Hints and Tips for Week 5 ECE 203
DISCUSSION: LITERACY BACKPACK
Criteria:
Create a plan for a literacy backpack that can be used within the classroom or at home. Include:
1. A visual of what you bag might look like (use drawing tools in Word, PowerPoint, or other graphic programs).
2. Explain the theme of your bag and introduction to the bag (Back to School, Seasons of the Year, Animals, Apples, Feelings and Emotions, etc.)
3. Developmental level/age that you would use the activities (Preschool)
4. Three developmentally appropriate literature selections that could be read to the child including the title and author.
a. Selection #1 (Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers-Maslen & Maslen, 2006)
b. Selection #2 (On Market Street-lobel & Lobel, 1089)
c. Selection #3 (Eric Carle’s ABC-Carle, 2007)
5. Three open-ended questions that the child could discuss after reading the stories
a. Question #1-
b. Question #2
c. Question #3-
6. Three activities which reflect reading/writing for the developmental level
a. Activity #1 (Teaching good listening skills)
b. Activity #2 (Listening and talking with each child daily)
c. Activity #3 (Using one-on-one and small groups for teacher-directed activities)
7. Three language activities that could be done with the child
a. Language Activity #1 (finger plays, etc.)
b. Language Activity #2 (Cloze, leaving out a word in the middle or at the end of a story for children to complete, etc.).
c. Language Activity #3 (Memory games, etc.)
8. Three manipulative or additional items that could be added to the bag.
a. Item #1 (Writing-pencils, markers, crayons, colored pencils, pencil sharpener, etc.)
b. Item #2 (Post Office-Mailbox, stamps, envelopes, postcards, greeting cards, etc.)
c. Item #3 (Science-tracing paper, index cards, file box, sticky notes, etc.)
Promoting language and literacy experiences in early childhood education can profoundly impact children positively for the national core standards in language arts (Jaruszewicz, 2013). In particular, research confirms positive correlations between high quality early literacy experiences and later success in school (Barnett & Lamy, 2006). Part of this is creating engaging literacy experiences that create enthusiasm and emerging positive literacy dispositions. One way to engage children in meaningful experiences is to create language and literacy activities that are engaging, interactive, and fun. The concept of a thematic literacy bag, sometimes called a story sack, or backpack, has been used within the classroom as well as an at home activity to support positive literacy experiences. These thematic bags include several language and literacy activities that support children’s learning.
To prepare for this discussion, review the Explanation of Story Sacks, Buddy Bags, and Literacy Bags on Pinterest resources for this week as well as the Instructor Guidance for Week Five.
Initial Post: Create a plan for a literacy backpack that can be used within the classroom or at home. Your post must include a visual of what your bag might look like. You can use whichever graphics program you choose to create the visual (e.g., the drawing tools in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint). Be sure to attach your visual to your initial post. Additionally, an explanation for the following contents of your literacy backpack must be included in the message of your initial post:
- Theme of your bag and introduction to the bag (e.g., Back to School, Seasons of the Year, Animals, Apples, Feelings and Emotions).
- Developmental level/age that you would use the activities with.
- Three developmentally appropriate literature selections that could be read to the child, including the title and author.
- Three open-ended questions that the child could discuss after reading the stories.
- Three activities which reflect reading/writing for the developmental level.
- Three language activities that could be done with the child.
- Three manipulatives or additional items that could be added to the bag, with a rationale of why they are important. For example, you may wish to include a puzzle or a stuffed animal that is related to the theme.
