catchem while theyre young

8/7/2019 Catchem While Theyre Young

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/catchem-while-theyre-young 1/58

READ ING : TH E ENVIRONMENTA L PR INT WAY

~Hoo&. : . - - . ~~ ,...

Joan Purkey

Newman University

Wichita, Kansas

[email protected]

KSDEConference

October 5,2010

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



Env ironmen ta l P rin tWhat is Environmental Print?P rint surro und s us in the h om e and community.

E nviro nm en tal print is the p rint fo und in o ur everyda y live s:

)- Labels of foods

)-The logo of restaurants-McDonalds, Pizza Hut,

Burger King

)- Traffic signs

)-Street signs

>Names of buildings

> Grocery ads)-Magazine pages

Teacher's Role in a Print Rich Environment

• Provide time and opportunity for multiple literacy

activities during the day.

• Model reading and writing with environmental print.

• Introduce children to a wide variety of literature and a

print rich environment

• Listen to child read

• Work with children during writing time.

• Displays print at children's eye level.

1



t,

Print Rich Environment Checklist

• Lo ts o f books and writing m ateria ls in var ious p la ce s inth e ro om .

• Lo ts o f opportun ities are given to students to read andw rite th ro ug ho ut th e d ay .

• Lo ts o f d iffe rent prin t ( changed often) is d isp layed in the

room.

• Availability o f a w ide varie ty o f w riting too ls andmaterials.

• S ong, po etry , and student prin t is d isp layed.

• M any com fortable p laces are provided to read and write .

• E nvironm enta l prin t is u su ally th e firs t p rin t c hild re nrecognize.

• It p lays a strong ro le in he lp ing ch ildren begin tou nd ersta nd tha t le tters a nd s ymbo ls m ea n someth in g.

• C hildren learn to read w ords through environm enta l prin tby recognizing the colo r and shapes that surround the

words.

• Eventua lly ch ild ren begin to read the w ords w ithout thec olo rs a nd s ha pe s.

• B eing able to recognize environm enta l prin t m akeschildren feel mo re s ucc ess fu l a t "rea din g" a nd motiva te s

them to read.

2



< ,

Examples o f En viro nmenta l Prin t

.•...'. " ..' . . . . • . . . . .;"..

, f

. .

~. ~

. C h e ~ Q s .

• C hildren can develop w ord reco gnitio n and fluency by identify ing andd is cu ss in g familia r p rin t in th e e nv iro nm en t, b y ta kin g n ote o f

in divid ual le tters in th e w ord s, a nd b y s egm en tin g the so und s o f th es eletters.

Ch eeri os

• P ra ctice w riting s kills by cre atin g ca ptio ns to a cc om pa ny fam ilia re nviro nm ental sy mbo ls th at h ave b een se le cted fo r the m a nd tho se th atth ey c hoose .

H ow do yo u kno w this bo x cays B AN D~A ID ?

W hat le tte r do yo u se e at th e b eg in ning ?

W hat so unds do es the letter b m ake?

Is that the sound yo u hear at the beginning of B AN D~ AID ?

W hat is ano ther w ord that begins w ith the sam e so und?

W hat are other fetters do yo u see in the w ord B AN D~ AfD ?

W hat are the so unds that yo u hear in B AN D~ ArD ?

• P ractice early reading success by reading their o wn w riting alo ud.

3



I,

Ways to use Environmentaf Print in the Classroom

r " · e . . . . . . . ~! . . .

I~:;~:L__~~ .~;'._._.._~.._..__.• Whafs for Breakfast?

• What's for Lunch?

• O ur F avorite R estaurant

• Matching games

• Word Walls

• "I Spy Chart"

• Puzzles

• Bingo

• Sorting

• T-Charts ( I Like/l Don 't lik e)

Environmental Print:

* " I Can Read!' Bags - send home a bag decorated withenvironmental print for the children to collect printsamples.

* Environmental Print Puzzles - Cut cereal boxes, muffinboxes, cookie boxes into puzzle shapes.

* Environmental Bingo Boards - use candy wrappers tomake Bingo games.

4



Bu lle tin Board Ideas

• Places We Like to Eat

• Things we Like to Eat

• Places We Like to Go

• Words We Can Read

• Signs We Know

• Our Favorite Snacks

• Places in Our Community

• Can You Read These?

• Environmental Print in the Neighborhood

•.

5



'"

Environmental Print (EP) Activities

Below is a list of activities that can be used in Pre-K, K or First Grade. The activities help review

and practice reading skills. They can be used in a whole-, small group, or in an independent

setting. The activities and parent's letter in this section are followed by drawings of the activities.

The activities are varied in difficulty. Decide which ones are best for your class or for your child.

In a classroom setting, set up an EP center for use all year long. An EP center makes a wonderful

literacy area.

