More Than Letters, Standards Edition

For decades early childhood educators in high-quality programs have understood that the transition into reading and writing occurs naturally when young children are surrounded by opportunities to interact with print in ways that are meaningful to them. The original edition of More Than Letters, first published in 2001, showed teachers how to intentionally help children develop literacy skills through hands-on, play-based activities. Like the original edition, the Standards Edition is based on theory and research. It contains new chapters that specifically focus on developing the skills needed to decode literature and informational text. Expanded chapters include activities that target specific concepts included in national literacy standards. On the second reading, as each new character appears and as the list of characters repeats, pause and point to the illustration so children can add the words for the characters. This focuses their attention and helps them build memory skills. Introduce the interactive chart. Children can add name cards to the chart and see how this alters the text. This helps them learn to read their names and the names of their friends. Children can return to the chart during choice time to switch names and read the text. After children have become familiar with THE NAPPING HOUSE, introduce THE FULL MOON AND THE NAPPING HOUSE. Ask children for similarities and differences between the two books. Help children recognize that although both books focus on sleeping and share the same characters (with the exception of a cricket instead of a flea in the second book), in The Full Moon at the Napping House the characters are having trouble going to sleep. On a subsequent day, read THE NAPPING HOUSE again with the children. Pause after each page and ask them to recall the word that indicates the character is sleeping. List the characters and the sleeping words in the appropriate columns on the chart. On the following day, read THE FULL MOON AND THE NAPPING HOUSE. As each character is introduced, ask the children to recall the word that indicates that the character is not sleeping. Add those words to the column labeled "awake words." Throughout THE NAPPING HOUSE activities, place a basket with the story props and a copy of the two books in the book area. Children can use the props to help them retell the stories as they look at the books. The Common Core standards covered in this activity series are "Reading Standards for Literature," "Reading Standards: Foundational Skills," "Speaking and Listening Standards," and "Language Standards."