Welcome to Reading Words All Around Us!
Have you ever noticed that words are not just inside books in the library? Words are on cereal boxes in your kitchen, on street signs outside your window, on classroom labels, and on computer screens! When you learn to spot and read these words quickly, reading becomes a super exciting adventure.
In this chapter, we will explore two special types of words that help us become confident readers in Phases 1 and 2 of our reading journey:
1. Environmental Print: Words and symbols we see all around our daily environment.
2. High-Frequency and High-Interest Words: Words that pop up again and again, as well as exciting words that connect to things we love.
Note: To learn how letters match sounds to decode new words, check out our companion chapter on Sound-symbol relationships and decoding.
Part 1: What Is Environmental Print?
Environmental print is the print of everyday life! It is the symbols, signs, labels, and words that we see everywhere around us in our community, school, and home.
Long before you read entire storybooks on your own, you were probably already "reading" environmental print without even realizing it!
Where Do We Find Environmental Print?
Here are four main places we see everyday print:
• Everyday Signs: Stop signs on roads, "EXIT" signs on doors, walk/don't walk signs at crossings, and restroom doors. These signs often combine shapes, bright colours, and bold capital letters to give us quick information.
• Labels: Name tags on classroom cubbies, labels on supply bins like "Pencils" or "Blocks", and food labels in the pantry.
• Advertisements and Logos: Familiar brand names, restaurant symbols, and shop logos on billboards, buses, and shopping bags.
• ICT Iconography (Digital Icons): Icons and symbols on computers, tablets, and phones, such as a trash can for delete, a magnifying glass for search, or a home icon to return to the main screen.
Why Environmental Print Matters
Environmental print helps us understand an important conceptual understanding in reading: print carries meaning.
When you see a big red octagon with letters on it at a road crossing, you know it means STOP. You connect the shape, the colour, and the letters together to understand a real-world message. This builds your reading confidence!
Quick Activity — Environmental Print Detective:
Take a look around your classroom or room right now. Can you spot three pieces of print? Maybe a sign on the door, a label on a crayon box, or an icon on your computer screen!
Key Takeaway: Environmental print is real-world reading. It includes signs, labels, logos, and digital icons that communicate clear messages using words, symbols, and colours.
Part 2: High-Frequency Words — The "Everywhere" Words
As we move into Phase 2 of reading, we begin to build a growing bank of words we can recognize right away. Among the most useful are high-frequency words.
What Does "High-Frequency" Mean?
The word frequency means how often something happens. So, high-frequency words are words that appear very frequently (often) in written language.
Think of them as the "glue" words that hold our sentences together. Even though these words are often short, they make up a huge part of the sentences we read every day!
Examples of High-Frequency Words
In English, common high-frequency words include everyday words like:
• the, and, a, to, in, is, you, it, he, was, for, on, are, as, with, they.
Did You Know?
Just a small group of high-frequency words makes up about half of all the words in beginner storybooks! Once your eyes recognize them instantly, reading feels much smoother and faster.
Why Recognizing High-Frequency Words Helps Us
When you have to stop and slowly sound out every single letter of every single word, reading can feel tiring. But when you recognize high-frequency words automatically:
• Your reading becomes smoother: You can read with rhythm and expression.
• Your brain saves energy: Instead of working hard on little words like "and" or "the", your brain can focus on understanding the story!
Key Takeaway: High-frequency words are common words that appear again and again in print. Recognizing them quickly helps us read smoothly and understand our stories better.
Part 3: High-Interest Words — Words That Excite Us!
Along with high-frequency words, readers in Phase 2 develop a bank of high-interest words.
What Are High-Interest Words?
High-interest words are special words connected to topics you care about, love, or explore in your units of inquiry. Even if a high-interest word is long or has unusual spelling, you can often learn to recognize it quickly because it is meaningful and exciting to you!
Examples of High-Interest Words
• Your Own Name: The very first high-interest word most people learn to read and write is their own name!
• Names of Friends and Family: Like Mom, Dad, or the names of your classmates.
• Favourite Topics: Words like dinosaur, planet, butterfly, soccer, or chocolate.
• Unit of Inquiry Words: Important words you use during school inquiries, such as community, sharing, water, or habitat.
Analogy Time: The Treasure Chest of Words
Imagine your memory is a treasure chest. High-frequency words are the sturdy bronze coins you use every single day to buy bread. High-interest words are the shiny gems that you love collecting because they sparkle! A good reader keeps both inside their chest.
Key Takeaway: High-interest words are exciting, personally meaningful words that we remember quickly because we love what they mean.
Part 4: Fun Strategies to Build Your Word Bank
Don't worry if remembering new words feels challenging at first. Growing a bank of words takes time and playful practice! Here are simple strategies you can use:
1. Use a Classroom Word Wall
A word wall is a display in your classroom where words are organized by their starting letters. You can glance at the word wall whenever you are reading or writing to remind yourself how a word looks.
2. Play "Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check"
This is a fun step-by-step memory trick:
• Look: Look closely at the word and notice its shape and letters.
• Say: Say the word aloud clearly.
• Cover: Cover the word with your hand.
• Write: Try writing the word from memory.
• Check: Uncover the word and check your letters. Did you get them all?
3. Hunt for Words in Everyday Life
When you are walking home, driving in a car, or shopping at a market, play the "Print Hunt" game! Challenge yourself to spot two words you recognize on signs or packaging.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
• Mistake: Thinking you must sound out every single letter every time.
Better Approach: Some high-frequency words do not follow standard sound-spelling patterns. It is completely okay to learn what they look like as a whole unit!
• Mistake: Feeling upset if you forget a word you knew yesterday.
Better Approach: Our brains need to see a word many times in different books and signs before it sticks forever. Be patient with yourself!
Quick Review: Putting It All Together
Let's do a fast recap of what we discovered today:
• Environmental print includes the signs, advertisements, logos, and digital icons all around us that use symbols and words to communicate meaning.
• High-frequency words are the most common words in written language that we see on almost every page.
• High-interest words are words that matter to us personally, like our name, our favourite animal, or a topic we are inquiring into.
• Spotting these words helps us read more smoothly, frees up our thinking, and makes reading fun!