To become a skilled reader, one needs to combine comprehension and word recognition, as seen below in Scarborough’s Reading Rope. A lot of early literacy is focused on decoding, phonics, and sight words. But often we overlook comprehension and how to build comprehension and fluency skills. 

The best way to have strong comprehension skills is to have solid background knowledge. This means introducing children to a variety of subjects and topics. You can do this by 

• Reading widely about many different interests.     
  • Try pairing nonfiction books with fiction books to expand on topics your child shows an interest in. 
  • You can also check out KCPL’s database Bookflix which provides fiction and nonfiction pairings and activities  
• Building vocabulary

Here are additional activities you can do when reading with your child to help with making connections with what is being read: 

• Prediction    
  • Before beginning a new book, start by talking about the cover. Read the synopsis. Ask your child what they think will happen based on these things.  
  • These questions will get your child thinking and let them know what to pay attention to within a book or story.
• Summarizing/Retelling    
  • After reading a story, go through the following questions:    
    • Somebody: Who is the main character? (Or for younger kids, ask who the story is about) 
    • Wanted: What did the main character want? 
    • But: What was the problem?
    • So: How was the problem solved? 
    • Then: How did the story end? 
• Inference    
  • Ask questions halfway through the story - How is this character feeling? Where is this character going? What do you think is going to happen? 
  • Use clues in the text and pictures to talk about what is happening in the story 
• Make Connections    
  • Ask your child what they know about a topic or situation in the book you are reading. Talk through the information they already know. 
• Read books! 

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For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page and check out other blog posts about literacy.

Happy reading! 

Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian 

We all love books and reading, especially with our children, and with KCPL’s digital resources, you can always have a story in reach. It’s helpful to have several different formats and ways to read to your child. 

Check out the following resources to access digital books right from home. 

BookFlix 

• Features hundreds of picture books and pairs fiction stories with nonfiction titles. So, you can read Click Clack Moo and then read about a real dairy farm.  
• Some stories are animated like a movie and there is an option to have the words on the screen as well to read along.  
• Each story and nonfiction book have additional activities and information if your child wants to dive deeper 
• Many titles are available in Spanish as well. 
• Works on mobile 
• Access from home using your library card

TumbleBooks 

• Features a collection of animated talking pictures books and readalongs with longer chapter books 
• Also features puzzles, games, language learning, and quizzes 
• Access from home 

Hoopla and Libby 

• Check out ebooks and eaudiobooks from these resources. You can download the apps on your phone or use the website 
• There’s no waiting on Hoopla titles 

Here’s a list of great picture books you can check out on these apps 

View Full List

The more words a child knows before learning to read, the easier it will be for them when decoding or sounding out words. They can make the connection and understand what the word is in print if they have already heard it before. Also, if a child is experiencing several words in print that they have never heard before and do not know, the harder it will be for them to read and comprehend the story.  

It’s easy to help build a child’s vocabulary. Reading, playing, and just talking throughout the day are activities you are probably already doing that will achieve this. Here are some ways to incorporate new words into games and activities: 

Sorting 

When playing with toys, have your child sort items into groups. For example, take out toys that are animals, food, and cars, then have your child sort them into their categories (all the animals together, etc.). Make sure to tell your child the categories and maybe use several synonyms or more specific words for them – this animal is a mammal, this one is a fish; this apple is a fruit, this carrot is a vegetable, etc. 

Play Games 

• Charades - Acting out words can help your child make the connection between meaning and the word. Playing a game like charades is perfect for this.  
• Odd One Out – list four items – three that are similar and one that is different – and ask your child which doesn’t belong. Let them have a turn too.   
  • A game like this where you can use descriptive words and explain similarities and differences is a great way to make it fun while learning new words 
  • Example: red, chicken, horse, cow. What isn’t like the others? Can you tell me why? What’s the same about the other ones?

Label Items 

Pick a few common items around the house like lamp, table, door. Write the word on a sticky note and stick it to the item. Your child will then be seeing the word and what it is throughout the day. This repetition and recognition will help them remember the word and be able to recognize it when they encounter it in a book later. Switch out the words periodically. 

