LEFT TO RIGHT

Training eyes to move from left to right and then reverse sweep is a key to beginning reading and writing. A simple, yet powerful way, that teachers can do this is through modeling. Make it a habit to sweep your hand from left to right under words or lines of print on charts, big books, white boards, and so forth.

Right & Left Song
(Tune: “Up on the Housetop”)
Here is my right hand way up high. 
(Hold up right hand.)
Here is my left hand touch the sky. 
(Hold up left hand.)
Right and left and roll out of sight. 
(Roll hands around.)
Now I know my left and right. 
(Hold up left and then right.)

Hint! Focus on the right hand because then what is “left” over will be their left.


Sticker
Put a sticker on each child’s right hand and then play “Simon Says” or the “Hokey Pokey.”

Bracelet 
Let children make bracelets out of pipe cleaners and wear them on their right hand. Throughout the day call attention to their right hand…right ear…right leg…right foot, etc.
Lotion 
Rub lotion or scented lip balm on each child’s right hand.


Flag 
Trace around your right hand on construction paper and cut it out. Place it near the flag so children can visually match up their right hand and then place it over their hearts.



Poem 
Hold up your hands and stick out thumbs and index fingers as you say:
Which is my left? Which is my right?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
But when I stick my thumbs out straight,
My left will make an “L.”

Left From Right(Anthony Corbo aka “Mr. Kindergarten” taught me this song.)
(Tune: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”)
I want to learn my left from right,
Left from right, left from right.
I want to learn my left from right,
I try with all my might.
The left hand makes the letter L,
Letter L, letter L.
The left hand makes the letter L,
Hurray, now I can tell!

Tracking Left to Right
Draw tracks on sentence strips similar to the ones shown. Children can drive cars or move animals from left to right.



Hint! Make a green dot where they are to begin and a red dot where they should end.

Top to Bottom Song (Dawna Hunter) 
(Tune: “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”) 
Top to bottom, 
Left to right. 
Top to bottom, 
Left to right. 
My mind knows that writing always goes 
Top to bottom, 
Left to right. 

BLENDING

Children will be actively engaged as they practice blending sounds with some of the activities below.

Body Touch
Blend words touching parts of the body. Touch the head as you say the beginning sound in the word. Touch the stomach as you say the middle sound. Touch the feet as you say the final sound. Quickly move from head to feet and blend the sounds.

*You can also use the body to isolate sounds.
For example: Where do you hear the /s/ in bus? (Children touch feet.)


Sound Sack
Take a small sack and fill it with common objects or small toys. Engage children’s attention with this song to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.”
What’s in the sound sack, who can tell?
Maybe it’s a book or maybe it’s a shell?
What’s in the sound sack, who can say?
Blend the sounds, you’ll know right away!

Choose an object and stretch out the sounds. When children can blend the sounds and say the word, remove it from the sack and place it on the floor. Before putting each item back in the bag, segment the sounds again.

*Start with compound words. When children are successful with that, use objects with two syllables. Finally, children will be able to blend individual phonemes.


Finger Tap
Bend in your fingers and extend your thumb. Going from the left tap a finger for each sound with your thumb.
For example: /j/ /e/ /t/. Run your thumb over your fingers as you blend the sounds and say the word.



*You can do a similar activity by extending your left arm in front of you. Make the first sound as you touch your shoulder, the second sound as you touch the elbow, and the third sound as you touch the hand. Then quickly sweep the right hand down your left arm as you blend the sounds and say the word.

MY COLORFUL WORLD

The world is full of beautiful, colorful things.  And, many classrooms are full of colorful things and having discussions about colors this time of year. But, have you ever wondered why?  Colors nurture visual discrimination and visual memory skills which are the building blocks for letter recognition and sight words. Colors are bolder and easier to discriminate that letters and words, so let's get started!

Color Box (Tune: “Happy Birthday”)
Here’s a crayon for you. (Pretend to hold a present in your hand.)
It’s a blue one for you. (Hold up a blue crayon or marker.)
B – l – u – e blue
Here’s blue for you...
Red, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown, black, white.

*Children could hold up crayons or touch something the appropriate color as you sing.

Click to download Small Color Cards

Cick to download Large Color Cards

Sign Language
Teach children manual signs for the colors. You can see video clips at aslpro.com.

Color Scavenger Hunt
Cut construction paper in a variety of colors into 2” squares. Place these in a bag and let children choose a square. Have them hunt around the classroom to find an object that color. Can they find more than one?

*Try a color scavenger hunt on the playground.

Colorful Snack
Have a “colorful snack” where every child brings a colorful fruit or vegetable. Ask parents to prepare the food in bite size pieces so it will be easy to serve the class.
*Have children draw pictures of the “colors” they ate.

Wearing Colors

Sing this song to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It."  Children stand up when the color they are wearing is sung in the song.