Reading

1. Read from a reading bag: Encourage the children to bring EP from home. Store the print

in individual, re-sealable clear-plastic bags. Label each bag with the child's name.

2. Match letters in EP: Have the children find letters on one EP. For example; find all the

"g"s or "br'ls on a Colgate toothpaste box.

3. Match identical EP: Use two identical EP for matching (like matching cereal or soap-box

letters). Put them in a basket and have the children find match them.

4. T-Shirt reading: Have EP Tvshir t day. Ask the children to wear T-shirts that advertise a

product or service. Set aside time for each child to read each other's T-shirts.

5. Use EP on the word wall: Put the 26 EP letters on the word wall.

6. Find upper-, lower-, and mixed-case EP letters: Put the letters in a basket for the children

to separate into the categories (i.e., upper, lower, mixed).

7. Find EP consonants and vowels: Examine them

8. Find EP consonant blends: Examine them

9. Look at EP word configuration: Make word frames to fit the words. The children match

the word frame to the EP word.

10. Make an "Eat the Alphabet" book: Have the children collect EP that of foods that can be

eaten; put the book next to the corresponding alphabet letter.11. Make books of cereal covers, street signs, and storefronts.

12. Build EP word families: Find words that fit into a family of words you are studying.

13. Find rhyming words on one or more EP.

14. Sort by beginning and ending sounds: Find a variety ofEP that has different beginning

and ending sounds; ask the children to sort it.

15. Make a community "I Can Read" chart: Have the children glue on the chart the words

they can read.

16. Use EP substitution in a sentence: Write or dictate a sentence and use EP words to

substitute for a word in the sentence.

17. Find consonant diagraphs in EP.18. Alphabetize EP: Collect EP for the children to alphabetize.

19. Sort by syllables: Collect EP words with different numbers of syllables. The children can

sort the words by number of syllables. Also, find words that have "ing'' and "s'' endings.

The children sort the word by how the ending of the word is changed.

20. Use non-standard (i.e., made up) English words: Find created EP for a product or

company, like Lexus or Exxon.

21. Find and use alliteration in EP.



22. Use short- and long vowel examples ofEP,

23. Find hard and soft "c " and "g11 sounds in EP and other lie" and "g'l sounds; have the

children sort them.

24. Find diphthongs in EP,

25. Find vowel diagraphs in EP

26. Find abbreviations inEP; ask the children to decode the meaning.

1. Count the number of EP examples in their reading bags or count the words or letters in an

EP title.

2. Sort by EP attributes, like shape, size, color, and font size,

3. Combine EP subjects: (i.e., like; 3 EP (toys) + 2 EP (food)> 5 EP items)

4. Find the numbers on EP, like reading the bar code or product information.

5. Make patterns or find repeating patterns inEP.

6. Find number sequences in EP.

7. Seriate EP by size and have the children put them in order from smallest to largest and

largest to smallest.8. Make puzzles from part and whole pieces ofEP.

9. Examine product information like numbers, per cent, compare weights and content

(more/less); find a specific number; like, find all the "Js",

10. Graph EP by attribute.

11. Make Venn diagrams using EP; for example, which EP has a triangle in the logo? A

circle? Both a triangle and a circle?

12. Add the numbers on food and product coupons.

Writing

Write or trace E.P:trace words or letters on the EP or write them on a separate sheet of paper. PutEP injournals In small groups (3-4 children) write a class story using two or three examples of

EP. Bach child can pick her own EP example to use, Draw, design and write your own EP, Write

stories about one EP, like Pizza Hut Write a class book with each child contributing a page. Each

child can glue on a page his EP example and tell about his experience with or knowledge about

the product.

Games and Puzzles

1. Play EP Lotto, Bingo, Concentration,

2. Play Tic Tac Toe with EnXl1it and St"O"p signs

3. Make EP puzzles

Make EP Collages Cut EP from newspaper and magazines Paint a picture background around an

EP example glued to a large sheet of paper.



Blocks

1. Tape EP of store signs to block constructions (buildings and structures)

2. Use EP street signs at street intersections (an imaginary block city)

3. Use store bags for storage that are imprinted with EP.

Dramatic PJay

1. Create a grocery store. Use coupons and newspaper ads for pretend shopping at the

grocery store. Place newspaper ads on the wail around the "newt! grocery store.

Field Trips

Take trips:

1. Around the school building to fmd labels and signs

2. To other classrooms to read their EP

3. To the parking lot to examine signs4. Around the neighborhood to examine street signs

5. To the parking lot to find car tags and bumper stickers

6. To the grocery store or Wal-Mart, K Mart, or Target

7. To McDonald's, Pizza Hut, or KFC

Music

Use the two songs on the next page along with your EP study. Other EP songs are on the market.

as well, so use those, too. If you do not know the tune, use it as a poem.

