Page 82 - Reading Nest - The Supportive Literacy Environment Handbook

Regulation

Texts can help create order out of chaos, such as telling the reader what takes place

when, what is permitted or prohibited, what belongs to whom and so on. Writing up
rules and regulations has been in use for centuries. Signs and labels determine

territories - state, city limits, outdoor space of each kindergarten group, where you take

your dog, where pedestrians would be in danger, etc.

The most well-known and simple texts in kindergartens and schools are name tags,
telling whose cupboard, jacket or notebook it is. Abundance of signs and labels is the

first and extremely simple step towards a literacy environment. In the case of younger
children a sign should come with a photo but it is certainly reasonable to use text and

picture in parallel from the crèche age. Then, by and by, children learn to distinguish

their own and their peers’ names. This lays the basis for learning to read and valuing
the written word.

There are always certain rules in the classroom which should be composed and noted

down with the children. When it comes to toddlers, the rules could be presented in
pictorial symbols, as “reading” them is also accessible to 2-to-3 year-olds. When these

are presented in a numbered list from top to bottom, such “reading” helps create

understanding where on the page one begins reading and how to move on.

Providing and storing information

Both school and kindergarten have multiple texts with the main purpose of giving

information. An educational institution has, as a standard, a timetable, activity times,

lunch menu, list of children, birthday calendar, class rules. Information on learning
activities is also important, and is not necessarily information only from teachers to

parents but children can also be engaged