All About Early Emergent Readers
These aspiring readers are learning basic concepts about print and a book. For example, we read left to right, top to bottom and print continues from the end of one line to the beginning of the next (return sweep). They are also learning to identify the parts of a book (e.g. title, title page).
Characteristics of Early Emergent Readers:
Readers at this level are developing letter knowledge – recognizing upper and lower case letters and their common sounds (consonant and short vowel). Before mastering this level, they will begin to develop a bank of high frequency words, commonly referred to as sight words.
While apparent to most adults, a child must learn the one-to-one matching of individual spoken words to printed words. For example, the spoken sounds of “wunsupunatim” represents the following words: once upon a time. They are also grasping sentences and becoming aware of punctuation.
Early emergent readers are also learning and practicing reading strategies. They rely on pictures and contextual clues to understand the text. They can retell a simple story and make a connection between what they know and what they just read.
Ideal Reading Material for Early Emergent Readers:
When selecting books for an early emergent reader, look for the following characteristics:
- Each page displays the print in the same place
- Sentences are written in a pattern (1-2 sentences repeated)
- Illustrations provide support for the text
- Contains familiar objects (e.g. dog, letters of the alphabet ) and experiences (e.g. going to school)
- Contains and repeats high frequency words
Twenty Recommended Books for Early Emergent Readers:
While reading, let an early emergent reader turn the page and trace the sentences with his finger as you read the following recommended books:
- Ann Morris, Hats, Hats, Hats
- Barbara Gregorich, The Fox on the Box
- Bernard Most, The Cow That Went Oink
- Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
- Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- Carolyn Bordelon, Octopus Goes Walking
- Chris Van Allsburg, The Z Was Zapped
- David Ellwand, Ten in the Bed
- Dr. Suess, Green Eggs and Ham
- Eric Carle, Do You Want to Be My Friend?
- Gail Gibbons, Trains
- Jerry Pallotta, The Icky Bug Alphabet Book
- Jose Aruego, Look What I Can Do
- Mitsumasa Anno, Anno’s Counting Book
- Nelly Palacio Jaramillo, Grandmother’s Nursery Rhymes
- Paul Galdone, The Little Red Hen
- Shel Silverstein, A Giraffe and a Half
- Sue Williams, I Went Walking
- Tana Hoban, Is It Red? Is It Yellow? Is It Blue?
- Wendy Cheyette Lewison, Buzz Said the Bee
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