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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

LETTER RECOGNITION

d.  Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Highway Letters and Vests – These are a MUST in any classroom.  Go to makinglearningfun.com to download the highway letters.  Insert them in clear sheet protectors.  Children can drive cars over these, trace the letters with a dry erase marker, place Wiki Stix on top, etc.  Punch holes at the top and tie on string so children can wear these as you sing songs.  Children stand up when the letter that they are wearing is sung in the song.
Letter Man – Letter Man also wants to help children learn letters.  He’s made from a small swing trash can available at the Dollar Tree.  Decorate with googly eyes, pompoms and felt scraps.  Children can feed Letter Man letters that they know, letters in their name, make words and feed him, letters in alphabetical order, and so forth.
Letter Looker – Loop around a pipe cleaner to make a “letter looker.”  Children can identify letters in the classroom and in books with their lookers.
Sock It to Me – Cut socks out of construction paper.  Write uppercase letters on half the socks and lowercase letters on the other half.  Children match upper and lowercase letters and use a clothespin to put them together.
Pictures, Letters, Words – Make a brochure from a sheet of paper.  (This is easy if you roll the paper into a burrito and smash it.)  Children cut out pictures from the newspaper or magazines and glue them in the first section.  They cut out letters and glue them in the middle section.  Words are cut out and glued in the third section.
Class Alphabet Books – Write different letters of the alphabet in the middle of a sheet of paper.  Each child selects a letter and creates an object, animal, or design out of the letter.  Can they turn the letter into something that starts with that sound?  Put their pictures together to make a class alphabet book.
*Hint!  You can make alphabet books to go with almost any theme, such as “Foods We Eat,” “Animals,” “Toys,” etc.

Alpha-Body Book – Divide children into groups of 4.  Challenge them to lay on the floor and make letters of the alphabet with their bodies.  Take photos and put them together to make a class alphabet book.           
Singing Sound – Music is the most convenient way to learn anything!  Here are a few songs to familiar tunes that children will enjoy singing.

            Alphardy
            (Tune:  “Jeopardy”)
            A for apple a-a-a.  (Pretend to eat an apple.)
            B for bounce B-B-B.  (Bounce a ball.)
            C for cut c-c-c.  (Open and close index and middle fingers.)
            D for dig d-d-d.  (Pretend to dig.)
            E – elbow  (Point to elbow.)
            F – fan  (Fan self with hand.)
            G – gallop  (Gallop in place.)
            H – hop  (Hop on one foot.)
            I – itch  (Scratch self.)
            J – jump  (Jump up and down.)
            K – kick  (Little kicks with foot.)
            L – love  (Hug self.)
            M – munch  (Move mouth as if eating.)
            N – nod  (Nod head.)
            O – opera  (Extend arms and sing dramatically.)
            Q – quiet  (Index finger on lips.)
            R  – run  (Run in place.)
            S – sew  (Pretend to hold a needle and sew.)
            T – talk  (Open and close fingers like a mouth.)
            U – upside  (Lean over.)
            V – volley  (Hands in air and pretend to volley a ball.)
            W – wiggle   (Wiggle all over.)
            X – x-ray   (Make “x” with arms.)
            Y – yawn  (Extend arms and pretend to yawn.)
            Z – zigzag  (Make an imaginary “z” in the air.)
            Letter sounds are all you need.
            Put them together and you can read! 
            (Hold palms together and open like a book.)
            *Download this book as well as the ABC chart at drjean.org.
           
            This Is a Tale
            (“Gilligan’s Island”)
            This is a tale about the letter A.           
            It makes a special sound.
            /a/ /a/ /a / /a/ A!
            Let’s learn another sound….
            *You can download the book for this song at drjean.org.

            Happy Birthday Letters
            Yo, A,, it’s your birthday.
            Let’s all read
            Like your birthday.
            /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/
            /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/

Sign Language – Sign language is multi-sensory and a perfect vehicle for learning letters and sounds.  Go to aslpro.com to learn the manual signs for letters.                    (Tune:  “Where Is Thumbkin?”)
            Children repeat each line.
            Where is A?  (Hands behind back.)
            Here I am.            (Make sign for “a.”)
            What do you say, A?
            /a/, /a/, /a/.
            Continue using other letters and making the manual signs.