【正文】 致謝人：汪超玥2013年11月24日外文翻譯Creating a LiteracyRich Environment By John FunkOnce a year I teach an Early Literacy class for a group of college students who are preparing to begin student teaching. These students are seeking an Elementary Education license, which usually certifies their teaching skills for grades 16. One thing that I insist that this group do is visit a preschool classroom for at least one hour. During this hour they are to look for classroom indicators that reinforce a literacyrich environment for children. One purpose for this assignment is to make sure the students are tuned in to what a literacyrich environment should include. The second purpose is to help these elementary education students understand emergent literacy, the beginning stages of literacy development. I believe that a teacher cannot be effective in any elementary grade unless she understands how literacy begins. Many teachers will have students of all ages that are still functioning in that stage.When the students report on the assignment above, the following indicators are things that I hope they observe during their preschool classroom visit.A Print Rich EnvironmentIn a wellestablished and wellorganized classroom, there should be print everywhere! This does not negate the fact that visual picture reminders of classroom schedules, rules, etc., are critical to the social and emotional development of the children. However, words should be placed next to any visual clue to help the children understand about print. Here are ways that a teacher can create a printrich environment:? Posted Alphabet. There should be at least two alphabet charts posted in every classroom. These charts should be at the eye level of the children. I know that it is a bit challenging for classrooms with limited space. However, keep in mind that items posted at eyelevel or below are great learning tools for children. Items posted above the child’s line of sight are decorations.? Name Labels: A child’s name is one of the best ways to teach about print. A child’s name should appear at least 45 times throughout the classroom. Attendance cards, cubby labels, helper boards, apron hooks, center tags and name puzzles are just a few possible ways to display each child’s name.? Item Labels: A wise teacher will label every part of the classroom from the doors to the sink. Block shelves, listening centers, writing tables and group areas should all have written labels indicating the word that best describes that area. Each word should be acpanied by a picture of the item as a visual reminder about the word.? Teacher Writing: Teachers should look for every opportunity to model print for the children in the group. This would usually occur during a rug or circle time activity. The children should be able to observe the teacher writing simple words and short sentences about something related to the topic of the day. The teacher should say the words and talk the children through the writing during these modeling sessions.Classroom LibrariesIt is remended that each classroom plan to have at least 4 books per child available at all times. Because of limited funding, most classrooms do not own that many books. For situations like this, the teacher must visit the school or local public library on a regular basis. Books should be rotated so that the children are continually exposed to different stories and forms of print. It is also critical that children have access to stories that have been read to the group. I have known teachers who have their ‘own set’ of books that they read each year. They keep them in a closet, not allowing the children to personally look at the books, so that they can use them year after year without damage. Sometimes the teacher personally owns these books and wants to protect them. In this case I would remend that the teacher find a copy of the book at the library so the children can handle it and retell the story to friends. Stories being read to children do not always acplish literacy support unless there is a discussion about the story and the children can revisit the story whenever they would like. This will maximize the literacy experience.Although a library center is critical, there are other ways to provide books for children. Here are some suggestions for placement of books throughout the classroom:? Provide at least 23 books at each learning center that support the activity at that center. For example, when working on numbers in the math center, have several books about counting in the center with the mathematical attributes being used for the activity.? Create “book tubs.” Book tubs are small tubs or boxes that contain a book and several props to help retell the story. Book tubs are more effective if the story has already been read to the group of children. Allow the children to choose from the book tubs during choice activities.? Make sure the library center contains “predictable books.” These are books that have repetitive text throughout the book. These types of books are very engaging for children as they can instantly participate in the reading of the story. Check the end of this article for a short list of suggested predictable books.? Set up a listening center in the room on a regular basis. Most libraries carry many books on tape or CD with the acpanying book. These are especially effective if the center includes several copies of the same book so children can participate together.Writing CentersEarly childhood classrooms should always contain a writing center. While these centers will eventually help in the development of handwriting, for younger children they are critical for the development of fine motor skills and learning about print. Keep in mind these suggestions:? For preschool and kindergarten children there should be a wide variety of tools to develop fine motor skills and handw