If you're wearing color stand up.

If you're wearing color turn around.

If you're wearing color jump around.

If you're wearing color sit down.

Color Book
Materials: copy paper, hole punch, crayons, rubber band

Directions: Fold two sheets of paper in half. Cut in half. Stack and fold in half again. Make two hole punches on the folded sided about 2” from the ends. Insert a rubber band in one
hole and slip a crayon through the loop. Insert the other end of the rubber band in the other hole and slide the other end of the crayon through that loop. Children can use these books to write color words, draw pictures of their favorite colors, cut objects out of
magazines and label the color, and so forth.


Rainbow Everything
Materials: paper, crayons or markers

 

Directions: Children can trace around shapes or letters with different colors of crayons. You can adapt this activity to seasonal shapes, words, numerals, or anything you want the children to practice.

BUILDING LITERACY SKILLS WITH BLOCKS

If you've been to my workshops you've heard me say, "If I could have two things in my classroom I'd take books and blocks."  Blocks encourage imagination, language, social skills, self-confidence, and motor skills. And, with a little creativity they can reinforce academic skills!

Note! For some of these activities you will want to tape the paper to the blocks or use sticky notes. For other games that will be used in multiple ways (such as letters and numerals), you could write on the blocks with a permanent marker.

Sequence– Tape illustrations (from a workbook or worksheet) of different parts of a story. Children can sequence the pictures and retell the story using the blocks.

Rhymes– Tape pictures of objects that rhyme to blocks and have children match them up.



CVC Words– On 2 ½” squares write consonants with a blue marker and write vowels with a red marker. Tape to blocks. Let children build CVC words using the blocks.

Prefixes and Suffixes– Use a black marker to write root words on 2 ½” x 5” pieces of paper and tape to blocks of the same size. Write prefixes with a green marker and suffixes with a red marker on 2 ½”” squares and tape to square blocks. Children place the prefixes in front of the root words and read. Place the suffixes on the end of the blocks and read.

Onsets and Rimes– Write rimes (vowel and letters following) on 2 ½” x 5” pieces of paper and tape to blocks. Write onsets (consonants and blends) on 2 ½” squares and tape to blocks. Children put onsets on rimes and read the words.

Singular and Plural – Write nouns on 2 ½” x 5” pieces of paper. Tape to blocks. Write “s” on a 2 ½” square and tape to a block. Challenge children to read singular words and then make them mean “more than one.”

Inflicted Endings– Write verbs on 2 ½’” x 5” pieces of paper. Write “s,” “ing,” and “ed” on 2 ½” squares and tape to blocks. Can children make words and then use them in sentences?

Letter Blocks– Write uppercase letters on 26 blocks and lowercase letters on other blocks. Can children match upper and lowercase letters?

Alphabetical Order– Ask children to put the blocks in alphabetical order.

Sight Words and Spelling Words– Invite children to reproduce their names, high frequency words, spelling words, or vocabulary words with the letter blocks.

Beginning Sounds– Using old workbooks, cut out pictures and tape them to blocks. Ask children to match up letters with pictures that begin with the same sound. (You could do this for final sounds or vowels.)

Building Sentences– Challenge children to construct sentences using the high frequency words.
I like…
We can…
I see…

LETTERS MAKE WORDS

The idea of manipulating letters and sounds to make words is a key to beginning reading.

Name Puzzles
Write children’s names on a sentence strip. Cut between the letters. Place the puzzle pieces in an envelope. Write each child’s name and glue their photo to the front of the envelope. Children can practice putting the puzzles together and reading friends’ names.

*Make name puzzles with Unifx cubes.

Cut Up Sentences
Write a simple sentence on a sentence strip. (For example, “We like to read books.”) Place the sentence in a pocket chart and invite the children to read it with you as you move your finger from left to right under the words. Say, “I’m going to cut this sentence up,” as you cut between the words. Place the letters in a paper bag and pretend to shake them up. Let children come up and select a word and place it in the pocket chart. Guide them as they unscramble the words and make the sentence. Call their attention to the capital letter “W.” There’s always a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence. Point out the period and remark, “You’ll always find a period or punctuation at the end of a sentence.”

*Let each child complete the sentence “I like _____.” Have them cut between their words and place them in a bag. Can they put their own sentence back together?


Happy Birthday
Whenever a child has a birthday, you’ll be able to celebrate and learn at the same time with this idea. Write each line of “Happy Birthday” on a sentence strip. Cut between the words. Arrange each line on a pocket chart. The birthday child gets to scramble the words and then friends sing along the silly lyrics. Arrange the words in the correct order and sing again.

Spaceman
Glue the figure of a “spaceman” to a jumbo craft stick. (I found my little guy at google images.) Use spaceman to find spaces on classroom print. Sing the Batman tune as you go, “Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da Spaceman!” Encourage children to use spaceman when writing.

