Novice Literacy Level
Students:
•
are aware that printed text communicates messages by linking key words or phrases.
•
write with the intention to communicate meaning although they write with
unconventional spelling (a string of scribbles and/or letters, invented spelling).
•
learn to name and write some letters of the alphabet.
•
attempt to construct text that has visual features appropriate to the purpose even though it
may not contain readable words (e.g., a list looks like a list, etc.).
•
read back and assign meaning to their own writing.
•
read text that depends on visual clues from the immediate environment (such as a picture
of ice cream on sign that says “Ice Cream”).
•
respond to stories read to the whole class, rather than needing to hear them in small
groups.
•
listen to tapes and records and shows understanding through body language.
•
relate a story in sequence.
Learning Objectives: Listening/Speaking
The student will:
1. acquire new vocabulary words and increasingly refine his/her understanding and use of
current vocabulary.
2. begin to retell the sequence of a story.
3. demonstrate comprehension by responding appropriately (laughing, showing empathy or
suspense, etc.) to stories and other text read aloud.
4. participate in group discussions by listening and talking about experiences.
Learning Objectives: Reading/Print Awareness
The student will:
1. recognize some letters.
2. remember details from a familiar story and are very accurate in “re-reading” them to self
or others.
3. verbally “read” what he/she writes.
4. begin to understand that print runs from left to right and top to bottom and understand
some basic print conventions (e.g., the concept that letters are grouped to form words and
that words are separated by spaces).
5. understand that print is used for different functions by recognizing labels, signs, and other
print forms in the environment (e.g., lists for shopping, recipes for cooking, letters and
notes for interpersonal communication).
6. recognize that print represents spoken language and conveys meaning, such as familiar
names and signs, (e.g., Exit and Danger).
7. begin to associate the names of letters with their shapes and identify 10 or more printed
letters of the alphabet.
Learning Objectives: Writing
The student will:
1. copy name; letters may be reversed or mirrored.
2. “dictate” by asking adult to write letters or words.
3. uses known letters and approximations of letters to represent written language (especially
meaningful words such as his/her name and phrases such as “I love you”).
xiii
NOVICE
LISTENING/SPEAKING
xiv
Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines: The student develops new concepts, acquires new words, and
increasingly refines his/her understanding of words that he/she already knows.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
1. The student will acquire new vocabulary 1. Ask students to describe how people in
words and increasingly refine his/her
various pictures feel. Have students name
understanding and use of current
other reasons people feel sick, tired, happy,
vocabulary.
etc.
2. Write various feeling words with picture
symbols on flashcards. Have students take
turns choosing a card and showing the
emotion by using their bodies. Suggested
vocabulary includes sick, angry, scared,
happy, sad, tired, or shy.
Adaptations:
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
•
Scissors, Glue and Vocabulary, Too! (Truman,
1999)
Flashcards
Provide picture symbols of feelings for
students
with
physical
and/or
communication limitations.
Novice E-1
Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines: The student communicates by putting thoughts, feelings, and
requests into words, signs or symbols.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2. The student begins to retell the sequence of
a story.
1. Read a familiar story to the students, using
props or pictures depicting key content.
Have the students sequence the events in
the story using props or pictures.
2. Using puppets, encourage students to act
out a familiar story with key events in
sequential order.
3. Providing props and/or costumes, encourage
students to act out a familiar story.
4. Take photographs of familiar routines that
follow a specific sequence. Ask the student
to sequence the photographs of the activity.
Some examples include: getting ready to
go home, making pudding, setting the table,
etc.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Adaptations:
•
Camera and film
Puppets
Costumes
Familiar books with pictures of key concepts
Items needed for routine activities
•
Glove puppet with Velcro objects for
students with physical disabilities.
Digital camera with switch access.
Novice E-2
Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines: The student listens attentively and engages in a variety of oral
language experiences.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
3.
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
The student will demonstrate
comprehension by responding
appropriately (laughing, showing
empathy or suspense, etc.) to stories and
other text read aloud.
