I originally wrote this post for Because Babies Grow Up as part of a series on emergent literacy. Stop by Because Babies Grow Up to read  some great information about encouraging your child’s development.

Becoming a literate person is a big undertaking, and the early years are the time to lay a firm foundation. Throughout this series on emergent literacy you have read about some specific skills needed to read and write well and learned that it takes lots of practice to master those skills. In this post I’d like to sum it all up.

The most important thing that you can do to help your child learn to read and write is to simply reading good literature to your child from birth through the teen years. There is so much that you share with your child during those special times spent reading together. Your oral reading helps your child hear the rhythm of the language and the intonation used in reading. You also serve as a model for what expert readers do and how they solve problems when they read. Since your child naturally wants to mimic you in the early years, reading aloud is a great time to inadvertently (or even intentionally) teach your child about reading.

What behaviors are you modeling for your child as an expert reader? Just think of all that you do when you are reading aloud. If you misread a word in a sentence, you correct yourself when you realize that the word did not make sense, and you use the context to figure out the meaning of certain words. You make predictions as you read, too. You even reread excellent books because you get something new from those books each time you read them. The next time you read aloud, think about all that you actually do when you read.

As you model these skills, you can also explicitly share them with your child when you read aloud to him/her. When you and your little one snuggle together and read, talk about the book and ask questions.

“Those words rhyme.”

“I love this author (book).”

“I wonder what will happen next.”

“Have you ever felt like that?”

I cannot stress enough how important it is to read to your child . The time you invest in reading aloud to your child is time well spent. Enjoy it!

Photo courtesy of luiginter

~You can find copies of American Tall Tales here. There are also comprehension quizzes on this site.

~You can find a unit study on Tall Tales at German Town Academy.

~Tall Tales fit into a unit of study on the westward expansion. You can find general information about America in the 1800’s at this website. You will also find a host of educational resources at this website.

~Some Tall Tales are based on actual people. You can have your children research the lives of the Johnny Appleseed and Davey Crockett and compare the facts they find to the exaggerations in Tall Tales.

~You can make a lapbook on Johnny Appleseed. Homeschool Share has a free one.

~Have your children write their own Tall Tales. Remember to include exaggeration in the tales. Illustrations would complete the stories.

Photo courtesy of cliff1066

Are you studying traditional literature in your homeschool? You can engage your children in this study by diving into Fairy Tales and adding a twist to the learning experience.

• Your children might enjoy reading several versions of the same fairy tale. It is common to do a study on the Cinderella stories and compare the different versions of the tale. You can find a great lesson plan at EDSITEement. Write or act out the story from a different character’s point of view. You can even have your children write their own version of a fairy tale but from as if it is from a different culture. Research a particular culture thoroughly first and require that the story include information about that culture in the story.
• Add fractured fairy tales to your study. Read the “original” version of a tale and compare it to the fractured version. There are many great fractured fairy tales available now such as The Fourth Little Pig, Just Ella, Sleeping Ugly, and The Paper Bag Princess. Then have your children write their own fractured fairy tales. You can even incorporate persuasive essays in your study. Your children can write from the antagonist’s point of view explaining why s/he was wronged.
• Since many fairy tales were collected by the Brothers Grimm in an effort to preserve German folklore, you can do a research project on Germany.
• Study Hans Christian Anderson’s life and fairy tales. (Beware that his tales do not always have happy endings.) You can also learn about Holland since Andersen was Dutch.

Photo courtesy of g.naharro

Myths

Myths are creation tales that include supernatural activity. For a more detailed definition go to About.com.

• Spark Notes is packed with information about mythology. It can be a great resource for you as you start to learn about mythology.
• Have your children read Myths from various cultures such as Native American and Greek myths. Examine the themes that appear in those myth,s and create a grid to of those themes as a graphic organizer. You can also have your children illustrate the myths in order to help them visualize the stories better.
• Discuss the religious nature of the myths that you read. Since most myths have something to do with creation, take this opportunity to discuss creation according to the Bible. You can even make a creation lapbook with your children. I found a free creation lapbook from Lapbook Lessons.

Legends

Legends are stories partially based on fact, but have exaggerated details.

• Children of all ages, particularly boys, love legends! Who can resist the adventures of Robin Hood and King Arthur? These are great, action packed stories to read aloud.
• Write a script for a favorite legend and act it out, or simply have your children choose a favorite scene to turn into a skit.
• Since it is March, you can research the legend of St. Patrick at History.com. You can also find information about St. Patrick at RiverDeep.net
• Write a modern day Legend after examining others. Have your children include illustrations of the legendary hero and his/her adventures.

