Early Years students begin to explore their love of reading, writing and sharing ideas. Major themes and exciting critical thinking questions spark their curiosity and encourage them to follow their own interests. Students develop their communication skills by talking, listening and speaking to others for a variety of purposes and in a variety of contexts. Students begin to demonstrate an understanding and critical awareness of a variety of written materials through literature inquiry, learning centres and thematic units. Teachers plan learning activities that include phonological awareness skills which are critical emergent literacy skills, such as rhyming, building vocabulary, manipulating the sounds in words, answering questions, speaking in sentences, engaging in story retelling and experimenting with writing. Continuing into kindergarten, the children continue to develop their oral language and begin reading using a balanced literacy approach. Through read alouds, shared readings, guided readings and independent reading, students develop their reading skills and reading style.