions depicted.
Why is this practice important?
Early concepts of print provide the foundation on which the skills, confidence, and motivation to read and write are built. Learning these during the early years helps set children up for life-long literacy success. With the active support and guidance of kaiako, a play-based curriculum lends itself well to supporting children’s understanding of print concepts, such as directionality and the alphabet principle, in ways that are meaningful, enjoyable and without undue pressure.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Identify opportunities to incorporate the meaningful use of print that involves children both as observers and participants (e.g., daily record keeping, naming personal spaces and belongings, and referring to menus and written instructions).
Consider how te reo Māori is represented in printed material available to children. Ensure that features such as macrons are included and accurate.
Incorporate the print scripts of all children and their whānau through dual-language picture books, signs, and labels. Highlight similarities and differences in print concepts being positive and inclusive.
Read to children often, pointing out and discussing key features of books, including the cover, title, and names of the author and illustrator. Be explicit about how you hold and use a book, and why (e.g., “Here's the front cover. This book is written by Patricia Grace. I need it the right way up so I can read the words”). Make these discussions part of your regular book-reading routine.
Draw children's attention to print, signs, and labels in the environment. Point out letters, words, and related visual elements, making sure you discuss their meaning and purpose.
Look for opportunities to read in front of children, modelling your own meaningful engagement with print. Talk about what you are doing and why. Use your finger to track text as you read.
Why is this practice important?
Early opportunities to experiment with mark-making, drawing, and writing alphabet letters free from adult expectations, helps develop fine-motor skills required for writing. They also provide a way for children to communicate their thoughts and feelings to others. When mark-making, drawing, and writing are learned and practised in the context of an open-ended or play-based curriculum, children are more likely to form positive attitudes towards literacy.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Offer a range of media to explore mark-making, including tools such as crayons, pens, brushes, surfaces to make marks (e.g., paper and card), and digital devices when appropriate.
Create mark-making possibilities across all areas, indoors and outdoors - for example, water on concrete, sticks with sand, and kitchen utensils with clay. Ensure that there is a mix of consistently resourced areas along with a variety of temporary experiences.
Invite and support children’s mark-making and writing process without expectations about how they go about them and what they produce.
Accept and value children's writing approximations. Take time to discuss the process, invite children to tell you about what they have written, and display or share their creations with others.
For children with physical access needs, introduce and model a range of alphabet displays as writing tools as early as possible. This may include keyboards, print flipcharts, alphabet boards, and the alphabet in the child’s Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) systems. Encourage children to access these directly using their hands or another body part, or name the letters one by one and write down those the child selects.
Share with whānau children’s mark-making, drawing, and writing, making links to their literacy progress.