Alphabet Letters and Sound Work

Since the first days of school we have focused on learning the names of all upper and lowercase alphabet letters and their corresponding sound for reading.  Our work has taken many forms both in individual work and in large and small group lessons.  Every literacy activity connects back to reading skills that build from knowing letter names and their corresponding sound.  Here is a snippet of that progression.

Most days begin with a Daily Message where we practice identifying letter sounds, writing letters and recognizing our SNAP words (sight words).  

In addition to sight words, we look for "chunk" sound patterns that help us figure out new words.

Many children come to school recognizing the names of uppercase letters.  It can be challenging to learn the names of lowercase letters which we need for reading books.  We practice strategies for recognizing visually confusing letters such as b, d, p, and q.  We progress to reading sentences, using a pointing reading finger to isolate words one at a time as we read.  We also pay attention to details such as spaces between words, and connect this skill to writing workshop, remembering to pre-count our words in a sentence, and place two finger spaces between each word.

Dictation: Automaticity is key to reading and writing letters.  We practice dictation by writing a letter when a teacher makes the individual sound.  Correctly forming the letter is also stressed so that when they write connected letters in words, they flow quickly from one letter to another.

Handwriting practice continues all year.  We are learning to read and write our full names with daily sign-in with name cards. 

We use a program known as Heidi Songs developed by a kindergarten teacher to learn chunk sounds. With short, memorable songs, the kids begin to attach a movement to sound... very similar to our FUNdations sound memorization of a/aaaaa/apple.  For example, "oo" as a chunk sound is remembered with a song about monkeys going "oo, oo, oo."  Just ask your child to sing one... in the photo above are oo, th, ch, sh, and ing pictured with a key card.  We have added or and ar since this photo was taken.  As kids read and write they recognize these sound patterns in words and can figure out words with a catchy song they remember.  We sing and dance these songs almost daily.