Standard 2: Reading Foundations

Students will develop foundational skills for future reading success by working with sounds, letters, and text.

PRINT CONCEPTS: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the organization and basic features of print, including book handling skills and the understanding that printed materials provide information and tell stories. 

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

• Students will identify the front and back cover of a book.

• Students will begin to show understanding of basic print features:

• Books have a correct position

• Teachers state and discuss correct book orientation, identifying the front and back covers of a book.

• Teachers model correct book orientation through text read aloud.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to demonstrate correct book orientation.

• Teachers monitor and provide feedback as students demonstrate correct book orientation.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to identify the front and back covers of a book during small or whole group time.

• Teachers monitor and provide opportunities for students to receive feedback when identifying the front and back covers of a book.

Resources

Teacher Insights 

Balanced Literacy Diet:  Concepts of Print (webpage) 

Reading Rockets:  Print Awareness Guidelines for Instruction (webpage)

• Pointing out and discussing concepts of print during daily reading activities helps students learn concepts of print.

• Naming the front cover, then pointing to and discussing the features found on the front cover of a book helps students learn to identify features of a book.  

• As students become more aware of features on the cover, students need opportunities to point out the title on the front cover of books during large and small group settings.

• Encouraging students to make front and back covers for the books they create reinforces features of books.

• Educators may believe that students will innately learn the features of a book without direct instruction, but they do not. It is important that students receive intentional instruction during class, small group, and individual dialogue when discussing and sharing literature and other forms of print. 

Due to recursive nature of the standards, it is essential that teachers are aware of how all objectives within and between strands work together for optimal instruction.