March is National Reading Month in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Whether you’re out grocery shopping, cooking dinner, driving around in your car, or reading a book, literacy is everywhere! Opportunities to engage all young children in reading activities are endless in the PreK setting.
With spring approaching, check out theme-based activities kits from TTAC ODU’s lending library such as this Bug Themed Kit that includes books, puzzles, file folder activities, communication pictures, and story manipulatives.
While requesting your lending library account with TTAC ODU, you’ll notice that we also have Heggerty for PreK available for checkout. This supplemental curriculum is packed full of phonemic awareness skills, activities to develop letter name and letter sound recognition, language awareness activities, nursery rhymes, and more! The lessons can be used for instruction within a half‐day or full‐day Pre‑Kindergarten program and are intended to complement the comprehensive curriculum already in place in your setting.
For more information on curriculum use, please visit VDOE’s Early Childhood Curriculum webpage, where you will find resources such as What is Early Childhood Curriculum? VDOE Baseline Criteria for High-Quality Birth to Five Curriculum, VQB5 Curriculum FAQ, and more.
Want to take it one step further and increase student access and interests in books and story time by adapting the environment, materials, or instruction? STEMIE Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education has phenomenal Storybook Conversations that serve as a guide to talk with children about the book as you read it. Here is a downloadable resource for the Grouchy Lady Bug. You’ll notice that the Storybook Conversation Resources recommend creating a story box where you select items from the story (characters, setting, etc.) and place them in a container/box.
If you are fresh out of funds and have limited time to collect these items, place shoe boxes with wish lists in the teachers’ lounge, give it a few weeks, and see what your colleagues are willing to donate! What a great way to enhance and adapt story time for young learners.
Speaking of Book Adaptations, learn how to summarize dialogic reading in a few sentences by reviewing the resources in this article: Helping Young Children Engage with Storybooks with Dialogic reading and Adaptations
Our early childhood team is excited to announce our new EC TRIO (Early Childhood Tools, Resources, Information, and Offerings) updates beginning in January 2025! This short, periodic email will include quick links for staff on current hot topics in the field, hand-picked exclusively for our regional needs by Danielle, Erin, and Lisa. Encourage your colleagues to subscribe to our TTAC ODU Early Childhood mailing list to take advantage of this resource.
References
STEMIE. (n.d.). The grouchy ladybug: story book conversations with your young child. UNC Frank Porter Grahm Child Development Institute. https://stemielearningtrajectories.fpg.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/SBC-The-Grouchy-Ladybug.pdf
STEMIE. (n.d.). A guide to book adaptations. UNC Frank Porter Grahm Child Development Institute. https://stemie.fpg.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/A-Guide-to-Book-Adaptations.pdf
STEMIE. (2025, January 10). Helping young children engage with storybooks with dialogic reading and adaptations. UNC Frank Porter Grahm Child Development Institute. https://stemie.fpg.unc.edu/blog/helping-young-children-engage-with-storybooks-with-dialogic-reading-and-adaptations/
