Literacy in the studio

Literacy is the ability to construe a written, linguistic, alphabetic symbol system.  According to the Colorado Department of Education's preschool standards, "...literacy is one of the most important skills students acquire in preschool through twelfth-grade education because it makes all other forms of higher-order learning, critical thinking, and communication possible".  
Till came in studio and made a giant "T" and showed it to me.  We talked about it and through our conversation he decided that he wanted to make a whole alphabet.  Several other boys overheard the idea and expressed an enthusiastic desire to join in.

 For materials they scoured the outdoor environments in search of supplies.

The next day they were back in the studio working on 7x7 inch mat boards (previously requested by them and cut by me).  Soon letters adorned window ledges in the studio.

As they worked other children joined in the fun, naming letters and echoing the accompanying phonetic sounds.  Many would look at a letter and list off all the things they could think of beginning with that letter, "b": bear, bread, bee, butterfly, butt, etc.

It was a fabulous reminder that supported creative expression can support cognitive development in a variety of ways.