If you were to ask anyone on the street where you should start “teaching” children to read, I’d be willing to bet the most common answer would be “the alphabet”. True, the alphabet is a pretty basic part of reading, and certainly important, but it’s just a small piece of a much larger puzzle. Nonetheless, let’s start there!
As we talk about emergent literacy, we are focusing on the importance of building fundamental literacy skills before children are even ready your basic primer. These basic skills are critical to future reading success, and are often taught through play, songs, interactive discussions, and other “covert operations”.
That said, I do believe in mixing in some direct instruction to ensure that you cover them all (it would be a shame to leave old Q out of the mix by happenstance). These instruction sessions should be very brief and dynamic. I like to use The Amazing Action Alphabet by Esther Kehl (you can see a sample page from this link) because the lessons are very short, and incorporate seeing, hearing, and doing. (Note: This is not a compensated endorsement, it’s just what I’m familiar with.) I like the interactive storytelling approach to the mini-lesson, but I don’t build my literacy program around it. I use it as a reference point, to make sure each letter has been introduced.
Including the emergent element to your literacy program adds interest and context, which provides for greater learning because the experience is more meaningful. Literacy is all about meaning! So it only makes sense that we must teach literacy with meaning! Here are some activities to encourage alphabet knowledge:
Provide a multiplicity of opportunities for children to manipulate, examine, and utilize letters. You can provide alphabet magnets, puzzles, texture cards, beads, and tiles, just to name a few examples. Manipulating and “playing” with these items, while you interact, helps the child become familiar with the shapes, names, and some of the sounds of the letters (as well as the distinction between letters and numbers, which shouldn’t be overlooked as a task in its own right!)
Challenge children to go on letter hunts whenever you find the opportunity. This might be while you’re reading a book, driving down the street, or killing time waiting in line somewhere. Challenge them to find a specific letter, or just to find their favorites and point them out to you.
Make it exciting by giving them props like magnifiers, magic wands, silly glasses, fly-swatters, or pointer sticks as they go about “hunting for letters”.
Laminate song charts and use dry-erase markers to circle letters, identifying them as parts of the words. “Hey, there’s a W in this song– in the word, Willoughby!” You can also use overhead sheets to lay over books to circle letters in a letter hunt (just be sure to clarify to the little ones that you can only write on the plastic page).
Letter Families (High Scope)
I read in this book about the concept of letter families. That is, sorting 2 different letters in a variety of fonts into the two letter families (say, D and S for example). This type of activity helps a child recognize the salient aspects of each letter form, so that they learn that a “Flowy Scripted D” is the same letter as a “Times New Roman D”. You can create letter family cards with your computer, or combine activities, and have your children help you create the cards by hunting out the letters in magazines.
It Takes Shape
Encourage children to get familiar with the letter forms by creating them! Rather than having children burn out in frustration as they repetitiously print letters on a worksheet (many youngsters don’t have the patience or the fine motor skills), allow them to create letters using different materials. Consider using yarn, licorice string, wikki stix, playdough, cookie cutters, soft pretzel dough, typewriters, stamps, even their own bodies!
I’m not sure where I learned about this activity…it may have been in the book I mentioned above. (Just trying to give credit!) Have children try to guess what mystery letter you’re writing as you slowly print one part at a time. For example: l (L? B? H?)-> P (P? B? R?) -> R (Ta-Da! It’s an R!) This type of activity, again, gets children familiar with the salient features of each letter, while also exercising their critical thinking skills!
In a nutshell, you want to get children familiar with the letters—their shapes, their names, some of their sounds, and their purpose in building words. Do this by surrounding them with print, talking about it, and playing with it!
How do you get kids excited about learning the letters of the alphabet?
Photo by Thad Zajdowicz.
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