1. On a daily basis read to students. Choose
books such as: a. Brown Bear, Dear Zoo,
The Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of
Anything, b. adapted books for learning
such as Storytime Series (Mayer-Johnson),
RAPS (Mayer-Johnson), Quick Tech
Activities for Literacy (McNairn &
Schioleno), c. books for enjoyment, such as
The Napping House, Love You Forever,
This Is the House That Jack Built; and d.
books for drama such as Caps for Sale, The
True Story of the Three Little Pigs, and
Give students
Hattie and the Fox.
opportunities
to
predict
outcomes,
participate in reading repeated lines, act out
dramas and retell the story.
2. Read the book Arthur’s Teacher Trouble to
the students.
In the book, Arthur
experiences many emotions at the
beginning of the school year. Initially, read
the book to the students for pleasure. On
another day, read the book to the students
again, asking them to listen for clues about
Arthur’s feelings. Assist the students to
name the feeling and what caused Arthur to
have the feeling. On the third reading,
supply students with a picture of the
emotions named earlier. As each section of
the book is read, have the student with the
picture of that emotion hold up the picture
Novice E-3
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
(Continued)
at the correct time. On the final reading
of the book, have students hold up a picture
of the emotion at the correct time and name
something that makes them feel the same
way. Give as much assistance as needed to
help each student be successful with the
activity.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Adaptations:
•
Library books
Story props
Arthur’s Teacher Trouble (Marc Brown)
Picture cards with pictures of emotion.
•
•
Program a voice output device with
repeated lines, sequenced lines, etc. from
story.
A hand puppet made from a glove may be
used instead of a hand-held story prop.
Put Velcro on the back of picture cards
with pictures of emotions. The Velcro will
“stick” on a knitted glove.
Novice E-3
T.E.K.S. (K.2) The student listens and speaks to gain knowledge of his/her own culture, the culture of
others and the common elements of cultures.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
4. The student will participate in group 1. Teacher develops a questionnaire to be sent
discussions by listening and talking about
home with student before a holiday or the
experiences.
start of summer vacation.
The
questionnaire should elicit information
about the student and his/her family. Using
the information from the questionnaire,
develop stories that can be personalized for
each student to tell about his/her family,
their interests, family pets, grandparents,
and where they live. Refer to “Stories
About Me” (Mayer-Johnson) for possible
format. Encourage students to share their
personal information with peers.
2. At appropriate times during the calendar
year, discuss familiar holidays, including
individual family customs for celebrating
the specific holiday, what foods are
customary and that decorations that are
customary. Allow students to be involved
in choosing and preparing foods and crafts
associated with the holiday being
discussed. Encourage the school librarian
to read stories associated with each holiday.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Adaptations:
•
Teacher Mailbox Magazine
Parent questionnaire
Stories About Me (Richman, 1989)
Library books
Art supplies
Recipes
Simple voice output devices may be
programmed to ask a question (e.g., “What
did you do over the Christmas break?) and
then re-programmed to give a reply (e.g., “I
went to my grandmother’s house.”).
Novice E-4
Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines: The student develops new concepts, acquires new words, and
increasingly refines his/her understanding of words that he/she already knows.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
1. The student will acquire new vocabulary 1. Invite a community worker to give a
words and increasingly refine his/her
presentation about their job. Following the
understanding and use of current
presentation identify and write key
vocabulary.
vocabulary used by the presenter. Picture
symbols may need to be supplied along
with written words. Give students the
opportunity to use new vocabulary in a
variety of activities, such as sequencing the
steps of a specific task, playing vocabulary
bingo, playing “Twenty Questions,” etc.
2. Students visit job sites in the community
and interview employees at the job site.
When returning to school, identify and
write key vocabulary related to the job site.
Give students opportunities to use the
vocabulary in a variety of activities, as well
as writing a thank you note to the
employees with whom the students visited.
3. Identify related key vocabulary words
before going to a specific job/community
site. Provide each student with a written or
a picturized vocabulary list. During the
visit to the job/community site, have the
students listen and check off vocabulary
words used at the site.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Adaptations:
•
Community workers
Vocabulary lists
Clipboards and pencils
Vocabulary
•
•
Computer access for students who are
unable to use handwriting.
All-Turn-It Spinner (AbleNet) can be used
to allow a student to “call” words for
vocabulary bingo.
Simple speech output devices can be
programmed with questions/comments for
interviewing persons at community/job
sites.