See if your children can come up with a Dr. Pepper or a K-Mart song (children are usually pretty

good at making-up music).



Environmental Print SongBy Sharon MacDonald (from the Tying Shoes and Other Musical Feets CD)

Labels on boxes, cans, and jars

Signs on buildings, buses, and cars.

Words and pictures on store bags

Logos on napkins and price tags

Can you read them? Look and see!

A "Lost Dog" sign nailed to a tree.

Everything is spelled all around.

Follow that sign that says Playground.

Jifj, Crest, 7-Up and Spam

Target; Kraft, and Smucker's Jam

Jifj, Crest, 7-Up, Spam

Target, Kraft, and Smucker's Jam

Signs on the comer, up on a pole,

Stop, Yield, Exit, and Manhole.

Park, Bump, Danger, and One Way.Let's read the signs that we can say.

Labels on boxes, cans, and jars.

Signs on buildings, buses, and cars.

Words and pictures on store bags

Logos on napkins and price tags

Jiff, Crest, 7-Up and Spam

Target; Kraft, and Smucker's Jam

Jiff Crest, 7- Up, Spam

Target, Kraft, and Smucker's Jam

Restaurants, Signs, Food, and StuffBy Sharon MacDonald (from the Tying Shoes and Other Musical Feets CD)

Taco Bell and Pizza Hut

Long John Silver, too

KFC and Red Lobster

You eat and then you're through.

Entrance and One Way Street

A Railroad Crossing sign

Do Not Enter and StopAre signs I see sometimes.

Cheerios and Grape Nut Flakes

Special K is neat

Crispix and Shredded Wheat

Are cereals Ieat.

Almond Joy and M &Ms

Hershey's Kisses, too

Reese's Peanut Butter CupsAre candies shared with you.



· _ ..-- -._~-_--- .._ .__ --.-----.~-.---.

~ ~

~~

~ l

[I

~[

f&Lf

~

~ ~

I l : .

r- - s '

C " ' o o o . f:r

~~

~

rr



? '\ ~ R~ l

[I

~f

~

~

tF

~

~ ~

~

~

5 '

i =r

~~

I"

" " " ' "

f t

r"



, .

-.,.,."---,, .- ----~.-----~~-." .._--- . '--'~--~-~'-' .~--.-

{ : : : : : i;'~

~f : : A -

ti

~

f~

Ltft~

~ .~

~

~

$'

f:r

~

;j~

rr"



· .. ' ... , _ . _ ......_,,' - _ . - .. _ - _ . - _ .. -_" ,_" --'--"_- .-_----_._. ~-' ". _.".-

~ ~

I Q I I~

I~ ~



~~ w_ ---_ - -._-_ ••• --... ~ •••• - .. - - - •• - •• ------ --~-.--. •• --. - -~- •••

I~ I~

l~ l~

~I~



I~ I f - :

It: ~

I~ I~



"_" _ __ _ "L~ __ "" ." _,~_ ._ "._,~__.__.__, "_~_. C

I~

l~

1 ~

I~



~e n

~ 0 ,r. n crq

S

IIIIII

II

: :0I

N~

Z t J : j 1

N ~ : : r 0 - 1

!

~

0H o~.

0

(')

< z y ~ t)~ p..

~

c ~ ~~ ;."i

~ ~ ~ ~

,

I

i i i



My ABC BookBy _

. - - - - - - - - - ~ - - ~ - - - - - - ~ - - ~ - - ~ ~ - ~ - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - -----

Aa Bb



Cc Dd

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - -

Ee Ff



Gg Hh

- - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - ----

Ii Jj



Ll

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----

Mm Nn



00 Pp

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - ----

Qq Rr

--- ~ _ -_ - - - - - -



Ss Tt

- - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ~ - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - ~ - - - ----

Uu Vv

~._ _ . .. .. .- - ~. .... -". .



Ww Xx

- - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - ~ - - - - ~ ----

Yy Zz

- - . .-.. I-~~==================~·-···



Letter SearchFind the letters in your name and paste them on this page.



Your child can use these cards to look for and match words

on the cereal boxes. Pleaseput the cards back in the pocket

before returning our book so the next child in our class can

use them. Thanks!

Word Cards:

Apple

APPLE

Cereal

CEREAL

CinnamonCINNAMON

Cocoa

COCOA

Flakes

FLAKES

Grain

,GRAINHoney

HONEY

Morning ClassQuestions

1. Which cereal did 2 or more class members like?

2. Who likes Apple Jacks?3. Who likes F root Loops?

4. Who likes Trix?

5. Who likes Frosted cereal?



What's for Breakfast?

