My Free Primer Pages

       Literacy is traditionally understood as the ability to read and write. The term's meaning has been expanded to include the ability to use language, numbers, images and other means to understand and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture. The concept of literacy is expanding in OECD countries to include skills to access knowledge through technology and ability to assess complex contexts.

       Teaching English literacy in the United States is dominated by a focus on a set of discrete decoding skills. From this perspective, literacy—or, rather, reading—comprises a number of subskills that can be taught to students. These skill sets include phonological awareness, phonics (decoding), fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Mastering each of these subskills is necessary for students to become proficient readers.

       From this same perspective, readers of alphabetic languages must understand the alphabetic principle to master basic reading skills. For this purpose a writing system is "alphabetic" if it uses symbols to represent individual language sounds, though the degree of correspondence between letters and sounds varies between alphabetic languages. Syllabic writing systems (such as Japanese kana) use a symbol to represent a single syllable, and logographic writing systems (such as Chinese) use a symbol to represent a morpheme.

• Alphabet Coloring Indexes - These pages introduce children to the alphabet. Young students can trace letters, practice writing letters on their own or even try reading a little with the help of an adult. 
• Animal Alphabet Flash Cards - These lovely prints were made by Charles Buckles Falls for his little girl long ago. 
• Restored Antique Alphabet Prints at Thrifty Scissors  and The Old Testament Alphabet
• Noah's Ark ABC Prints at Easter Egg Crafts
• Children's Poetry & Prose Index - loaded with illustrated verse and poems for little ones 
• Color the Children's Horn Books

       There are any number of approaches to teaching literacy; each is shaped by its informing assumptions about what literacy is and how it is best learned by students. Phonics instruction, for example, focuses on reading at the level of the word. It teaches readers to observe and interpret the letters or groups of letters that make up words. A common method of teaching phonics is synthetic phonics, in which a novice reader pronounces each individual sound and "blends" them to pronounce the whole word. Another approach is embedded phonics instruction, used more often in whole language reading instruction, in which novice readers learn about the individual letters in words on a just-in-time, just-in-place basis that is tailored to meet each student's reading and writing learning needs. That is, teachers provide phonics instruction opportunistically, within the context of stories or student writing that feature many instances of a particular letter or group of letters. Embedded instruction combines letter-sound knowledge with the use of meaningful context to read new and difficult words. Techniques such as directed listening and thinking activities can be used to aid children in learning how to read and reading comprehension.

Some Excellent Resources for Teaching Phonics: abc teach * PBs Learning Media * SEN Teacher * UE Using English * TSLbooks * PBS Learning Media * abc teach * ESL Printables

       In a 2012 proposal, it has been claimed that reading can be acquired naturally if print is constantly available at an early age in the same manner as spoken language. If an appropriate form of written text is made available before formal schooling begins, reading should be learned inductively, emerge naturally, and with no significant negative consequences. This proposal challenges the commonly held belief that written language requires formal instruction and schooling. Its success would change current views of literacy and schooling. Using developments in behavioral science and technology, an interactive system (Technology Assisted Reading Acquisition, TARA) would enable young pre-literate children to accurately perceive and learn properties of written language by simple exposure to the written form.

Our Growing Selection of Primer Pages: Each post also includes the reading level, genre and theme. Every page offered here is made with public domain resources so that parents and teachers may use the material however they like. Do not republish the content for profit or on other websites, however. It is edited and restored by me. Check out my color "words" pages for preschool - kindergarten here.  and Go here to print and assemble my free mini books for early readers. A new sight word, mini book about Mousie Gray and Stuffy, 

Primer Pages for 1rst - 2nd Grade:What the Antelopes Saw * Jimmy Sliderlegs * Untidy Tom * Slovenly Kate * Puffin' and Blowin' * Flying Robert * Kitty's Milk * Lazy Boy * Ups and Downs * A Suggestion * In The Basket * Hymn Of A Child * Q stands for Quince * R is for Rabbits * L is for Lucy * K is for Kittens * G is for Goat * D is for Ducks * P is for Pigs * Z is for Zachary * W is for Wagon * T is for Turkey * S is for Sheep * E is for Eggs * C is for Cow * B is for Bees * A is for ass * Y is for Yard * V is for Vine * O is for Owl * N is for Nuts * M is for Milk * I is for Isle * H is for Horse * F is for Fowls * Hush-a-Bye, Baby * The Swan * Naughty Claude * Green Green Gravel * Ballad of milking pails * Happy Thought * Time to Rise * Pussy-Cat, Pussy-Cat * Elsie's Goldfish * Bess and Her Rabbits *

Primer Pages for 3rd - 4th Grade:The Ass and The Load of Salt * Kitchen Manners * The Pet Bird *  * The Cockatoo * The Fox and The Grapes * The Land of Counterpane * The Sheep * The Morning Lesson * The Musical Mouse * The Comical Kittens * Grandma Gray  * Velvety Bees * Sleep baby sleep * The Whole Duty of Children *****

Primer Pages for 4th and 5th Grade: A is for Alexander The Great * B is for Brutus * C is for Columbus * D is for Diogenes * E is for Euripides * F is for Franklin * G is for Galileo * H is for Hippocrates * 

       The public library has long been a force promoting literacy in many countries. The American Library Association promotes literacy through the work of the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services. This committee’s charge includes ensuring equitable access to information and advocating for adult new and non-readers. The Public Library Association recognizes the importance of early childhood in the role of literacy development and created, in collaboration with the Association for Library Service to Children, Every Child Ready to Read @your library in order to inform and support parents and caregivers in their efforts to raise children who become literate adults. The release of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) report in 2005 revealed that approximately 14% of U.S. adults function at the lowest level of literacy; 29% of adults function at the basic functional literacy level and cannot help their children with homework beyond the first few grades. The lack of reading skills hinders adults from reaching their full potential. They might have difficulty getting and maintaining a job, providing for their families, or even reading a story to their children. For adults, the library might be the only source of a literacy program.

• A literary genre is a category of literary composition.
• In contemporary literary studies, a theme is the central topic a text treats.
• A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person.
• Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from a critical interpretation of written or printed text.
• Motivation is a theoretical construct used to explain behavior.
• Workbook

 Five predictors of early reading skills.

Lower case letter tiles, free for classroom/personal use.

Upper case letter tiles, free for classroom/personal use.