These simple stories with strong picture support are
wonderful for introducing five and six year olds to the joys of reading. Rebus
pictures provide an easy and engaging way to share the responsibility of
creating meaning with beginners. The rebus images provide markers that ground
the youngest reader in what the book is about. Simple syntax and natural
language help youngsters develop an ear for what sounds right. Well-chosen
photographs provide strong support for comprehending the important
ideas.
The Rebus books make it possible for emergent readers to
"read." What a perfect format for a gradual release of
responsibility--from fluent adult and dependent child to fluent child and
celebrating adult! Young readers who struggle with language have pictures to
keep them focused on the meaning. For children experiencing English as a new
language and those whose language proficiency is underdeveloped have exciting
opportunities to "read" high interest materials and grow their
personal vocabularies and experience natural, repeating syntax.
Two
instructional threads run through the teacher support materials for each series:
a repeating
Concept of
Print
strand and a repeating
Making
Sense
strand. The first focuses on the basic understandings of
how we organize and write stories and books. The other focuses on how we create
meaning from stories and books.
Each series presents possibilities for
rich
Concept
Development
. Learning stations that extend the concept as well
as language opportunities for enriching children’s oral and written
communication skills are suggested for each group of
books.
Developmentally appropriate
Assessment
Ideas
for each series encourage teachers to observe their
students and document their growth as they read the six books in the series. And
suggestions for extending the understanding at home are included in
Home
Connections
.
A brief list of specific suggestions for
high-frequency words, an interactive writing activity, and a familiar song or
poem is provided for each book in the series. Teachers can create word walls
with the high-frequency words, provide charts with these words used by the
children in meaningful content, and write the words to childhood classic songs
and poems that foster the love of language.
These simple books provide young readers with information
about familiar jobs: mail carrier, firefighter, baker, grocer, veterinarian, and
police officer. The rebus pictures, which make up about one-fourth to one-third
of the text, provide an interactive feature for even the earliest
reader.
Concept
of Print
Strand
Periods
come at the end of each sentence.
They tell us to stop
because this is the end of an idea.
Give each child an index
card with a sentence that states, "A period comes at the end of a
sentence." Have an oversized period in the middle of the card. Read the
sentence to the children and have them find the periods on the card. Tell them
that they are to raise their card whenever they see a period on the pages as you
read the book aloud or chorally. Model the process with the first page or two.
After you read the entire book and find all the periods, ask, "What do you
notice about the periods?" Help students see that they come at the end of
sentences; they mark the end of one idea; they are at the end of each page.
Record their observations. Challenge them to see if what they noticed in this
book is true for all books. (They may have concluded that there is only one
period on every
page.)
Making
Sense
Strand
After
we read a section, we need to ask, "Did that make
sense?"
Beginners are often so busy decoding text that they
may forget to check to see if something makes sense. A simple self-checking
procedure needs to be modeled and prompted so the focus on making meaning
supports all the other developing skills. These books are especially good for
checking for meaning because most children have a moderate amount of personal
information about these common, visible
jobs.
"I
Do" (Teacher models strategy)
Teacher:
"When good readers read, we know it needs to make sense. When it
doesn’t make sense, we read it again so we can fix things. Let’s
start with the book about the mail carrier. ‘A mail carrier brings colored
paper.’ Does that make sense to you? No! You’re right! I’ll
reread, check the picture again, and try something else. A mail carrier brings
mail! Yes! You are right. I knew that colored paper didn’t make sense. I
needed to fix it. Thanks for helping
me!"
"We
Do" (Teacher and students practice
together)
Teacher: "Let’s read the next
page and together we will see if it makes sense. Does it make sense to you? Why
do you say that? What do we do if it doesn’t make sense? How can we fix
it?"
"You
Do" (Children use the strategy)
Teacher:
"Read the next page with your partner. Check to see if it makes sense. Tell
your partner why. Try to fix it if it doesn’t make
sense."
Concept
Development
Grown-ups
have jobs that help the
community.
Learning
Stations
Math
Center: People make money when they work. Have a grocery store where
children can purchase food for their family. Have simple prices ($1, $2, $3) and
pretend dollar bills for making
purchases.
Art Center: Have
students draw or paint themselves as a grown-up at work. Then add a written or
scribed description.
Drama
Center: Have boxes with appropriate clothes and props for the different
occupations. Be sure to include opportunities for writing and reading (e.g.
mail, recipes, maps, medical
records).
Reading Station:
Collect some other books on jobs (the bibliographies at the end of each book are
excellent). Have older students record them so students have the choice of
listening to them or reading them
independently.
Language
Development
Picture
Sort: Make copies of the rebus pictures and the front cover of each book.
Have groups of children sort the pictures by job and discuss why they made their
choices. Challenge them to name all the pictures in their sorted
stack.
Interview School
Workers: Find out who works to keep the school running. Prepare questions
and interview these
workers.
Classroom Jobs:
Discuss what jobs are needed to make the classroom work well. Have children
"apply" for the jobs by telling why they would be good for a specific
job.
Assessment
Young
learners need multiple opportunities to become independent at using the skills
we teach. Record their progress and celebrate their growth. Add "Period
Knowledge and Use" and "Making Sense" to your ongoing
assessment.
Home
Connections
Have students learn about the jobs of
family members. Encourage the students to bring in some things the family
members use in their work (A stay at home mom might supply her child with a
cookbook, a library card, and a diaper). Create a Job Museum and label the
items.
Invite caregivers to speak to the class about their
jobs.
