A kindergarten student has a drawing with the letters P, P, R written beside a sheep-like figure. This work sample best demonstrates which early literacy concept?

• A. Phonemic Awareness
• B. Decoding Skills
• C. Print Awareness
• D. Visual Literacy

Answer: (C)

Print awareness is demonstrated when a child treats writing as a meaningful form of communication attached to something they drew. In this example, the kindergarten student drew a sheep-like figure and wrote the letters P, P, and R beside it. This shows the child recognizes that print exists to label or caption a picture, and that letters are symbols used to convey meaning in connection with what is drawn.

This isn’t showing decoding or phonemic work, which would involve sounding out letters to read words, nor is it primarily about interpreting the image itself, which relates more to visual literacy. Instead, the key idea is that print has a purpose and a link to meaning alongside a picture, signaling growing print awareness. To support this, you can encourage labeling drawings, point out print in the environment, and model how we read print from left to right and use letters to form words.