Early Literacy Aside--Example: Let's take an interesting word from this book we just read. [Choose a word.] Now we'll play this song game. Helping your children make rhymes or notice words that rhyme is one way to help them hear the smaller sounds in words which will help them later to sound out words.Song to the tune of A Hunting We Will Go A rhyming we will go A rhyming we will go We’ll catch a rhyme In the nick of time And this is how it goes.
I caught the word _____! What rhymes with ______? Good, what else rhymes with _____?
Repeat as often as you like. Rhyming words can be nonsense words!
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Remember the rhyming song game we played earlier? You can play this little game any place, any time you are with your children--in the car, waiting in line, at the doctor's office. These little things you do all add up to make a difference in helping your child be ready to learn to read. When you help them hear and make rhymes, you are helping your child develop phonological awareness, hearing the smaller sounds in words so they can later sound out words when they learn to read.
Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Here's a rhyme that you can do anytime and it reinforces rhyming words which develops phonological awareness while having fun at the same time.Do Scarecrow, Scarecrow activity
Children stand up with arms bent at elbows like a scarecrow and head tilted. Actions to words.
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, turn around
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, jump up and down
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, raise your arms high
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, wink one eye
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, bend your knees
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, flap in the breeze
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, climb into bed
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, rest your head.
Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Hello, parents. Today in storytime we are highlighting one of the early literacy skills, phonological awareness. This is the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words including rhyming, beginning sounds and today we'll be doing animal sounds. Developing this skill will help children later sound out words as they learn to read.As you read Cock-a-Moo-Moo, note when the rooster crows that the font is large which means to use a LOUD voice. Point out the words for the corresponding sounds. Conclude the story by having the children say cock-a-doodle-do loudly to convey the rooster getting it right.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Hearing and learning animal sounds helps children hear the smaller sounds in words too.
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Hearing the rhythm of language and making the sounds of animals, both of these contribute to phonological awareness, hearing the smaller sounds in words, one of the skills that researchers have found helps with reading later on. Take opportunities during the course of the day to point out and to imitate sounds you hear, a car horn, the doorbell ringing, and so forth.
Cat Puppet: There's a cat in my hat, a cat in my hat, a cat in my hat today (do twice). What does the kitty cat say? [cat puppet says meow]Read Mama Cat Has Three Kittens
Early Literacy Aside--Example: When children hear rhymes, rhythms and sounds of animals, it helps them develop phonological awareness, hearing the smaller sounds in words. This is a skill that will help them as they begin to read.
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Keep doing rhymes with things in your children's world. Today we did cat in my hat. You can do ball in the hall or star on my car (give a star sticker).
Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Researchers have found that one of ways you can support later reading is by helping children hear the smaller sounds in words. This skill is called phonological awareness. Today I'll point out some thing you can do to help your childrne develop this skill.Early Literacy Aside--Example: Rhyming is one way that children learn to hear that words are made up of smaller parts. By doing rhymes with your children you are setting the stage for them to sound out words to read.
Read Train Song
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Find a book at home which has rhyming words and see if your child can identify words that rhyme. If you don't have a rhyming book, just read a book and then pick a word and think of rhyming words together.
I fed my duck under yonder tree.
Duck goes quack, quack,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.
Keep adding verses one-by-one:
Bought me a dog and the dog pleased me,
I fed my dog under yonder tree.
Dog goes bow-wow, bow-wow,
Horse goes neigh, neigh,
Cow goes moo, moo,
Pig goes oink, oink,
Sheep goes baa, baa,
Goose goes hissy, hissy,
Duck goes quack, quack,
Cat goes fiddle-i-fee.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: This song includes some silly animal sounds which is the beginning of making the child aware of the sounds within words.
There for all to see.
You may blow one candle out, 
Early Literacy Aside--Explain: We are going to have fun playing with sounds today, reading stories with sound words. Playing with sounds helps develop phonological awareness which will help your child learn to hear the smaller sounds in words.Read book emphasizing sound words like crunch and munch. Then I go back to some pages and have the children say the words with me, again emphasizing different sounds.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Hearing and learning sound words like splish-splash is an enjoyable way of learning phonlogical awareness and will help your children later hear smaller sounds in words.
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: At home, play with sound words, like splish-splash in the bath, crunch-munch at snack, and exaggerate how you are saying words to practice hearing their parts.
Ten little campers make a ring. (Form circle putting tips of fingers together and thumbs together)
Ten little campers start to sing. (Cup hands to mouth)
Ten little campers around the fire. (Form circle putting tips of fingers together again)
Ten little campers dance till they tire. (Put all ten fingers up in the air and dance them around)
Ten little campers say good-night. (Wave good-night with both hands)
Ten little campers close their tent up tight. (Intertwine fingers together again to signify closure)
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Rhymes are fun to sing and say with your child. Because they rhyme, they also help children develop phonological awareness, an important skill for later reading when they try to sound out words.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: As I read this story, I am going to pause and have the children fill in the rhyming word. This is something you can easily do with rhyming books. Start off by using rhyming books that your child has read with you before. Helping your children hear rhymes will help them later to sound out words when they learn to read!Read the book: As you read the book, let the children chime in with some of the rhyming words, like head to follow red.
After the book activity: Everyone stand up! What's a word that rhymes with head? Children give suggestions. Pick one--bed. OK, take your hand and dip it in red paint on the floor (pretend). Now take your hand and draw a bed. Good! What's a word that rhymes with green? Perhaps the children say bean. OK, dip your foot in some green paint on the floor, and draw a bean. We all laugh together.