Photo courtesy of Jorge-11

My Favorite Author is using this theme this month, too. Stop by that blog for interviews with authors and reviews of books related to this theme. “What can you do with a traditional literature theme?” you ask. It is one of my favorite literature studies because it is truly a rich topic. Today I am sharing a few ways to engage your children in this study with Nursery Rhymes and Fables:

Photo by aturkus

Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes are very short, funny, poetic stories. They are often historically and politically significant.

• Your little ones can participate in this study by reading Nursery Rhymes. These funny rhymes build phonemic awareness and are easily
  memorized. Have your little ones choose a few to commit to memory.
• Make and Break words from the rhymes. Use words such as Jill/hill, down/crown. Use the onsets and rimes to build new words (spill, fill, mill, bill).
• You can have your children illustrate several Nursery Rhymes and bind them into a book. Those illustrations are a great way to teach visualization, and they help you see if your child comprehends the text.
• Teens can research the political and historical significance to each of the rhymes. Then they can write their own Nursery Rhymes that have political and historical messages cleverly hidden in them.

Fables

Fables are short stories that have a moral or a lesson at the end.

• Since fables are so short, you can use them to practice oral reading. Have your children read them aloud with the goal of making the reading “sound like talking”.
• You can focus on memorization skills with Fables. Choose shorter ones that your older children can memorize and have the younger children memorize the moral.
• The lesson can spark an interesting discussion about morals. Ask your children what they think is the right choice in each situation.
• Fables can help you gauge your children’s comprehension because they are short and have a moral. Did your child predict the outcome based on the clues in the text? Did your child make connections to other stories or situations?

Look for more posts about using folklore in your homeschool.

~Your beginning reader can read books to a puppet. Young children buy into the fantasy of the puppet interacting with them. Sometimes the presence of the puppet helps a child who is struggling with reading to relax and enjoy the experience. The puppet makes it fun to read.

~Your children can retell books by writing a script and using puppets. It is a fun way to encourage your children to reread a book and understand it well enough to capture the essence of the story. It also encourages your children to write a good script. Younger children will love to watch the puppet shows, too.

~You can make a read aloud more engaging with a puppet. My kids love listening to the puppet read stories, ask questions, and explain parts of the stories. They talk to the puppet. They also like touching it and even mimicking the way that I use the puppet. This tool can be especially helpful in engaging children who find it difficult to sit still long enough to listen to a whole book.

~Your children can teach the puppet. This is a fun way to have your child summarize a new skill or concept that you’ve been practicing. For example, the puppet can learn to sound out words or find rhyming pairs. The puppet can even find sight words in a story such as “the”, “what”, and “said”.

~You can research another culture with puppets. Shadow puppets are part of Indonesian culture. Your children can create a shadow puppet show as a culminating activity after researching Indonesian culture.

Have fun with puppets!

Photo courtesy of nickstone333

Stovepipe Hat

Supplies (makes 1 sample and 2 hats)
3 pieces red construction paper     3 pieces white construction paper     2 pieces large drawing paper
glue sticks     scissors     permanent marker

How To
Cut about one inch off of the long edge of three pieces of red construction paper and three pieces of white construction paper. Trace one of the remaining rectangles onto a large piece of drawing paper. Then trace the cut off piece of paper onto the base of the large rectangle to form the brim of the hat. Make one tracing for each child.

Give each child the tracing of the hat. Have each child glue the one inch white strip to the brim of the hat. Have the children fold the red paper in half hamburger style twice and cut the paper along the folds. Do the same for the white paper. Now create a pattern with the colors on the tracing by gluing red, white, red, white. (Each child will have 2 extra pieces of red and 2 extra pieces of white paper. Reserve these for another project.)

Have your children help spell the words “Cat in the Hat” and write them as a title at the top of the page.

Word Work

Supplies
remaining strips of red and white construction paper     permanent marker    pencils

How To
Use the remaining strips of paper to write the words “cat”, “in”, “the”, & “hat”. As you write the words (except “the”, which you write out and explain that it is a sight word), have your child say the sounds in the words and tell you the corresponding letters. Then have the kids trace over the letters. Your children can play “Concentration” and “Go Fish” and also practice spelling the words with these flash cards.

Indoor Seuss Inspired Frisbee

Supplies
2 dessert size paper plates (per child)     red marker     read crayons

How To
Draw a stovepipe hat on the back of each of the plates. Draw lines for your child to color in with red crayon. Once the Frisbees are decorated, toss them around. We played Frisbee down our hallway and even played relay races. Be creative!

German is another foreign language option for your homeschool. According to Wikipedia, it is the second most widely spoken language in North Dakota and South Dakota and is spoken by ~1.4 million people in the United States overall. It is a language worth learning to speak! This video gives a sampling of basic vocabulary and will hopefully help you decide if you are interested in learning to speak German.

