64 AWESOME ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP ALPHABETIC KNOWLEDGE! 1.Display the alphabet across a wall or on a desk in room/study area to sing & recite 2. Discuss ABC order-the sequence of the alphabet- before/after--Letter ID- I am the letter_ I come before _and after_ 3. What’s the Missing Letter Game- Sing ABC song leaving out a letter/s 4. Place letters in ABC order using an arc template- identify first/last letters/middle letters 5. Vary phrasing the alphabet in sequence e.g. AB-CD-EF-GH ABCD-EFGH-IJKL 6. What’s the Missing Letter? using Missing Letter Decks- AB_ BC_ _BC _DE A_C B_D 7. Use meaningful keywords to make letter-sound & word connections e.g. child’s name, family names, favorite foods 8. Identify letters in environmental print e.g. STOP, logos, license plates, favorite stores 9. Sort letters following Venn diagram sequence-using magnetic letters or letter cutouts *10. I Spy w/squirt gun or flashlight11. I Spy letter in print- w/junk mail, newspaper, grocery ads- point, highlight, or circle letters12. Fly Swatter Game- w/ letters or words kids also identify letters for you to swat 13. Locate the letter on the keyboard--type14. Match & sort uppercase and lowercase letters15. Using letter cards out of order-Letter Race-call out known letters as fast as you can!16. Hopscotch with letters & chalkwriting jump to the letter and call it out 17. Identify the vowel letters on your hand or permanently on a glove18. Sorting letter activities--use egg cartons, muffin tins19. Play ABC Bingo 20. Sort alphabet pasta21. Teach symbol-sound-word relationships with this Alphabet Song *22. Practice initial letter sounds with Old MacDonald Had a Farm *23. Produce the initial letter-sound & have the child locate the letter24. Teach the vowel letters & their sounds in sign language with this song- Where is Short a? *25. Use mirrors to observe how the sound is formed in your mouth26. Sort pictures by initial letter sound27. Teach both sounds of the vowels with this song- a Makes 2 Sounds *28. Segment sounds in a word using fingers or Elkonin boxes * 29. Discuss letter formation when writing letters-which letters are curvy/straight/above-below the line30. Make block outline templates, then draw or glue objects that begin with that letter e.g. Letter B-kids glue buttons31. Airwriting-tracing-use various textures-shaving cream, salt, or sand32. Paint letters with water on paper or chalkboard33. Make letter beaded bracelets & form pipe cleaner letters34. Write letters on their back or hand-have them guess which letter- no peeking!35. Guess the letter from a sensory bag containing letter shapes 36. Identify letters in objects & nature 37. Use alphabet books- find the page with the letter that starts their name...38. Label objects/nouns with Post-its around the home39. Create personal alphabet books and posters40. Make personailzed booklets--following beginning phonetic readers- I see___ . Look at the ___.41. Child points while you read-you point while child reads-emphasizing pointing to the first letter42. Use Post-it- Cover first letter of text when reading ask what letter would you expect to see in the beginning?43. Cut sentences into words of favorite songs & chants-also cut up words into letters44. Play phonemic games with minimal pairs--changing initial-medial-final letter can/man bit/bat can/cat45. Make Consonant-Vowel & Vowel-Consonant flap books 46. Whiteboard dictation spelling using phonetic words47. Skip to My Lou-Choose a short phrase noun+verb or adjective+noun featuring words beginning w/ the initial sound *48. I Like Alliteration using child’s name- My name is Irene I like iguanas 49. Teach verb alphabet pantamiming words- a/add b/bounce c/cut d/dance50. Compare & contrast-sort confusing letters--b--d--p--q b-d show b/d/ strategies 51. Another MacDonald’s Farm Song teaching beginning sounds* 52. Phonemic Blending Song- If You Think You Know This Word*53. Play Zookeeper Phonemic Blending Game- animals have escaped the zoo put them back by blending their names- e.g. B-EAR 54. Phonemic Blending Song- The Sounds in the Word Go* 55. Phonemic Segmentation Song- Listen, Listen to My Word *56. Play Simon Says to practice phonemic blending- Simon Says touch your L-E-G57 Count how many letters in a word58. Begin practice with 2 letter sight words- e.g. at, am, an, at, if, is, in, it, on, of, us, up 59. Practice with Vowel-Consonant Sliders http://wordworkouts.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/4/4/31441471/vowel-consonant_sliders__gliders.pdf60. Practice with Consonant-Vowel Sliders http://wordworkouts.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/4/4/31441471/_consonant_vowel_.pdf61. Practice with phonetic word/picture flashcards 62. Build 2 letter words http://wordworkouts.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/4/4/31441471/building_2_letter_words.pdf63. Reinforce alphabetic knowledge with these books! http://wordworkouts.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/4/4/31441471/my_letter_booklets.pdf64. Record, document & celebrate known letter-sound-word associations!

