Research in the area of learning environments indicates three design features of settings that support literacy development (Roskos & Neuman, in press). One is the widespread presence of print across the setting in ways that are attractive and appealing to young children. Print should be at children's eye level, for example, presented in a variety of formats (e.g., books, signs, children's writing, environmental print, labels, directions, etc.), and abundant.

Another feature has to do with the concept of proximity, which means that the literacy environment should be matched physically and psychologically to the young readers and writers using it. Literacy, in other words, needs to be within children's reach physically and also mentally, which is to say that it should connect to children's culture, their language, and thinking, as well as their interests and preferences. Physical literacy objects and tools should be safe, authentic, and useful, while literacy concepts, processes, and skills should be within children's grasp and rooted in their real-life experiences.

Third, the literacy environment should be productive in that it “teaches” about reading and writing. It should lead children to new ideas about the print-sound code, about getting meaning from texts, and about the habits of healthy readers and writers. It should contextualize print so children can easily experience print's usefulness (e.g., as a source of information); feel what it offers as a source of pleasure (e.g., book browsing); and realize what it supports as a means of personal expression (e.g., drawing, writing, playing with print).

Let's apply these three criteria to the art studio setting and comment on its strengths and weaknesses as a literacy-rich environment, keeping in mind that a few photographs cannot capture the totality of the setting. What follows is a series of photographs that highlight the environment. (Clicking on each thumbnail will bring a larger image to your screen.) Using the literacy environment checklist in Figure 2, examine each photograph carefully and record evidence of presence, proximity, and productivity features that you can see or reasonably infer based on the lesson description and your own experience. Feel free to look at the photographs several times as you consider the literacy quality of the environment. When you're finished, read on to learn what others thought about the art studio as a literacy-rich environment.

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