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 show understanding that print has meaning and is made up of letters in a specific order.

• Students will interact with environmental print.

• Teachers model the need for letters to be in specific order by mixing up the letters in students’ name to show that importance of order.

• Teachers show the need for specific letter order by comparing words with the same letters that make different words because of letter order. Examples:  tap, pat; ant, tan; map, Pam.

• Teachers model interacting with text to create meaning.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to interact with text to create meaning.

• Teachers monitor interactions with text and provide opportunities for students to receive

• Teachers provide examples of environmental print and discuss meaning with students.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to share examples of environmental print and explain the meaning to class.

• Teachers monitor interactions with environmental print and provide opportunities for students to receive feedback to ensure proper understanding.

•  feedback to help students make sense of text.  

Supporting Resources 

Teacher Insights 

• Classrooms that are print-rich, having labels, poems, charts, and books, provide many opportunities for students to interact with print.

• Explaining environmental print and characteristics of the print gives purpose to print and introduces students to the idea that text carries meaning.

• Print is more meaningful to students when they help construct the print, orally or in writing.

• Environmental print is the name given to the print that appears in signs, labels, and logos.

• Recognition of environmental print helps students merge into the logographic or pre-alphabetic stage of literacy development.

• Students will recognize the sign or logo from their favorite restaurants or toys before recognizing normal words in 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.