Reading 

Before reading a book with a child choose 3-5 words that are new to your child in the story and talk about them, say what they mean and maybe give an example. Tell your child to listen for the words and when they hear the word have them raise their hand or give a thumbs up. 

When you are defining words, make sure your definitions are kid friendly. Let’s say you come across the word hilarious. 

• Tell your child hilarious means really funny.  
• Give your child an example – “The joke you told me the other day was hilarious. I laughed so hard.” 
• Ask your child to tell you an example of something hilarious.  
• Continue to use this new word throughout the day. Repetition is key.

Check out these books that feature stories with rich vocabulary and make sure to discuss the big words your child does not know. Maybe these could be your words to act out in charades or incorporate them into whatever you play that day.

View Full List  

For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page and check out other blog posts about literacy  

Happy reading! 

Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian 

A key part of learning to read is print awareness, which is the understanding that marks on a page carry meaning and knowing that print is all around us and a vital part of our lives. Reading and writing go hand in hand. Check out these activities, ideas, and books to help build up print awareness and writing skills.  

Fine Motor Skills 

A good first step to writing and printing is developing fine motor skills, which helps with holding pens, pencils, and crayons. Books with finger trails can help and make it fun by introducing a child to tracing. You can do tracing yourself too - just draw a basic shape or letter and let your child trace over it with a pencil or marker or even their finger.

Other quick and easy fine motor activities include: peeling and placing stickers, ripping paper, stringing cereal like Cheerios or Froot Loops onto a string, and building with blocks. 

https://kentonlibrary.bibliocommons.com/list/share/2006079889_kcpllisac/2643002053_fine_motor_skills 

Scribbling and drawing 

Encourage your child to scribble and draw. This is the precursor to writing actual letters and can help them get comfortable gripping a writing utensil. 

Draw a shape on a piece of paper and have your child trace it with a pencil. Or draw a shape and let your child add their own shape to it to create a picture together. Ask your child to tell you what you just drew together – is it a monster? A robot? Create your own story with your art. 

https://kentonlibrary.bibliocommons.com/list/share/2006079889_kcpllisac/2191600289_i_cant_draw 

Incorporate print into pretend play 

Show that print is part of our everyday lives by incorporating print into play with you child. If your child has a play kitchen or is pretending to cook, make a menu. Either you can write it or have them scribble to make their own. It’s okay if it is not real words or letters. This can also be changed to a grocery list, to do list, game instructions, etc.  Another option is to make letters with other things like playdough, write letters in sand, create letters with nature finds – there's so many ways to incorporate print into play. 

Check Out Books 

Look for the following books for more ideas or ask at a children's desk when you visit the branch

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For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page and check out other blog posts about literacy  

Happy reading! Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian 

Decoding is the ability to look at a word and read it by utilizing phonemic awareness skills or to put it more simply, the ability to sound out a word. Being able to store words in your memory for recall later is the main goal of decoding.  

To decode a word, you need to be able to identify letters and their sounds and to know how to blend those sounds together to form a word. 

The following activities can help grow visual memory and blending of words 

Matching Game 

Create your own matching game by making two sets of matching flash cards with similar words on them (for example, dad, bad, fad, mad, etc). Have your child match words together. This is helpful in promoting visual discrimination and memory recall, especially with words like bad and dad, featuring letters that are often confused.  

Blending Slide 

Using a picture of a slide, put letters on the slide and have your child sound them out as you “go down” the slide. Click here for an example  

This can be adjusted to whatever appeals to your child. You could use a picture of a building, planets, ladder, and then use another object to move across that for each letter (for example, if using planets, the astronaut can fly from planet to planet or letter to letter).  The goal is to have the child sound out the letters and eventually blend all the sounds together until they say the word.  

Bingo 

Adapt a Bingo game by using letters and/or words in the grids. You say a letter sound or sound out a word slowly and allow your child to find the word on the bingo sheet. You can find printable sheets on Teachables or make your own. 

Read decodable books 

Decodable books are ones that utilize simple words and sentences and focus on specific sounds, like certain vowel sounds, to help new readers practice and learn.  

