Alphabet Exploration

 One of the main components of preschool and kindergarten is introducing the alphabet including letter identification, correct letter formation, and the sound[s] of each letter.

There are a lot of ways to do this. 

A lot of hands on manipulatives ways to do this.

But nothing quite beats getting a pencil [and in the case of these exploration pages, crayon, highlighter, and pen!] into the hands of those little learners giving them access and practice to each individual letter.

I use these alphabet exploration pages weekly with my 4 year old class.

They love to sing the rainbow song while we rainbow write each letter.

And they really love using the highlighters to write the letters and then to find them on the reverse side of the page.

So much letter knowledge exposure in so many different formats all on one little page.

I just uploaded the Alphabet Exploration Pack to my TPT store.

Grab them for only $1.50 for the next 5 days, then they'll increase in price to $3.

Have a happy Thursday!

[upper/lowercase letter sorts] and a giveaway ;)

Each Monday, my "bigs" [4-5 year olds] start the week by learning about the letter of the week. 

I introduce the letter. 

We talk about how to write the letter. 

We compare the new letter to the other letters we've learned. 
What looks the same? 
What is different? 

Then I let them take turns writing the new letter [either upper or lowercase] on the white board. 

 

Often we'll read a picture book that features a character starting with the new letter. 

[side note: Have you read these books?! Hilarious!!! Pirates Love Underpants and Aliens Love Underpants - we read them both during Uu week - and I just saw that they also have Monsters Love Underpants and Dinosaurs Love Underpants!!]

And then we head back to the tables to complete a letter sort.

Good practice with scissors and glue [funny side note - these kiddos really REALLY love using liquid glue! I often give them a choice of liquid or stick glue for this sort and almost always they'll choose liquid!!].

 


Once the sort is complete, we use these drawing sheets to learn to draw on the back of the sheet, an object that starts with the letter of the week.

It's a quick, light, simple way to introduce the new letter or to reinforce what the upper and lowercase letter look like.

You can find the file here [Teacher's Notebook] or here [Teachers Pay Teachers].

But...I'd like to give away a few copies of this file. If you think this would be useful in your classroom or home, please leave a message with your email and I'll send you a copy! :) 

**giveaway only valid until April 13, 2017**

Thanks for hanging out with me!

[Alphabet Recognition] LRC game

I discovered something incredibly interesting today during phonics.

My phonics time is in the afternoon.

After specials.

Today's special was PE.

My littles were exhausted.

Timed out.

I kept trying to engage them.

It wasn't working.

So. . .I asked them to follow the alphabet cards as I pointed and say the letters.

I started at "z" and worked backward.

Well, they were engaged.

But clueless.

The majority of my littles were unable to tell me the names of the letters when we were "reading" them in reverse order.

WHAT?!

Crazy talk.

Interesting.

I KNOW many of my littles are great readers.

But. . .there is a gap somewhere.

We'll be using this little game to help FILL that gap.

Letter Recognition Left Right Center.

Easy to play.

Perfect practice/review.

2 FULL sets of alphabet (upper and lower case in 2 different fonts) are included in the download.

It's free through Wednesday night only.

Then it's going in the shop.  :)

If you're in the same predicament I found myself in today, please consider giving this game a try in your home or in your class.  Let me know how it works for you.

Tomorrow is Wednesday.

Middle of the week.

Anyone else absolutely worn right out?!