Use a School Readiness Activity to provide early literacy thinking experiences for preschool children that will prepare them to do well in the early grades.
How are Books Made
Purpose/Skills
- To understand that people make books by using art materials, writing words, and making illustrations
- To understand that books convey information or tell stories
Materials
Paper, markers, stapler, children's book, crayons
Prepare for the activity by stapling two sheets of white paper inside two colored sheets to make a "book" with a cover and two inside pages.
Vocabulary
| paper | draw |
| write | story |
| cover | title |
| authors | |
Literature Suggestion
Read any book that children enjoy.
Warm-Up
Discuss a recent group activity that was fun, such as a field trip or speaking with an invited guest.
Procedure
- Bring out the blank "book" that you prepared. Demonstrate that it has a cover and pages.
- Explain that the class is going to write in the book about the event you discussed. Remind children
- that every book has a title on its cover.
- Ask children to discuss what they want to call the book. For example, if you are writing about a musician who came to play for the children, you may call the book "Gary the Drummer." Write the title on the cover.
- Ask children what else goes on a book's cover besides the title. Add an appropriate illustration.
- Open the book and ask children to dictate sentences about the event or visitor. For example: "Gary came to our class with four big drums. He played and we danced." Fill the pages with sentences that the children dictate.
- Encourage all children to participate. Ask them their opinions about the event, and turn their answers into sentences to add to the book. Invite volunteers to add pictures to the pages.
- When it is complete, read the book back to the children. Invite them to applaud their excellent work as the authors of the book.
Enrichment
Invite parents or other familiar adults for a short visit. Tell them that the children wrote a book. Read the book aloud to the group. Encourage children to tell their guests about the experience.
Observation Assessment
- Proficient - Child understands the concept of dictating words to create the text of a book and can describe at least two things about the process.
- In Process - Child needs help to understand the concept of dictating words to create the text of a book and to describe at least one thing about the process.
- Not Yet Ready - Child does not seem to understand the concept of creating a book and is not yet able to describe anything about the process.