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For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page and check out other blog posts about literacy  

Happy reading! 

Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian 

Phonemic awareness includes being able to do the following skills (source): 

• isolation – picking out the beginning, middle, and end sounds in a word   
  • The middle sound in CAT is /a/ 
• blending - putting all the letter sounds together to make the word  
  • Slowly sound out C- A- T and have your child blend the sounds together to make CAT 
• segmenting – knowing the distinct phonemes or sounds in a word  
  • CAT has three sounds /c/ /a/ and /t/ 
• addition – creating new words by adding sounds to words     
  • Adding /s/ to CAT makes CATS 
• deletion – taking away a sound to create a new word   
  • Take the /c/ away from CAT to make AT 
• substitution - changing sounds in a word to make a new word     
  • Change the C in CAT to B to make BAT

Activities for building and teaching phonemic awareness: 

• Play word games   
  • Say you are thinking of a word that ends in a certain sound and have your child guess   
    •  “I’m thinking of a word that ends in –op"  
  • See how many words your child can think of that rhyme with a certain word   
    • What rhymes with frog? 
• Play I Spy but with sounds   
  • Instead of saying I spy a car, sound out the word car very slowly and allow your child to do the work of blending the sounds together 
  • For an easier version, you could start with looking for items that start with certain sounds – I spy something that starts with a /b/  
• Say it and Move it    
  • Using small items like coins, blocks, or even acorns, tell your child a word then have them move the items for each sound into Elkonin boxes (you can print these out online, create one with paper and pen or chalk, or do it online here)
  • For example: sound out the word dog. The child would move one coin and say /d/, then a second coin and say /o/, and a third coin and say /g/ 
  • This activity makes an auditory practice more visual   
• Use databases from KCPL  
  • Tumblebooks   
    • This database has lots of books to use for digital storytimes, but it also includes games. The game “complete the word” is great for phonemic awareness 
  • Teachables    
    • this database has lots of worksheets. Search phonemic awareness and find lots of activities to practice 
• Read books with rhyming, alliteration, and wordplay     

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page and check out other blog posts about literacy 

Happy reading! 

Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian 

One of the first steps to reading is building letter recognition and knowledge of letter sounds. There are many ways to teach letter sounds and knowledge. One easy way is to just point out how print and words are all around us in our environment. You can show your child street signs and say the letters on them or look at labels in the grocery store. 

Of course, books are also a great tool for introducing the alphabet. When reading and looking at books with your child, talk about the letters and their sounds. Pause and sound out short words while reading. Move your finger along the words in a story, so your child can associate the words on the page with the sounds you are making. Learning the names of letters and their sounds at the same time is beneficial to children so they can make those connections right away.  

Continue to make learning the alphabet fun with these activities: 

Scavenger hunt for letters 

• Use letter magnets or toys if you have them or write the letters on paper/sticky notes. Hide a few of them around the house (or all 26 if you’re ambitious!) and let your child find them. When a letter is found, ask your child to tell you the letter and the sound it makes.
• Expand on this once your child knows letter names and sounds by asking your child for a word that starts with that letter.
• Take it a step further and make words with the letters that are hidden. For example, hide C, A, and T. When your child finds them all, put them in order and help your child sound out the letters to make the word CAT.

Letter Hopscotch 

• Make a hopscotch board and put letters in each box. Have your child say the letter and its sound. Ask your child to hop to a certain letter. 
• This can be used in many different games, like when creating an obstacle course, hopping onto stones, etc. Incorporate letters and then words into fun, active games.

Letter Swat 

• Tape up paper on the wall (the brown paper inside Amazon packages works great!). Write the letters of the alphabet randomly on the paper, making sure to space out letters. 
• Give your child a toy pointer, stick, flashlight, whatever you have on hand. 
• Say a letter out loud and have your child point, swat, shine a light, etc at the letter. 
• Make it harder by saying the sound of the letter instead of the letter name. You could also say a word and ask your child to point to the letters in that word. Make sure to sound it out slowly so your child can hear the different sounds clearly. 

