Effective Literacy Website #1

Mary Jane T. Nauta

ED638-01 Teaching with the Internet – Intercession 2017

Dr. Matilda Rivera

IRA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #1

            Welcome to StoryPlace! (https://www.storyplace.org/) A free virtual library designed specifically for children.  This Pre-school library is full of adventures of online books that will take a child all over the world.  Stories, activities, videos, list of reading materials and hands on learning and so much fun things to do!  Imagine taking a trip to a place you’ve always imagine without leaving your room!  It will be an experience you will never forget!  Come on!  Let us get started and have some fun learning to read! 

            Get your bags and go!  We will be taking off on a plane with story themes to choose from.  Would you like to read about animals, babies, bath time fun?  Click on a story and you will be amazed!  When you are done reading, it is time to do an adventurous activity.  Clear your tray table and take out your pencils and crayons.  Don’t forget to clean up after you are done because it is time to freshen up and read a bath time story before going to bed.

            There are five ways to raise a reader!  Talking with children is one of the best ways to learn new words, vocabulary, speech, grammar, information and importantly reading.  Singing with children is what they love to do.  A realistic way for children to learn about language when singing these favorite nursery rhymes “The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC song” just to name a few.  Incorporate learning with what they enjoy and love to do makes learning fun and motivating.  Teaching phonemic awareness with songs is more enjoyable and it is an essential component in reading.  Reading together, aloud or repeated reading is unavoidable.  It has to be a motivating routine so that children are able to read.  Children must first learn to read before they read to learn!  Simply talk to them, ask questions or simply talk about an interesting picture, person or thing.  Children love to retell stories they have read, so give them the opportunity to express their thoughts not just by retelling but by writing too!  Writing helps children tell their stories from their individual spoken language.  Children go through these development stages in spelling until they finally develop as writers by providing essential tools for them such as pencils, crayons and paper in hands view.  Scribbling and illustrating on paper, children begin to learn that spoken language is text written.  Last activity to get children ready to read is playing.  Everyone loves to play especially children!  Role playing is a natural way to teach children about the world around them, develop their language and related skills. 

            StoryPlace is a children’s digital learning library first opened to the public in 2000 and has been for years.  It has provided children and families books, activities a library might not offer.  It was originally developed with support and contributions from Smart Start of Mecklenburg County and numerous supporters. 

Literacy is simply the ability to use language, numbers, images, computers and other basic means to understand, communicate, gain useful knowledge and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture. (2017, December). Literacy. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy.

            StoryPlace is an exciting website to use for the young and old.  It offers fun, interactive themes and upcoming story time events throughout the year.  Children are magnetized when reading about topics they love with this website.  This entire website is inviting, colorful, exciting, well formatted, user friendly and an impressive appearance to an audience!  This is a website that has a story to tell.