EARLY LEARNING PROFILE (ELP)
CONCEPTS ABOUT PRINT
Concepts about print refer to all the knowledge related to how print is organized and used.
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Children need to know that:
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Words are read and pictures are viewed;
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Words appear and are read in English from left to right across the page;
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Letters are placed next to each other to form words; and
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Letters each have a large and small version and can be printed in various forms (Nevills & Wolfe, 2009).
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Marie Clay calls concepts about print “the rules of the road,” and writes, “Teachers must teach so that all children become knowledgeable about these essential concepts so they open doors to literacy.” She explains that teachers who have an understanding of what aspects of print their children are attending to can introduce them to print conventions through rich experiences with reading and writing and can be accomplished through focused instruction in the first six months of kindergarten (Clay, 2000, pp. 24-25).
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The development of concepts about print depends upon children’s exposure and the meaningful interaction they have with print.
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It takes over 1000 hours of being read to for young children to become proficient at understanding how books and print works and how to read for themselves (Bennett-Armistead, 2007).
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(Canadian Language & Literacy Network, 2009; Catts & Kamhi, 2005; McGill-Franzen, 2006; Morris, 2008; Senechal, M., 2006; Snow et al, 1998; Snow, 2005; Sousa, 2005; Trehearne, 2004; Wren & Watts, 2002)
HOW-TO ADMINISTER RESOURCES
Instructional video on how to approach the administering of the concepts about print sub-assessment of the ELP.​
Procedure: Choose a simple levelled book (level 2 or B) with 2 lines per page and read it to your class. Narrate the use of concepts about print with your children before the first screening. Assess each child individually. When reassessing, check only the items that were previously unknown, unless a complete reassessment is deemed necessary.
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Hand the child the story and say: “Point to where you should start reading.”
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Say: “Which way should you go?” Check for knowledge of directionality.
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Check for return sweep.
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Say: “Point to one word on the page.”
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Say: “Point to the first letter of a word. Point to the last letter of a word."
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Point to a period and ask: “What is this for?”
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Read the story to the child asking him/her to match the words as you read. Was the child able
to closely track as you read? -
Ask the child what the story is about. Does the child understand that print conveys meaning?
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
What instructional strategies and next steps can I take to be responsive to the needs of my students, and support the development of their concepts of print? Here are some of our favourite resources to support concepts about print development in the classroom. Click on the images below to learn more.
Guidelines for Instruction
"Print awareness is a child's earliest understanding that written language carries meaning. The foundation of all other literacy learning builds upon this knowledge. The following are guidelines for teachers in how to promote print awareness and a sample activity for assessing print awareness in young children."- Reading Rockets
Print Awareness During Read Alouds
"How can you help kids develop print awareness? Here are some sample questions and prompts you can use before, during, and after a read aloud activity to help children activate basic knowledge about print and books."- Reading Rockets
Read Alouds to Support Print Awareness
Here is a list with a wide variety of books that have repetitive and predictable text to help develop students' print awareness.