Resources using your library card 

• Teachables   
  • This free database offers worksheets and activities for Pre-K through 6th grade. There are lots of worksheets and ideas for teaching and practicing letters. 
• ABC Mouse   
  • Another site with free access using your library card. This site offers several games and lessons – including reading and letter games. 
• Teaching Books   
  • Newly available to all of Kentucky through libraries, this database has many resources for a variety of ages. Check out the early childhood page for early literacy resources. 
• Read Alphabet Books 

View Full List

For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page. 

Happy reading! 

Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian 

Before a child begins to learn to read, certain skills need to be developed. These skills are: 

• Narrative skills – be able to tell stories, knowing the order of events, and predicting what could happen next 
• Phonological Awareness – knowing the sounds of words 
• Letter Knowledge – recognizing letters and their sounds 
• Print Awareness – knowledge of print, noticing letters out in the world, knowing how a book works (turning pages, words go left to right) 
• Vocabulary – knowing words and what they mean 
• Print Motivation – being interested in books and reading

This may sound intimidating, but you are probably already doing several things that help develop these skills. An easy way to break it down is by incorporating these five practices: 

• Talk – develops narrative skills, vocabulary, and phonological awareness    
  • Activity: Talk through the steps of daily activities, like cooking and cleaning 
  • Activity: At mealtimes, create a story together. You start with once upon a time there was a... then let your child pick what comes next. Keep taking turns. 
  • Check out this book list for more ideas  
• Sing – develops phonological awareness and vocabulary    
  • Activity: Use songs to motivate during activities (for example, sing a clean-up song) 
  • Activity: Clap along to songs and rhymes so your child can learn about rhythm 
  • Check out this book list for more ideas 
• Read – develops all 6 skills    
  • Activity: Have books always in reach. Keep some in the car, in the main rooms of the house, and in the diaper bag. Let kids pick what books they want to read – even if it is the same book over and over again! (Here are some suggestions that won’t drive you crazy) 
  • Activity: Read with expression. Make up different voices and sounds. Make it fun! 
  • Check out this book list for more ideas 
• Write – develops letter knowledge and narrative skills    
  • Activity: Coloring and scribbling are the first step to writing. Let your child make whatever art they want to and ask them to tell you about it 
  • Activity: Make letters with playdough or draw them in a sandbox. Talk about the letter and what sounds it makes. 
  • Check out this book list for more ideas 
• Play – develops vocabulary and narrative skills    
  • Activity: Incorporate letters into play. If your child is pretending to cook, write a recipe or a menu. They may not be able to read it, but it shows that print it all around us. 
  • Activity: Act out a favorite book.  
  • Check out this book list for more ideas 

Take a look at this chart to see more of how the skills and practices support each other – it also offers ideas and activities (this includes background knowledge as a combination of print motivation and narrative skills). 

We also have a booklet with all this information and more! 

For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page. 

Happy reading! 

Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian 

It’s never too early to begin introducing books and instilling literacy skills. Reading with your newborn is the best way to develop language and cognitive skills. And it is a great way to connect and bond with your infant. 

For babies, this means finding board books that are interactive, appealing, and engaging. Look for books with: 

• high contrast colors, meaning colors that have a difference in brightness (for example, black and white illustrations) 
• photography of real people, especially other babies 
• tactile elements (touch and feel books) 
• rhymes and songs, which will keep your baby’s interest while introducing language and sounds. 

More tips for reading with newborns and infants: 

• Let your baby handle and play with the book. Show them how pages turn, let them lift flaps, and move your finger along with the words (Worried your baby will destroy a book? Look for Indestructible toddler books).
• Make a routine with reading. Do you read before bed, in the morning, at mealtime? You can read throughout the day, of course, but try to have a designated time every day. 
• Read slowly and take your time.
• Point out different parts in the story and illustrations. You don’t have to stick to the words on the page! For example, point out different animals in the pictures and say their name and what sound they make. 
• Make it fun – sing songs, clap along. If you’re excited, your baby will be excited. 
• It’s okay to stop if your baby is not interested. Don’t force it. Try again another time.
• Attend a baby storytime.
• Check out books from the library.  

