Environmental Text
Environmental text is the text that we see in everyday life. It's what we call the print that we see on signs, labels, logos, etc. Street signs, labels on food, the logo for a fast food restaurant are all examples of environmental text that we see in our communities. For new and emergent readers, environmental text can help bridge the connection to reading.
In the classroom, environmental text may include Word Walls, Anchor Charts, and other signs, labels, or posters that are on display. Are we effectively using these items to not only help our emerging readers but also to reinforce terminology, learning, and mindsets for computer science?
Why should we be concerned with Environmental Text in computer science classes?
- Provides for multiple exposures to new terms
- Participatory, social and engaging
- Assists in understanding of terms within context
- Provides opportunities for associative learning
How to Create Environmental Text for the Classroom
There are many tools that can be used to create environmental text for the classroom including:
- Chart paper & pens
- Google Drawing or Google Slides or Keynote or PowerPoint
- Photoshop or online tools like Canva
- To include coding blocks on what is created:
- Printable ScratchJr Blocks (screen capture an image from the PDF)
- Printable Scratch Blocks (download and use the images)
- Graphic Gremlin Vector Scratch Blocks (From ScratchEd site - download and use the images)
- scratchblocks.github.io/ (enter text and then download and/or screen capture an image)
We will be sharing the environmental text items that we create in Google Slides. You may use any tool you wish (including a slide in our collaborative Google Slides) to create your environmental text example but please share it on our collaborative Google Slides. You must be signed in to Google to add images to the collaborative slides.
