Importance of Environmental Print in Spanish & English

Many years ago, when I was attending a district training on Balanced Literacy, I first heard about incorporating the use of Environmental Print.  It made so much sense to me to use what students already know as a foundation for building new literacy understanding.  As I began to read more, I discovered a lesson from one of my favorite sites at the time, www.readwritethink.org.  I loved the ideas for involving emergent readers in all sorts of higher order thinking activities using labels and logos that are familiar to them.  Students can sort the print according to its purpose, whether they like it or don't like it, whether it is something they use in the home or not, etc.  Of course, they can do lots of word study and sort according to initial letter, number of syllables, and much more.

Many environmental print compilations can be found online in English so I put together some in Spanish to supplement those sets.  Find them here for free! There are seven pages to print and I will try to add more as I think of them.  Feel free to add your suggestions!

You can find links below to several of the English sets as well as more research about using environmental print with our bilingual and dual language students.

• Very interesting research article about the impact of environmental print in Spanish and English on Mexican immigrants growing up as emergent biliterates in the US
• More explanation from Colorin Colorado about using ways to incorporate environmental print at home and at school
• This school district has put together a thorough parent handout about environmental print with multiple activities with directions in Spanish and English.
• Mrs. Hubbard's Cupboard has many more PDF files to print for English environmental print that our bilingual kids are sure to know (Walmart, McDonald's, etc).  She also shows lots of ways to use environmental print in early literacy centers.
• Lessons from ReadWriteThink.org -  Bingo: Using Environmental Print to Practice Reading and Stop Signs, McDonalds, and Cheerios: Writing with Environmental Print, 
• Sharon MacDonald provides suggestions for incorporating environmental print in all subjects!

I would love to know how you have incorporated environmental print!