The Importance of Print Concepts

What Are Print Concepts and Why Are They Important in Reading Instruction?

Most children have an awareness of print well before they enter school. They see words all around them in books, on road signs, on restaurant menus — words are everywhere. They know that words, and the letters within them, hold special meanings.

This awareness of print and the understanding of print concepts — ideas such as the way words are read on a page, for example from left to right and top to bottom — are critical skills in learning to read successfully. In fact, research shows that children who lack an awareness of print concepts are unlikely to become successful readers, and that a child’s performance on print awareness tasks is a predictor of their future reading achievement.

What Are Print Concepts?

Print concepts are the rules readers follow in order to be able to read successfully. Building an awareness of these concepts, such as how to hold a book, books have front and back covers, pages are turned from left to right, and that letters make up words is crucial to learning to read. Here are more examples:

• Understanding that books have a title, an author, and often an illustrator
• Recognizing that there are spaces between words
• Differentiating between: numbers and letters; letters and words; words and pictures
• Learning the purpose of punctuation
• Knowing the order of the alphabet
• Identifying uppercase letters and lowercase letters

Understanding print concepts is one of the key building blocks of reading success, but it’s important to remember that they need to be taught explicitly and systematically, and be sure they are part of your early reading curriculum.

This simple but mighty skill will make the foundation for early reading stronger for students.

How Teachers Can Put Print Concepts Into Action

Now that we’ve learned that print concepts form a critical foundational skill for successful reading, let’s take a look at methods to consider when teaching print concepts in the classroom, sharing strategies with families, and when making decisions about teaching resources that will best support this area of instruction.

Understanding the concepts of print doesn’t come naturally, which is why it’s important that these ideas are worked into early reading instruction strategically and systematically. Here are two examples of teaching print concepts adapted from Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading. These examples also show how the understanding of one print concept will lead to the understanding of the next, highlighting the importance of systematic instruction.

Print Concept: Understand that there are both uppercase and lowercase letters.

I Do: Display an alphabet chart or letter cards with both uppercase and lowercase letters. Explain that the alphabet has letters and each letter has two forms. Point to an uppercase letter and explicitly state, This is an uppercase letter. Then point to the corresponding lowercase letter and tell them, This is a lowercase letter. Tell the students that they have the same name and stand for the same sounds, but they are different sizes and different shapes.

We Do: Open to a page in a picture book. Display and read a sentence, for example, “That’s so cool!” Point to the first letter of the sentence, T. Tell them that this letter is uppercase T. Point to lowercase t in the word, That’s and tell them that this letter is t  and that these letters are the same height, but they have different shapes. Uppercase letters are always tall letters. Some lowercase letters are tall too. Point to another sentence and ask students, Do you see upper and lowercase letters? Allow volunteers to come up and point to uppercase letters and then lowercase letters. Provide immediate feedback.

You Do (Together): Group students in pairs. Provide each pair with a sentence strip with a sentence written on it that contains both uppercase and lowercase letters. Direct students to circle the uppercase letters in blue and the lowercase letters in red. Walk around to provide students with feedback and correct any misconceptions.

You Do: Provide each student with a word search style activity containing both uppercase and lowercase letters. Ask them to circle the uppercase letters in blue and the lowercase letters in red. Walk around to assess student mastery.

Print Concept: Understand that names have uppercase and lowercase letters.

I Do: Write each child’s name on an index card. Hold up one of the name cards. Say, This word is a name. It is made up of letters. Say, This name says Elijah. It begins with an uppercase E. It ends with lowercase h. Continue with a few other name cards.

We Do: Pass out the name cards to students. Have students volunteer to stand up, show their name card, and say their name. For example, the student would say, My name is Aleah, and the teacher would then point to the card and say, Aleah begins with uppercase A. Ask the student to point to a lowercase letter in their name. Finish by saying the letters that spell the name Aleah: A-L-E-A-H. Continue to call on other students. Prompt children as needed to ensure they can recognize and read their own name.

You Do (Together): Put students in pairs. Give each group small letter cards or plastic letters (uppercase and lowercase). Using their name cards for reference, have the students work together to build their names using uppercase and lowercase letters. Walk around the room to give feedback.

You Do: Provide each student with a card showing their last name. Have students circle the uppercase letter(s) in their name in blue and the lowercase letters in red. Walk around to give feedback. Ask each student to point to the uppercase letter(s) in their name.

In order to understand that their name has uppercase and lowercase letters, they first needed to be taught that every letter has two sizes. While this is a simple concept, this systematic way of teaching can be applied to all levels of reading instruction and is critical to ensuring a student’s reading success.

Print Concepts Activities You Can Share with Families

When a student reads at home with families, it further instills a love of reading and greatly increases their chance at becoming proficient readers. While simply reading and enjoying books together is extremely beneficial, giving families activities that hone their child’s skills can give them that extra boost in reading development, and it can be a lot of fun!

The following are a few print concepts activities from Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading you can send home with your students. Explain to families that by helping their child understand that print has meaning will help build a strong foundation for their reading journey and that these activities will help strengthen that foundation.

• When reading a book together, follow the words with your finger as you read.
• While driving in the car, point out any words you see on road signs, billboards, or storefronts. Explain what they mean.
• When reading a book together, let your child "drive." Allow him or her to hold the book and turn pages as you read.
• Write and use a grocery list when shopping. Allow your child to help cross out items as you find them.

Remind families that they play an important role in their child's education and every day, he or she is learning new skills and applying them to everyday life, and that application extends beyond the classroom.

How Administrators Can Implement Print Concepts

Research shows that teaching students print concepts as part of their early reading instruction will have positive long-term effects on their overall literacy achievement. When searching a new early reading curriculum, or while reviewing the one being used currently, it’s important to make sure it includes the elements that will help students be most successful in reading. Here’s what to look for:

• Units or lessons within reading curriculums should include instruction on print concepts or awareness of print, even if it’s in the form of a minilesson.
• Lessons should be taught explicitly, i.e., concepts such as “all letters have two sizes, uppercase and lowercase” are clearly stated in the lessons to the students by the teacher.
• Concepts are taught in a systematic way. Each one should be taught from less complex to more complex, building on each other throughout the school year.

If you’re using a core reading program that does not include these elements, research ways to supplement it with programs that do.