Dr. Seuss was the master of rhyme, and rhyming is a great literacy activity that builds phonemic awareness and can build vocabulary. You can have fun rhyming with your kids in your homeschool as you celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday on Read Across America Day – March 2!

~Read One Fish, Two Fish, Read Fish, Blue Fish. This book is full of short vignettes that rhyme. You can discuss which words rhyme in each vignette and compile a list.

~Play “Go Fish for a Rhyme”. Make a deck of cards with pairs of rhyming words. Play as you would normally play “Go Fish” except ask for a word that rhymes with one of your cards. For example, ask, “Do you have a word that rhymes with car?”

~Play “Toss-a-Rhyme”. Use a bean bag or a small soft ball for this kinesthetic activity. The first player holds the ball, says a word (such as cat), and tosses the ball to another player. The next player catches the ball and says a word that rhymes with the first player’s word (sat). Then the ball is tossed to another player for another rhyming word (fat). Other players can give hints if someone gets stuck. If no one can think of a rhyming word, then the player holding the ball chooses a new word.

~Make collages of words that rhyme. This is an especially great way to work with younger children who are not yet reading. Brainstorm words together first. For example, a collage might include pictures of the following: black, sack, tack, track, hack, jack, mac (truck), pack, rack, and stack.

~Play “Find the Rhyme”. This is another kinesthetic way to teach non-readers to rhyme. Fill a shoe box with small items, trinkets, or toys. Be sure to include rhyming pairs (sock-block, crow-bow, girl-curl, hat-cat). Pair up the items that rhyme.

~Write a short story or even a rap in Seuss’s style. Easy Fun School has a great example of how you can do this with your kids.

Enjoy some word play and rhyme away!

Photo courtesy of ffg

On March 2 celebrate Read Across America Day in the green with these homeschool ideas for Dr. Seuss’s famous Green Eggs and Ham. I have included a fun game to play with your kiddos!

~Read Green Eggs and Ham. As you read, talk about the words that rhyme. Also discuss how the character learns that you don’t know if you like something or not unless you try it!

~Cook green eggs and ham with your budding chefs. This post on Green Eggs and Ham on Blissfully Domestic has a recipe and a video for how to make green eggs and ham. Here are the pictures from our cooking experience.

~Play “I Like Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am” (an onset and rime game created by ME!). Here is how:

Supplies
17 dessert size paper plates     pencil     Green Eggs and Ham scissors     plastic storage bag green & orange crayons     paper clip

Prepare the Game Pieces

1. Create your green eggs (onset) and ham (rime) cards. Use the following words: see, tree, house, mouse, box, fox, train, rain, boat, & goat.

a. Cut out the center circle of 10 paper plates. Cut those circles in half. Discard the outer rings. You will use the circles to write onsets and rimes on.

b. On one half of the circles write the onsets: s, tr (x 2), h, m, b (x 2), f, r, & g. Draw green eggs on the other side of the cards.

c. On the other half of the circles write the rimes: ee, ouse, ox, ain, oat. Make two sets of these. On the back draw a picture of a ham.

2. Create your plate (player boards).

a.Draw a line down the center of four paper plates. On the left side of each plate draw green eggs and on the right side draw a ham.

3. Create your spinner.

a. Using the back of a paper plate divide the plate into fourths.

b. On one fourth draw a ham. On two sections draw eggs. On the last fourth write “Sam-I-Am”.

4. Create holding plates for the cards.

a. On one plate draw a picture of green eggs. The onset cards will be placed here during game play.

b. On another plate draw a picture of a ham. The rimes cards will be placed here during play.

5. Store your game pieces in a plastic storage bag. You might also include a copy of the game play instructions with the pieces.

*The object of the game is to fill your plate with an onset and a rime that make a word. Play ends when there are no more cards left. The player with the most words wins.*

Set Up

Place the green eggs cards and the ham cards on their respective plates. Each player gets a plate to fill. Place your paper clip on the center of the spinner and put a pencil tip through one end of it.

Play the Game

1. Player 1 spins the paper clip. Pick up the appropriate card. Play continues going clock wise.

a. If the player lands on the Sam-I-Am space, the player jumps up and down saying, “Do you like green eggs and ham?” The other players respond with, “Yes, I like green eggs and ham, Sam-I-Am.”

b. If a player spins a card type that is already filled on the plate, the player skips that turn and the next player goes.

c. Once a player has made a word, the player sets the two cards aside to be kept for the tally at the end.

d. If two cards do not make a word, the player returns the card just picked up. The next player takes a turn.

Have a great time with Dr. Seuss and “I Like Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am”!