Get Ready to Read!
Early Literacy Activity of the Month
January 2007

Find a Word is an activity that you can do with one child or a group of children to help them learn one of the many purposes of print, and to help them learn to differentiate print from pictures.

This activity is a making progress activity, for children who have mastered some of the skills needed to learn to read and write.

This activity is a print knowledge activity.  Print knowledge refers to a child's understanding of books, printed letters and words. Some print knowledge skills are: recognizing printed letters of the alphabet, knowing that print carries a message and being aware of how books work.

NEW RESOURCE!  Download pictures to use with this activity here.

My child is having trouble with this activity.  What can I do?
If a child is having difficulty with this activity, start off by only using pictures that contain words.  Look at a few of the pictures with the child, and find the word in the picture together with the child.  For each picture say, “This picture has letters in it.  The letters make up a word. Let’s find it together.”  Then, look at a picture that does not have a word next to a picture that does have a word, and help the child to pick out the picture with the word in it.

How can I make this activity more challenging?
Children who are ready for more of a challenge can pick out the word on the picture and try to read it.  If the child cannot read the word, help the child figure out the first sound and the last sound by looking at the letters.  Then, talk with the child about the purpose of the print in the picture (i.e., the name of the cereal) and help the child figure out what the word says.