Novice M-1
Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines: The student communicates by putting thoughts, feelings and
requests into words, signs or symbols.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2. The student will begin to retell the 1. Teacher displays a picturized recipe which
sequence of a story.
includes the steps for making peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches. After the teacher
demonstrates making the sandwich, the
students each make a sandwich to eat. The
students describe the sequence of making
the sandwich. (see attachment) Extend the
activity of making the sandwich by
teaching and singing the “Peanut Butter”
song.
2. On a variety of Community Based
Instruction experiences, take photographs
showing the sequence of events. Students
will sequence photographs in order to recall
and describe the Community Based
Instruction.
3. Students will learn and practice the
rhythmic poem “Going on a Bear Hunt.”
When the students are able to do the actions
and say the poem, have them teach “Going
on a Bear Hunt” to small groups of or
young children.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Adaptations:
•
Picturized recipe
Camera and film
Items for making sandwich
Simple speech output devices for
participating in sequencing and retelling.
Novice M-2
T.E.K.S. (K.1) The student listens attentively and engages in a variety of oral language experience.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
3. The
student
will
demonstrate 1. The teacher will establish a classroom
comprehension by responding appropriately
library which will include age-appropriate
(laughing, showing empathy or suspense,
contemporary and classic books, magazines
etc.) to stories and other text read aloud.
and newspapers. Students should be given
regular opportunities to choose books of
interest, have books read aloud to them,
listen to books on tape, or read the books
for themselves. Students will be asked to
respond verbally, through pictures, or with
art activities to the books that are read to
them.
A quality classroom library should include
different types of books including:
• Books for learning
In A Scary Old House
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not
Afraid of Anything
• Adapted/modified books for learning
High interest/low vocabulary biographies
RAPS (Musselwhite)
News-2-You
•
Novice M-3
Books for enjoyment
SupaDoopers series (Sundance)
Hank the Cowdog
Goosebumps
Babysitters Club
Boxcar Kids
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
(Continued)
•
Adapted/modified books for enjoyment
By Shel Silverstein
A Native-American Folktale: How the
Rattlesnake Got It’s Fangs
A Story, A Story (An African Tale)
Three Stories You Can Read to Your
Dog
The Tiny Woman’s Coat
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
The Desert Is My Mother (poetry)
If I Were in Charge of the World and
Other Worries: Poems for Children
and Their Parents
2. Encourage students to utilize the school
library on a regular basis.
Facilitate
activities that the school librarian plans for
the students so that the activities are
successful ones for the school librarian and
the students.
**It is important to keep a list of books read to
or for the student by both the classroom teacher
and the school librarian.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Various forms of literature
Adaptations:
•
•
Novice M-3
Books on tape
Electronic books
T.E.K.S. (K.2) The student listens and speaks to gain knowledge of his/her own culture, the culture of
others, and the common elements of cultures.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
4. The student will participate in group 1. Invite an international student to speak to
discussions by listening and talking about
students about his/her culture. Ask the
experiences.
speaker to focus on the style of dress
typical for the country, the flag of the
country, stories about the culture, foods
that are common.
•
Allow students to shop for ingredients and
prepare a meal representative of the country
being studied.
•
Have students make a flag of the
country being studied. Locate the
country on a globe or map.
Encourage students to write or dictate a
letter of thanks to the international
student who visited the class.
•
2. Provide parents of students a simple form
to complete conveying information about
the customs of their families for various
holidays and occasions throughout the year.
Either picture symbols or words can be
used to complete the story. For example,
on Valentine’s Day a form might be sent
home for the parent and student to complete
giving information about the student
receiving the Valentine card.
Novice M-4
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
(Continued)
Other questionnaires might include
decorating for Christmas, Halloween and
the student’s costume, Thanksgiving and
who celebrated with the family, family
birthdays and how they were celebrated.
Stories About Me provides a format for
developing these stories.
As the
information is returned to school, use it as a
focus for discussion at circle time, etc.
3. Provide opportunities for students to
participate in school-wide celebrations such
as Cinco de Mayo, Martin Luther King
Day, Day of the Dead, etc.
Adaptations:
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
•
International student
Art and cooking supplies related to various school
celebrations
Stories About Me (Richman, 1989)
•
PowerLink (AbleNet) for switch access to
electrical devices such as hand mixer, tape
recorder, can opener, electric stapler, etc.
Computer with alternate input options for
generating thank you notes, such as
IntelliKeys (IntelliTools), etc.
