Teach sign language along with letter recognition or even try making some Braille
Cards with the alphabet on them. (use glue to make the dot arrangements.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Dr. Jean Sing to Learn- Sing and Sign
Alphabet Eggs- Use small objects collected. Put 1 object for every letter in a plastic
egg. Use alphabet sheet to mark off all the letters found.
Lights On! - This game is great to use with any skill. In small group, give each child
the small round closet lights that you push on (Dollar Store?) Give each child light
and set of letter or picture cards. Ask a question and if a child has the answer they
turn on his/her light (no loud voices and its fun to push the lights!) Everyone shows
their answer and then turns off their light.
Spotlight Is On? - Turn off the nights. Briefly shine a flashlight on a letter on the
alphabet chart. Kids can write it or say it out loud.- or give kids individual flashlightsfind the S etc.
Overhead Trace Me/Erase Me - Put die-cut letter on overhead. Trace that letter on
the whiteboard. Have the children erase the letter the way they write it.
Alphabet Line Up- Give each
The class has to line up
cooperative learning.
the door to match for
Im Mr. Who. How do you do? Im the wise old owl who watches the hall. I look to the front.
I look to the back. I can tell whos on track. Im Mr. Who. How do you do? Sloane &Torkelson
Song on Singing With Shari: School is Cool CD
Alphabet Bead Bottle- Fill bottle with colored sand and a set of 26 alphabet beads.
Using a blackline master, the kids should find every letter of the alphabet. Bonus
challenge, find letters to spell words.
Lakeshore Search and Find Alphabet Bags- EE356 Not only great for alphabet work,
I love to have my kids sound out and write the names of the objects.
Eraser- Write 10 or more letters on the board. Say a letter name or a letter sound and hand a child
an eraser. The child has to erase the letter that matches the name or sound. The child passes the
eraser to a friend and the game progresses until all of the letters are erased. For small groups I have
the kids write the letters on lap sized write boards and the children erase the correct letter when I
say the sound.
Another version would be to write the entire alphabet on the whiteboard/chalkboard.
Have the kids come up and erase the letters in alphabetical order. Each child erases one letter and
passes the eraser to the next child.
Beginning Consonant Relay- Give the kids in line a letter card. Kids run down and have
to find the letter or picture card on the floor that matches their letter card.
Alpha File- Expandable file folder- sort envelopes and flashcards
Alphabet Freeze- Spread out letter cards on the floor. Put on dancing or walking
music. When the music stops, kids go to nearest letter and they have to name it.
Lakeshore GG706 Alphabet Activity Mats
Go Fish- Do you have the letter that (kite) starts with?
Fly Swatter- Put letters on clip art of flys. Swat the B etc.
Alphabet Puzzles Use the 30 Sided Alphabet Dice
Google or www.boxcarsandoneeyedjacks.com
Alphabet Treasure Hunt Lakshore or make your own Give clue and find hidden letter
Jump Flash cards with action word mixed in
Halloween Candy
ABC Community and Cabelas ABC
Ocean Alphabet Book and Thanksgiving Alphabet Book
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom- _ told _ and _ told _ Ill meet you at the top of the coconut tree.
Chant- A told B I say /a/ /a/ /a/ B told C I say /b/ /b/ /b/
www.katieand company.net- flannelboard
Velcro tree- Lakeshore
Old Black Fly- Jim Aylesworth- paint splatter background
Silly Sounds- www.kinderlit.com School ABCs- photos from around school
www.heidisongs.net - Letters and Sounds
Alphabet in my Mouth- digital photo with mouth open Felt Lips on Sticks www.katieand company.net
Kiss Your Brain- CD Letter Aerobics Who Let the Letters Out? Alphabet in my Mouth
Have a large pot with letters to put in it. Say this rhyme as you put in the letter.
If you can, use the large witch puppet from www.folkmanis.com
Heres the letter ____
To make our potion bubble
We all know the sound it makes
Well say it on the double
Well drop this special letter in
Our magic reading brew (stew)
Letter are so magical
Alakazam! Alakazoo!
Shari Sloane 2004
Sounds Around the Mountain - from Singing With Shari School Is Cool cd
Here comes A around the mountain on the train /a/ /a/
Here comes B around the mountain on the train /b/ /b/
Oh were learning all the letters, we put those sounds together
Here comes C around the mountain on the train /c/ /c/
Shari Sloane and Julie Torkelson 2006
Put letter rabbits in a hat and say the following chant as you pull out rabbits.
Abracadabra! Alalakadabit!
Reach in the hat and pull out a rabbit.
Whats the letters name? (say the name)
Whats the letter say? (say the sound)
Well learn all the letters
To make reading seem like play.
Shari Sloane 2004
www.katieandcompany.net
ALPHABET
ART
Aa- apple prints, fingerprint ants
Bb- bubble prints, block prints, blue, band-aids, beans
Cc- cotton prints, car prints, carrot prints, corn
Dd- dot design (Dot Art Painters), diamonds
Ee- elbow painting, egg shapes, wiggly eyes
Ff- finger painting, draw faces or fish, feathers, flowers
Gg- glitter glue
Hh- hand prints, hearts, hay
Ii- ice cube painting, ink (rubber stamps with a variety of inks)
Jj- junk prints, jewels, jazzy Js (decorate with lots of stuff)
Kk- kite shapes, keys (rubbings), kleenex
Ll- letter collage (rubber stamps or alphabet punches), ladybugs
Mm- marble painting, mosaic, fingerprint mice
Nn- nature prints, newspaper numbers, nickel rubbings
Oo- Os (toilet paper tubes), orange (the fruit) prints
Pp- painted picture, purple potato prints. penny rubbings
Qq- quarter rubbings, q-tip painting, quilt (squares of paper)
Rr- rubbings, rainbows, ribbon rectangles, red objects
Ss- sponge paint, stamp designs (rubber stamps), sand, stickers
Tt- torn paper collage, toothpick triangles, tea
Uu- upside-down picture, up arrows Xx- x-ray (q-tips)
Vv- vegetable prints, valentines
Yy- yarn design, yellow yo-yos
Ww- watercolor, waves, wallpaper Zz- zigzags, zipper rubbing
Alphabet Chart
Today your child is bringing home an alphabet chart. The purpose of the chart is
to help students make links between letters and sounds. The chart is to be used
over and over again. This repetition will help the letters and sounds to be
internalized by the child. The child then uses the links they have formed to aid
them when reading or writing.
The attached alphabet chart is a smaller version of the chart used in our
classroom. The class reads the chart together at school. By using the chart at
school and at home, your child will have consistency in the sound associations.
The chart should be read as follows A(letter name) /a/(letter sound)
apple(picture name), B(letter name) /b/(letter sound) butterfly(picture name), C
/c/ cookie, D /d/ dog, etc. Help your child to point to each letter and picture as
they are reading the chart aloud. Chant the chart all the way through without
stopping.
While reading with your child it is often helpful to the chart. If your child
substitutes the word boy for man you can ask your child, Boy starts with the
same sound as butterfly. This word starts with m like monkey. What word starts
like monkey and would make sense? Monkey is the picture word from the alphabet
chart.
When your child is writing you may also refer to the alphabet chart to help you
child spell a word. If he/she is trying to spell got. Tell your child to say it slowly.
For each sound, refer to the chart. /g/(sound) like guitar; /o/ like olive; /t/ like
tiger. The child gets a picture in his/her mind and he/she is hopefully able to
visualize the letter for each picture.
Please use this chart often and keep it in a spot where you will remember to use
it. Thank you for supporting your childs learning!