Fun With Environmental Print

This fun environmental print activity is used in September to jump start our reading.  Most of my kindergarten students say "I can't read!"  And I prove them wrong with this environmental print project.  It gives them the confidence to understand that letters come together to make words and that you can be a good reader by looking at the picture or symbol that goes along with the word to figure it out.  These are environmental words/symbols they have seen and are usually familiar with.  They CAN read!!!

Environmental Print Parent Letter

I send home a parent letter (click here for free download) asking for examples of environmental print.  We use these to make a chart to use in our classroom.  We talk about the beginning sounds of these words, how many letters they have, and practice sorting them by color, beginning letter, places/food/toys, etc.

Students cut out their own environmental print pictures and practice reading/sorting them independently.  They talk to friends to tell how they sorted the pictures.  Then we make an environmental print student reader.  Students pick the environmental print cards they want to glue onto their paper and use writing skills to write "I can read" and glue the environmental print picture into the box provided. 

This activity is great for working on the sight word can!  Then, students find a friend to "buddy read" their sentences to.  They loved this activity!  Click here to download