View Full List

For more early literacy information, check out KCPL's Early Literacy page. 

Happy reading! 

Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian  

When it comes to complicated topics, you may wonder, how do I decide what to read, how do I decide what to believe? Today, most people get their information from the Internet and social media, where anyone can post anything. Now more than ever, it is important to know how to spot misinformation (false or inaccurate information) and disinformation (false information which is deliberately intended to mislead).  

Here are a few things to consider and investigate when reading news or choosing sources: 

Fact-Check 

Could that larger-than-life headline actually be true? Find out with some common fact-checking resources, like:  

• Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/  
• Politifact: https://www.politifact.com/ 

You don’t have to just take their word for it – here are some other fact-checking strategies:  

• Find the original source. If there’s a video clip or a recording, where did it come from? What was the context?  
• Reverse-image search. (Fans of the TV show Catfish will be familiar!) Also, watch out for AI-generated images, like the fake photo of Pope Francis wearing a stylish winter coat. Remember, seeing isn’t necessarily believing.  
• Practice lateral reading. Lateral reading means looking at other sources to see if they corroborate each other. Basically, instead of evaluating whether a single source is trustworthy or not, consult other sources to see what they have to say. For example, if someone posts on social media that coffee is good / bad for you, you could search the internet to see what medical authorities say about it (instead of deciding whether to take your acquaintance’s word for it). For more information, see: https://newslit.org/tips-tools/expand-your-view-with-lateral-reading 
• Consider five factors (taken from Rumor Guard) when confronted with new information:   
  • Is it authentic? 
  • Has it been posted or confirmed by a credible source? 
  • Is there evidence that proves the claim? 
  • Is the context accurate? 
  • Is it based on solid reasoning?

Beating Bias 

It’s important to consider the author/journalist’s credentials, education, and possible personal bias when reading a book or article or watching a news program. This also goes for different newspapers and news companies. Each has a bias, and it is important to know their background. 

So how can you balance out the bias?  

• Ad Fontes Media has an interactive graphic of news sources along left/right bias, as well as whether the source specializes in fact reporting (which should have little to no bias), analysis (which will offer a perspective on facts), to unfair or incomplete coverage (https://adfontesmedia.com/interactive-media-bias-chart/).  
• Ground News collects a myriad of articles about certain topics, events, and stories and shows the bias and factuality of each source. 
• Fortunately, Kenton County Public Library has a Current Events resources page with a wide spectrum of news sources: https://www.kentonlibrary.org/resources/current-events/  
• Especially in our algorithm-driven age, it can be easy to fall into silos or echo chambers where we only hear one point of view. Consider intentionally reading a different perspective once a week. The library resource, Opposing Viewpoints, is a convenient way to find different perspectives on often controversial topics!

Spotting Fake News 

Here are some things to look out for:  

• Urgent appeals. Scammers will use this tactic, too – they will say you need to ACT NOW, OR ELSE.  
• Emotionally manipulative language. Fake news propagators will often play on strong emotions, like anger or fear. Think of how many conspiracy theories involve children being at risk – it’s an effective way of riling people up to take action. (To learn more, there’s an online game “Bad News” where you learn how bad actors operate by pretending to be one of them: https://www.getbadnews.com/books/english/) 
• Spelling errors. Unlike established news sources, there aren’t staff dedicated to copy editing and quality control. However, AI tools like ChatGPT are making it easier to generate realistic, error-free text. Look out for AI-like language (impersonal, vague, etc.), and use lateral reading to verify suspicious news stories. 
• Educate yourself. Seek out resources that teach how to spot fake news. News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit, works to teach news and media literacy to students, but also have webinars and resources for how to spot misinformation, while also debunking falsehoods that are going viral.  

For more, check out these lists that feature books that teach about AI, disinformation, and media literacy: 

Debunking Disinformation   

AI: Artificial Intelligence 

Media Literacy for Kids 

Written by the Kelly Bilz, Janice Shepherd, and Lisa Clark, Collection Development Librarians