Early Literacy and A New Challenge

I have been running away with my imagination since well before I could read for myself. My family may not have really known the implications of their actions; my father telling me stories of super heroes as I lay tucked into bed, or sharing a then-giant chair with my mother as she read to me after dinner. Colourful characters and creatures romped through my developing mind and formed some of the oldest memories I still cherish to this day. It was this sort of inspiration that soon had me gobbling up picture books of my own, then comic books (which never really lost their charm), then young adult novels.  Fiction and fantasy alone were enough to keep me reading under my covers with a flashlight, far past my bedtime. Even though we could not always afford to buy the books I wanted, my mother would always try to find a way for me to read what I wanted to read from a local library or a friend. Reflecting on that now, millions of pages later, the secret to my reading was always in finding something I was interested in, finding the book I wanted to read.

Seeking to encourage the development of oral language in young children through storytelling seems the most natural course. I believe the storytellers play an important role in development, and that perhaps an exposure to a variety of different storytellers can help young learners to grasp a wider variety of oral language and lead to a more robust range of interests than even I myself had. Perhaps it would simply assist in finding the right type of story to someday rocket that child into a world of print based on their interests. Neither of these possibilities require a specific topic, or even a fictional topic, as a good storyteller can weave together a tapestry of language to sustain a meaningful journey regardless. This exposure to more than simple words, taking words and making them into experiences, seems to be both a natural way to guide the development of oral language and to identify what motivates the learner. What stories are most popular, incite curiosity and questions, and inspire actions? The answers to these questions may lead from oral language storytelling to print storytelling, and a legacy of reading such as has been my own experience.

The concept of environmental print and recognizable symbols is abundant throughout my instruction because it is so embedded within the medium of my work… primarily technology. Beginning readers at our institution are already using iPads and PCs. They are seeing recognizable icons and symbols and learning to relate these to words and concepts on a daily basis, although with careful selection and association with concepts being taught in their classroom I could likely improve learner retention. This may differ from the typical examples present in “environmental” print as the environment in this case is of a digital nature. It is my job to ensure the development of digital citizens as well as natural ones, and at an international school in a mostly unbranded (so far) country, these are the symbols with the most relatable commonality to a classroom so diverse.

What do you think of the idea of environmental print being something from a digital environment? I would love to hear some comments as to whether you believe this is a useful tool for facilitating reading, or suggestions of other ways to utilize it with reading development through technology.