Classroom environments rich in language experiences and the arts, foster literacy development. Ways to support a rich expressive environment include reading and reenacting stories and poems, singing songs, listening to music, creating and looking at artworks displayed, and labeling objects in the classroom. Label familiar objects in the child's environment to help them begin to make connections between the symbol shape and the word. Printed letters are also symbols, symbols of sounds and spoken words. Combinations of symbols form words.
Print begins to have meaning.
To express their knowledge and understanding children draw, speak, and write progressing through a complex development of graphic, oral, and written language. Children communicate ideas and feelings through drawings, words, gestures, body movements, and music. An expressive art vocabulary should be used when helping children talk about their art work and the art work of adults and peers. This will help the children to gain new words to express how they perceive their marks, shapes, forms, or images and how they feel about their work. Lines can be described as straight, crooked, curved, slanting, thick, thin, edge, smooth, jagged, long, or short.