Literacy is supported in the classroom through books that are in English and French.

There is a book corner where the children can go and read, look at books and also have some quiet time if they need it. There is print around the room, saying where the dramatic centre is, the toy boxes for organization are marked with print and a picture, and there is the hand washing poster for the children to see when they wash their hands. Throughout the day, the teachers are always talking and asking questions to the children, and I find that is a major way that literacy is being used. My literacy artifact is Les Dinosaures Apprennent les Couleurs by Jane Yolen for the text and Mark Teague for the illustrations (Yolen & Teague, 2012). I am reading a French book as I am in the French toddler classroom. The children are at the stage where colours are being introduced and learned throughout the classroom, and I thought this would be a fun way of expanding their knowledge; through dinosaurs and objects that we can see and feel. This book is made up of twelve pages, with a different dinosaur on each page. The story line is about the world being populated with colours all around us; us being the dinosaurs in the book. Age Group: Toddlers (1.5-2.5 years) Number of Children: 5 children Date of Literacy Experience: June 25th, 2013 Purpose: This experience will help the children learn their colours through manipulating the materials with naming their colours, and by engaging their literacy needs through not only

reading, but also asking questions and seeing what they do and do not know, which will help me go to the next level. Preplanning: I have prepared for this experience by creating my responsive plan to start and by observing the children and their interests. The children have asked me many times to read them a story and I know they like to play with the dinosaurs that they have in their classroom. That is they very first step that I had to do, was to figure out what would be of interest through observation. Through my observation, I had gone to Chapters to find a book that would be short enough for their attention span; they are toddlers, and something that would help their literacy and language. Due to their age, I wanted to choose props and materials that they could physically touch, smell and manipulate to get a better understanding of what the materials are, and to see the colours first hand up close. I used real life materials that I bought and gathered from home to use as we read the book, an example would be a red fire truck. When I was practicing, I would read the book out loud at home to myself or to my fianc. I read and re-read the book until I could pronounce all the words correctly and so that I could keep the book to my right side and keep it there without needing to change direction. Introduction: I am going to introduce the circle time with a song. The song I am going to sing with the children is in French, and it is welcoming everyone to the circle, with do it actions like tapping our head. It goes like this, bonjour les amis est frappe tes mains, frappe tes mains, frappe les mains, bonjour les amis est frappe tes mains, toute la journee, and it then continues on with doing different do-it signals for the children to stay focused and engaged. Content: I am going to begin by showing the artifact and asking what they think it the story might be about. Each child is going to get a dinosaur to hold while reading the story, so

they can manipulate the props. As I read, I am going to show them the props within the story, identifying their colour. At first I started asking the children to find me what colour we were talking about throughout the book, but it seemed that the children got confused, and each child wanted the same prop. Half way through the story, I just continued to read it and afterwards we identified the colours as a group. I used questioning, sensory engagement, and do-it signals as my teaching strategies, as well as set up the environment to show the children we were going to begin our circle time. (Responsive Plan template has everything on it in terms of steps and anecdotal observation) Ending: When we were done reading the book, we used the pink ball, which was part of the props, to pass to one another while saying their name. This got their fine motor skills moving as well as their social skills. Also, because the children were getting a little antsy, I decided to put music on for them to get their sillies out. We danced and the children copied some things that I showed them. Transition: For the transitioning, I wanted to call each child with a colour that they were wearing, but because circle time was right before lunch, and they were getting hungry, I just called one child at a time to wash their hands and then sit down for lunch. As each child finished washing their hands, another child would be called. Throughout this transition, we continued to dance. The beginning of this assignment/experience went very well. It seemed the children liked the opening song, with the do-it signals, as they had smiles on their faces, and we copying what I was doing throughout the song. I then distributed the dinosaurs and asked the children what they thought the book would be about, but there was no answer, so I told them. As I read, I had to

change up the style of how I was using the props, as it seemed the children were getting confused with what to do. After a couple of pages throughout the book, I continued to read the book without asking the children what colour I had read, and we continued that at the end of the book. Once we had finished the book, I asked the children what eat colour the props were, one by one, for everyone to receive a turn. After the reading of the book and the short questioning period afterwards, we played with the pink ball, as that is what the children showed most of their interest in. We sat in a circle and pushed the ball to the friend of their choice while saying the name of the person they were tossing it to. Once everyone had received a turn, I ended the circle time with the transition by asking each child to go wash their hands for lunch time. Closer to the end, I could see that the children were getting restless, and knew it was time to stop the circle time and get ready to eat, therefore, the transition was not as planned. The teaching strategies were effective throughout the circle time. I find that questioning was a great way to see the childrens strengths, and see where they may need help with their development. Questioning also got the children to think about what I am asking, and then I could see the process behind their answer. The sensory engagement, I find it always good, as it allows the children to participate and manipulate materials throughout the story. Lastly, the do-it signals allow full participation, which I found allowed the children to be present at circle, and showed that this experience was for them. I really learned the timing with children of this age. When we spoke in class about group learning experience and the time frames for the age of toddlers, I can now see how important that was to stick to those guidelines. The experience went well, but I would have changed a few

things to have made it go a little smoother. I was very prepared in terms of props and having everything readily available, but I would have done the questioning part at the end of the story, rather than change the experience halfway through. I really liked how the books characters were dinosaurs, as it allowed the children to see what dinosaurs are, and engage them more. I feel that I can now grow from this experience and take the group experience to another level while planning for the toddlers. I can see how time is so important when it comes to age groups, and that adapting the experiences according to the childrens needs might be necessary. I would have waited to do the activity until after the story, but I now know that, that might be the better way to go with a younger group of children. References

Yolen, J., & Teague, M. (2012). Les dinosaures apprennent les couleurs. Toronto: Scholastic Canada.