Teacher Tea
Print Awareness 101: Building the Foundation for Reading Success
“Print awareness” is a child's understanding of how written language functions. This essentially translates to recognizing that print carries meaning, but can extend to knowing basic book handling skills. It involves grasping conventions like directionality and word spacing, and distinguishing print from pictures. It's a foundational literacy skill that helps children understand the relationship between spoken and written words, setting the stage for reading development.
In “Is Print Awareness Part of the Science of Reading?,” professor Timothy Shanahan writes about the significance of print awareness on his blog. Print awareness is the crucial first step in a child's literacy journey. It establishes the understanding that written words, and not just pictures, carry meaning. Concepts like directionality and the connection between spoken and written language lay the groundwork for effective decoding and comprehension. Without this fundamental understanding, children struggle to grasp the very purpose and mechanics of reading.
But early education teachers rarely spend a great deal of time on this foundational step. How does the transient nature of print awareness contribute to its lack of clarity for some students? Are there differing educational perspectives on how print awareness should be taught?
Shanahan addresses this sometimes-overlooked area within the context of the Science of Reading. He argues that while print awareness is important, particularly for early readers, it receives less attention due to its ephemeral nature and lack of conceptual clarity. It encompasses a range of skills, some of which are essential (knowing that print represents words), and some trivial (identifying book covers). Shanahan further explains the importance of conceptual print awareness, or the “concept of word,” which involves recognizing word boundaries, and that children need to see the connection between spoken words and written print. For instance, simply pointing to words while reading aloud is a valuable practice. Print awareness intersects with phonemic awareness and phonics, which suggests that these areas develop concurrently, rather than in a strictly linear fashion. In essence, while some elements of print awareness are less important, the core concepts should be taught by making the text visible, and drawing children's attention to it during reading and writing activities.
Shanahan’s emphasis on print awareness certainly aligns with the foundational principles of structured literacy. Teaching children that print carries meaning precedes phonics-based instruction, even if it is more abstract and less systematic. Print awareness is perhaps a feature of, rather than a competitor with, time spent on phonics and comprehension. Research reflects that structure is an essential ingredient of successful literacy instruction, and the guidance of an effective teacher is necessary for both handling books and learning to read from them.