Connecting sounds to print: Kindergarten students gain confidence in language skills

“I want to put out fires. I want to be a firefighter,” shared kindergartener Theo in front of the class. 

In Violet Nye’s kindergarten classroom at Del Dayo Elementary School, students start their day with sharing time – a moment where students bring something from home that is important to them. During sharing time, students build sentences about what they brought, explain why it is valuable to them, and the class repeats that information as a group. 

While sharing time may feel simple, it plays an important role in how students develop early language skills. Through sharing, Nye focuses on building a rich speaking and listening experience before transitioning to reading.

“We want to expose students to sentence structure and the flow of language, and that’s really where it starts, at the language level, speaking and listening. And then we move into connecting to what we’ve heard, as shown on the page and making that sound-spelling connection,” she shared.

Beyond building language skills, sharing time also helps create a strong community in the classroom. Nye encourages students to cheer for one another during presentations. While a simple cue to clap guides students, the kindergarteners see that learning is something they do together in a positive environment.

That sense of belonging carries over into how students approach reading, both in the classroom and in the real world.

“Fluency is one part of the reading experience. To have reading ability, we always start with speaking and listening, because every human learns to read from speech to print, from sounds to letters,” Nye said.

For young learners, fluency begins long before reading. It starts with listening, speaking and repeated exposure to sounds and language in meaningful ways, such as sharing.

Supporting literacy through parent and guardian engagement

Families play an important role in strengthening these early literacy skills. The parent and guardian morning drop-off in Nye’s kindergarten class is one filled with reading and community.

“In the morning, the parents come in as their schedules allow. They come in and read with their kids. The book baskets change every month, so it's a different collection of stories that they can read together,” she shared. 

These moments help students see reading as a shared experience, not just an activity that happens at school. For many students, those reading experiences happen in more than one language.

“They’re gaining a lot of experience from their families, even if it’s not in English,” said Nye.

By honoring home languages and family involvement, students build confidence as readers while empowering their overall language progress.

“I hope they carry forward [to first grade] a sense of empowerment that they can do it. That reading is for them, that school is a place where you are welcomed, where we’re excited to work with you and teach you and learn with you,” she emphasized.

Overall, Nye’s goal goes beyond early reading skills. It’s a foundation that helps young students see themselves as confident learners, ready to take the next steps in their reading journey.