This month's Book Nook topic is...

Building Print Knowledge with How to Party Like a Snail

Before children can learn to read, they need to know that letters and words have meaning, are different from pictures and have rules that tell us how to read them. These ideas are all part of print knowledge, foundational concepts that prepare children to read when they’re ready. 

Written words are new to young children. They need us to show them how print connects to what we say and why it’s useful. By pointing out fun examples, we can show children the important parts, principles and purposes behind print. One great way to do this is through books that use text in creative ways, making it easy and interesting to talk about print with children.

Let’s look at an example!

The Book:
How to Party Like a Snail by Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier

Why we chose this book

How to Party Like a Snail features the important message that we all have different ways of having fun. Loud parties aren’t for Snail, but he comes up with quiet ideas to connect with his friends in his own way! Not only do children enjoy seeing what Snail and his forest friends will get up to next, but the book also offers many opportunities to explore how print is used to tell the story. 

Print is used in different ways and for different reasons throughout this book. These examples help children recognize the different places we see print, and the kinds of information it can give us. Changes in print size also make certain words stand out, so it’s easier for children to notice print and think about what it does in the story. 

POP to Build Print Knowledge

Point Out Print – or POP for short – is the Hanen strategy that draws children’s attention to written words. Using POP builds print knowledge by helping children to notice text – and then to start thinking about how it works.

Here are some ways to POP with How to Party Like a Snail:

The first time you read the book

When you read the book for the first time, keep the flow of the story going. The child needs to focus most of their attention on understanding the story events and characters. You can still give some brief information about the parts of books and how we read them. You could say:

• “This is the front cover of the book. This is where the story starts.”
• “Here is the title of the book. This story is called How to Party Like a Snail.” Track the print with your finger as you read out the title.

Continue to track print from left-to-right with your finger as you read the book. 

Link spoken words to print with speech bubbles

Once the story is familiar, you can pause a few times while you read to point out print and talk about how print works. For example, How to Party Like a Snail includes speech bubbles, where print is used to tell us what the characters are saying. Speech bubbles show a clear connection between spoken words and print. To point out print in speech bubbles, you could say: 

• “Here, Snail and Stump are talking to each other. Stump says, ‘Ready or not!’ Then Snail says, ‘Here we hide!’”

Make sure you track the words inside the speech bubble with your finger while you read them.

Talk about text size and punctuation

 How to Party Like a Snail makes frequent use of punctuation, like question marks and exclamation marks, to add emphasis and meaning. Try pointing out a couple of these examples on the second or third reading of the book. For example:

• “This mark is called an exclamation mark. The exclamation mark tells me that I should read these words in a loud voice. Here rabbit yells, ‘But loud is fun!’”
• “Look! Here is a question mark and an exclamation mark together. That means that Snail is asking a question and being loud at the same time! He says, ‘Do I miss the loud?!’”

Text size also provides information about whether Snail is being loud or quiet. To POP in relation to text size, you could say:

• “These big letters also tell us that Snail is using a very loud voice.”
• “Look at these words! They start out big and then get smaller and smaller. Do you think Snail is getting louder or quieter when he’s saying these words?”

Print has many purposes

Print does more in this book than tell us the story and what the characters are saying. How to Party Like a Snail includes other examples of how we use print to provide information, like labels, names and instructions. Try highlighting some of these examples to help the child understand that print is all around us. You could say:

• “This word on the mailbox says ‘Snail.’ That way, everyone knows that this is Snail’s mailbox.”
• “These words on the poster say, ‘Pin the cap on the acorn.’ That must be the name of the game they’re playing!”

Use POP in Other Places

Keep using POP when you’re finished reading to help the child understand how print plays a role in everyday life.

• POP with names: Show the child when you’re writing their name on crafts or personal belongings. You could say, “I’m putting this sticker with your name on your water bottle, just like Snail had his name on his mailbox. These letters spell your name, so everyone will know that this water bottle belongs to you!”
• POP on the go: While walking outside, point out print on street signs. You could say, “That sign says Cherry Street! I know the park is on Cherry Street, so let’s turn this way to head to the park!”

Look for opportunities to POP that are related to what the child finds interesting. Children learn new ideas best when you follow their lead in engaging back-and-forth conversations. 

Happy reading!