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By the book

Boost children's language and literacy skills by fostering their love of books, says Lena Engel Area of learning
Boost children's language and literacy skills by fostering their love of books, says Lena Engel

Area of learning

Communication, language and literacy

Learning intention

Reading

As so many children still arrive at nursery or school without the experience of valuing books, early years practitioners need to create an environment in which books are an integral part of the daily routine.

Book corner

Initially, it is essential to organise an area of the room that is devoted to relaxed reading and where children can sit peacefully and browse through books. With lots of encouragement, children will gravitate to the corner where they can interact with their peers.

To make your book corner appealing:

* Ensure it is comfortable, and well lit, preferably close to natural light.

* Provide comfortable seating.

* Make the corner easily accessible.

* Position the books within easy reach, and preferably displayed in racks with the front covers showing outwards.

* Provide a varied selection of non-fiction and fiction books, rhyme books and dual language stories.

* Ensure the stories feature characters that represent the variety of cultures, gender roles and disabilities that make up our society.

* Check regularly that the books are in good condition and remind children when they have read them to replace them correctly.

* Emphasise the pleasure to be derived from reading and sharing stories, as well as the interest and knowledge that can be gained from books.

Story props

'Story props', the visual and tactile aids used to bring a story to life, may be characters or parts of the scenery in the story. Young children should relate well to these props, so encourage them to listen to the narrative and manipulate the props according to events in the stories.

* Make a collection of story props to accompany children's favourite stories.

* Use them to retell the story without the book.

* Give children the chance to use the props to recall their own version of events in the story.

* Encourage parents to help make the props for the most popular books.

Role play

Children soon begin to understand the concept of acting out favourite stories.

* Provide good props that will spark some imaginative play, based on the characters they have seen in books.

* Choose simple stories such as John Burningham's Mr Gumpy's Motor Car (Puffin, 4.99) or Mr Gumpy's Boat (Puffin, 4.99).

* Read the story and ask the children to choose their own roles.

* Provide a large cardboard box or a mat to represent the car or the boat.

* Initiate the activity as Mr Gumpy and act out the story together.

* See whether the children can remember the animals' names, and prompt them to recall the repeated phrases in the narrative. Bringing the story to life in this way should encourage the children to play similar games at home.

Class book

Encourage children to retell stories through drawings or paintings and create a class book.

* Supply visual images or soft toys of familiar characters such as The Three Little Pigs to stimulate children's imagination, and tell them the story with as much expression as possible.

* Ask the children to recall the story in their own words before they attempt to create pictures to represent the characters and narrative.

* Support the children as they draw by exploring what they seek to depict and by extending the language evoked in their descriptions.

* Some children may wish to represent different aspects of the story, while others will produce an image of what they find the most exciting part of the story.

* Remember that, at this age, children should not be expected to draw one specific episode from the story.

* Bind the pictures together to create a class book and label the contributions.

* Place the finished book in the book corner for the children to look at their own illustrations.

Lending books

To promote the enjoyment of books, it is essential that children learn that they can be trusted to take them home and share them with their families.

* Provide a book bag to carry the books to and from home, and a contact book to record the library books on loan and parents' and practitioners' comments about children's reactions to the books' content.

* Support the children to make their own choice when they borrow books. This one-to-one attention while selecting a library book is crucial in developing self-esteem.

* Regular emphasis on reading for pleasure and knowledge will engender in children a positive view of themselves as readers, and make learning good, all-round literacy skills that much easier.

Series guide

* This series aims to demonstrate the type of activity practitioners should provide to help children of different experiences progress towards a given goal, ie stepping stone 4.

* The stepping stones are not age related, though it is likely that activities suggested in stepping stone 1 will be best suited to three-year-olds, with later activities suitable for progressively older children. However, practitioners must bear in mind that children come to early years settings with different experiences, interests and abilities and will progress in different ways towards a given goal.