Novice M-4
Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines: The student develops new concepts, acquires new words, and
increasingly refines his/her understanding of words that he/she already knows.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
1. The student will acquire new vocabulary 1. Teacher will provide opportunities for
words and increasingly refine his/her
students to participate in discussion of
understanding and use of current
current events using News-2-You as a
source of information.
vocabulary.
2. To assist students as they move into
specific jobs, provide opportunities to learn
and use vocabulary needed for that specific
job as well as vocabulary which is common
to most jobs. One format for practicing
new vocabulary is a bingo game that is
customized for jobs in general or for
specific jobs.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Adaptations:
•
News-2-You (Clark, 1997)
Vocabulary lists
Write new vocabulary words on a blank
overlay for the All-Turn-It Spinner
(AbleNet) to allow a student to be the caller
in the bingo activity.
Novice H-1
Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines: The student communicates by putting thoughts, feelings, and
requests into words, signs or symbols.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2. The student will begin to retell the 1. Students retell experience stories from
sequence of a story.
Community Based Instruction.
Write
events and then sequence as a group. Use
symbols or photographs to assist students in
recalling the sequence of events.
2. Using a digital camera or conventional
camera, take pictures of the sequence of
events that happen on a daily basis in the
classroom. Place each picture on a single
page, forming a book. Elicit comments
from the students regarding the photograph.
Use symbols to represent the comments and
place them at the bottom of each page.
Assemble the pages, in correct sequence, to
form a book about a day in the life of the
classroom. Encourage students to read and
retell the story. The book may be checked
out to go home with the students so that
they can share the story with their families.
EXTENSION: This same type of activity
can be used to record a special event in the
classroom or in the school.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Adaptations:
• A Step-by-Step communication device
Boardmaker or other graphics software (Mayer(AbleNet) can be used for students who are
Johnson, Inc.)
do not speak. Program sequences of the
Digital camera
story into this device.
Materials for making classroom book
Novice H-2
T.E.K.S. (K.1) The student listens attentively and engages in a variety of oral language experiences.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
3. The
student
will
demonstrate 1. Establish an age-appropriate classroom
comprehension by responding appropriately
library which includes classic and
(by laughing, showing empathy or
contemporary books, magazines and
suspense, etc.) to stories and other text read
newspapers. See Listening/Speaking M-3
aloud.
as a reference for specific activities.
2. In an effort to include students in general
education activities, assist them in
providing props and carrying the props in
vaudeville comedy shows presented by the
school drama club or department.
Suggested props include signs with
directions such as “HISS,” “LAUGH,”
“BOO,” “APPLAUD,” etc.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
Adaptations:
•
Classroom library
Props for drama production
Fasten signs to a wheelchair for a student to
carry across stage during school drama.
Novice H-3
T.E.K.S. (K.2) The student listens and speaks to gain knowledge of his/her own culture, the culture of
others, and the common elements of cultures.
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
4. The student will participate in group 1. Plan a unit about Cinco de Mayo, inviting
discussions by listening and talking about
speakers and/or parents to participate in
experiences.
class activities. Activities might include
making tortillas, examining traditional
dress and breaking a piñata.
Other
opportunities
may
include
meal
preparation, going to a Mexican food
restaurant, art activities, etc.
2. Invite international students and/or
speakers to speak to students about
Christmas customs related to their country
of origin. Extend the activity by locating
the country on a map or globe, preparing a
food representative of the holiday take part
in a game, or complete an art activity
related to the speakers country.
3. Have students focus on their individual
backgrounds to build self-esteem and
knowledge of family origins. Students can
complete a book about their family by
answering questions such as:
• what ethnic groups are in the family;
• how the family came to live where they
live now;
• family members who came from
another country;
• what holidays or traditions celebrated
by the family;
• in what way the family customs are
different;
• a second language that a family
member speaks.
Novice H-4
Area: Novice Listening/Speaking
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
(Continued)
Students may illustrate their family books
with family photographs, newspaper
clippings, maps, etc. When the students
complete their books, encourage them to
share the book with other class members,
explaining what makes their family unique
and different.
Adaptations:
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
•
Life Skills Activities for Students with
Secondary Special Needs (Mannix, 1993)
Cooking adaptations including PowerLink
(AbleNet), adapted measuring utensils, etc.
Novice H-4