BLENDING

Children will be actively engaged as they practice blending sounds with some of the activities below.

Body Touch
Blend words touching parts of the body. Touch the head as you say the beginning sound in the word. Touch the stomach as you say the middle sound. Touch the feet as you say the final sound. Quickly move from head to feet and blend the sounds.

*You can also use the body to isolate sounds.
For example: Where do you hear the /s/ in bus? (Children touch feet.)


Sound Sack
Take a small sack and fill it with common objects or small toys. Engage children’s attention with this song to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.”
What’s in the sound sack, who can tell?
Maybe it’s a book or maybe it’s a shell?
What’s in the sound sack, who can say?
Blend the sounds, you’ll know right away!

Choose an object and stretch out the sounds. When children can blend the sounds and say the word, remove it from the sack and place it on the floor. Before putting each item back in the bag, segment the sounds again. 

*Start with compound words. When children are successful with that, use objects with two syllables. Finally, children will be able to blend individual phonemes.


Finger Tap
Bend in your fingers and extend your thumb. Going from the left tap a finger for each sound with your thumb.
For example: /j/ /e/ /t/. Run your thumb over your fingers as you blend the sounds and say the word.



*You can do a similar activity by extending your left arm in front of you. Make the first sound as you touch your shoulder, the second sound as you touch the elbow, and the third sound as you touch the hand. Then quickly sweep the right hand down your left arm as you blend the sounds and say the word.

SYLLABICATION

Syllabication is the practice of breaking down words into individual sounds. Syllabication can help children read unknown words and learn to spell words.

Mouth It!
Have children gently place their palm under their chin and ask them repeat to words. Surprise! The mouth opens on each syllable (all syllables have vowels and the mouth opens).

Move It!
Clap, hop, walk, or nod the syllables in classroom objects.
*Disco, hula, swim, or march to syllables in rhymes and songs.
“Beep” like aliens or “Wa wa” like Charlie Brown’s teacher as you say words or read.


Instruments
Have children beat out syllables with instruments.

*You could also use cardboard rollers, straws, pencils, etc. like drum sticks to tap out rhythms and syllables.


Syllable Show
Slowly say a word. Children hold up the number of syllables they hear on their fingers.

*You could also let them show the number of syllables by placing the appropriate number of poker chips or other objects on their desk.




Clap a Name

Cut out small hands from construction paper. Glue them under children's pictures to indicate how many syllables in their names. Make a book with their pictures and clap your hands!




Hickety Pickety
Slowly clap hands to the beat as you say the chant below.
Hickety, pickety bumblebee
Who can say their name for me? Child’s name.
Clap it. (Clap out syllables as you say the name.)
Snap it. (Snap syllables in name.)
Whisper it. (Whisper name.)
No sound. (Lip sinc name.)

ALLITERATION

Alliteration is the repetition of initial phonemes. Young children will enjoy playing with sounds in the activities below.

Which One Doesn't Belong?
Say a series of words that begin with the same sound. Say one word that does not begin like the others. Children listen and identify the word that does not belong.
For example: sun, sand, top, see (top); boy, house, big, ball (house)


Hand Phone
Have children cup one hand around their ear and the other hand in front of their mouth. The teacher says a series of words that begin with the same sound as the children repeat.

Marvelous Monday
Think of adjectives for the days of the week and months of the year.
For example: Thrilling Thursday or Marvelous May


Bappy Birthday
Sing the birthday song by inserting the first sound in the child’s name for each word. For example, Mary’s birthday song would be:
Mappy mirthday mo mou…



*You can also insert the sound that the child’s name begins with in “Tooty Ta."
Mooty ma, mooty ma, mooty ma ma...

Hint! If their first name begins with a vowel, use the first sound of their last name or middle name.


Sounds Like…
Think of adjectives and other words that begin like children's names.
Linda...lovely...lollipops…likable…
Pablo…paints...pizza...purple...

*Sing children's names in the "Alphardy Song" to practice alliteration.
W for Will /w/ /w/ /w/
B for Bella /b/ /b/ /b/ /b/ /b/ /b/
H for Henry /h/ /h/ /h/
C for Carolos /c/ /c/ /c/


Gumball
I put a penny in the gum slot.
I watched the gum roll down.
I get the gum and you get the wrapper,
Cause I put the penny in the gum slot.

Sing substituting the initial consonant sound of each word with “B,” “N,” “P,” “G,” “L,” and “F.”

Activities: Cut out paper gumball machines and write different letters from the song on 

them. Substitute other consonants, blends, and diagraphs in this song.


Nursery Rhymes
Practice saying traditional rhymes with alliteration such as "Peter Piper picked a peck" and "She sells seashells..."