MAGNETIC LETTER ACTIVITIES

Find the letter that is different Sort by capital and lower case letters Sort by letter name Make your name

ELKONIN BOXES

Each box represents a sound in a word. Push tokens in each box one at a time sequentially while making the sound.

Start with just 2 boxes and then add single letters and lastly digraphs.

SONGSAlphabet Song sung to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

A /a/ apple B /b/ ball C /c/ cat D /d/ dollE /e/ elephant F /f/ fork G /g/ goat H /h/ hatI /i/ insect J /j/ jam K /k/ kite L /l/ lambM /m/ mouse N /n/ nose O /o/ octopus P /p/ pantsQ /q/ queen R /r/ rainbow S /s/ sun T /t/ toyU /u/ umbrella V /v/ vase W /w/ watch X /x/ x-rayY /y/ yo-yo Z /z/ zoo

Old MacDonald- Old MacDonald had a farm A-E-I-O-U and on his farm he had some letters A-E-I-O-U with a S-S here and a S-S there. Here a S there a S everywhere a S-S Old MacDonald had some letters A-E-I-O-U

W W W W W

EeeeeEE Wise Owl

eeeseeee

sssSSs

wwwww

f i sh

Where is ____? sung to Frere Jacques

Where is short a? Where is short a?Here I am, here I am.

I am in an apple, bathmat, or crackerjacks

a, a, a, a, a, a.

Where is short e? Where is short e?Here I am, here I am.I am in an elephant,

ten hens, and fresh bread e, e, e, e, e, e.

Where is short i? Where is short i?Here I am, here I am.

I am in an inch,insect, and six sticks

i, i, i, i, i, i.

Where is short o? Where is short o?Here I am, here I am.I am in an octopus,

hopscotch and clocko, o, o, o, o, o.

Where is short u? Where is short u?Here I am, here I am.I am in an umbrella,duck, truck, and rug

u, u, u, u, u, u.

a Has 2 Sounds sung to Frere Jacques https://www.hasdk12.org/cms/lib/PA01001366/Centricity/Domain/72/song.pdf

Skip to My Lou Alliteration noun/noun noun/verb adjective/nounants on the apple or balls bouncing or dizzy dinosaurs Skip to my Lou 2x Skip to my Lou my darling

Hallie Yopp’s Phonemic Isolation Song- sung to Old MacDonaldWhat’s the sound that starts these words:Turtle, time, and teeth?/t/ is the sound that starts these

Hallie Yopp’s Phonemic Segmentation Song- variation of If You’re Happy and You Know ItIf you think you know this word call it out!If you think you know this word call it out!Put the sounds together and tell me what you’ve heardIf you think you know this word call it out!/c/ /a/ /t/

Phonemic Blending Song-The Sounds in the Word Go- sung to The Wheels on the BusThe sounds in the word go C-A-T C-A-T C-A-TThe sounds in the word go C-A-TCan you name the word?

Hallie Yopp’s Phonemic Segmentation Song- Listen, Listen to My Word sung to Twinkle, Twinkle Little StarListen, listen To my wordThen tell me all the sounds you heard: race/r/ is one sound /a/ is two/s/ is last in raceIt’s true.Thanks for listening to my word And telling me all the sounds you heard!

STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENTIATING LETTERS

b d p q• Teach L-R directionality: tracing activities, use visual prompts, green dots to begin letter

• Visual prompts: ball/bat drum/drumstick

• Use thumbs to show bed

• Use uppercase B as a visual cue to write a lowercase b

• To write d think of abc order write the letter c then close it to form d