An Environmental Print ClassProject

Your child can have fun learning to read even when books are

not available. "Environmental Print" Is the print that is around

him/her every day. It's the words your child sees on street

signs, signs on buildings, the store shelves, while in the check

out line, or anywhere there are words.

Many children see cereal boxes every day. They can be a

good way to develop the desire to learn to read because

they are colorful, interesting and inviting to young readers.

Here are someactivities your child can do with our class

collection of cereal boxes:

- read each doss member's name

- read each cereal name

- use the picture clues to figure out words

- do a word search with the word cards

- answer the questions about our class favorites

Your child may keep What's for Breakfast? for one night

then should return it to school the next day. Once all the

children have had their turn we will make it available to

take home again as a Buddy Book.

We hope your child enjoys reading our class book!

Mrs. Jones



Your child can use these cards to look for and match words

on the cereal boxes. Please put the cards back in the pocket


use them. Thanks!

Word Cards:

apple

A P P L E

Cereal

CEREAL

Cinnamon

C INNAMON

Cocoa

COCOA

Ffakes

FLAKES

Grain

GRAIN

Honey

HONEY

Afternoon Class Questions

1 . Which cereal did 2 or more class members like?

2. Who likes Lucky Charms?3. Who likes Cap'n Crunch?

4. Wbo likes Cheerios?

5. Wbo likes Puffs?

6. Who likes cereal with Honey?



~-~- ~~-------- ~--.-~



What's for B reakfast?

An Env ironmental P rin t C l ass P ro je ct

Your child can have fun learning to read even when books arenot available. "Environmental Print" is the print that is around

him/her every day. It's the words your child sees on street

signs, signs on buildings, the store shelves, while in the check

out line, or anywhere there are words.

Many children see cereal boxes every day. They can be a

good way to develop the desire to learn to read becausethey are colorful, interesting and inviting to young readers.

Here are some activities your child can do with our class

coltection of cereal boxes:

- read each class member'S name

- read each cereal name

- use the picture clues to figure out words

- do a word search with the word cards

- answer the questions about our class favorites

Your child may keep What's for Breakfast? for one night

then should return it to school the next day. Once all the

children have had their turn we w i l l make it available to

take home again as a Buddy Book.

We hope your child enjoys reading our cfass book!

Mrs. Jones



Your chiId can use these cards to look for and match words

on the cereal boxes. Pleaseput the cards back in the pocket


use them. Thanks!

Word Cards:

Apple

APPLE

Cerear

C E R E A L

Cinnamon

C INNAMON

Cocoa.

COCOA

Flakes

F L A K E S

Grain

G R A I N

Honey

HONEY

Morning ClassQuestions

1 . Which cereal did 2 or more class members like?

2. Who likes Apple Jacks?3. Who likes Froot Loops?

4. Who likes Trix?

5. Who likes Frosted cereal?



r0~(J)

® Q

-f.".,c

~

,

©(\')

: : s

-fc:.,: : : : s



©-f."c ,,~

: : s ( \ ' )

®-



Segment and Spell* {black line master included)

(short a words)Print one set of letter cards and one set of word mats (enough for 6 players). Cut

apart letter cards. Laminate mats or place in sheet protectors. To playi give each

player a word mat. Shuffle the letter cards and place in the middle of the table.Players take turns rolling a die (or you can use a spinner). Give them the number of

letter cards shown on the die (roll a 4--get 4 cards). The player segments each

word on his card and places the letter cards in the appropriate places on the mat

to spell the word. At the end of each turn, the player discards unused cards.

Continue playing until someone completes all three words on his mat. This is the

winner.

Sight Word Go Flsh- -Nemo* (black line masters below)

(sight words)

Print and cut apart 2 sets of playing cards (each set includes two copies of each

word--this willgive you 4 copies of each word--total of 60 cards). To play, deal out

5 cards to each player. Place the rest in the middle of the table ...this is the "pond".

Players take turns asking another player if they have a card e'Do you have a " X X X "card?). If the player has the card, he gives it to the asking player. If not i he tells

the player to "go flsh" and the asking player draws a card from the pond. If a

player gets the card from either another player or the pond, he gets to take

another turn. As players make matches, they lay them down (I have my kids make

matches of 2 but the "officicl" rules for Go Fish call for matches of 4). Continueplaying until all matches have been made. The player with the most matches wins.

http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/Games/GamestoMake/games_to_make.htm





9 9 9 9

c c c h

h r r· r

b b b f

f m m t



t t t t

t n n n

n n n p

p a a a

a a a a



a a a a

a a a a

t t t n

n n 9 b

f c b r



t t t t

t n n n

n n n p

p a a a

a a a a



a a a a

a a a a

a a t t

t n n n

9 9 9 t



r-------~-----,-------



, ,



Alphabet Activities

Letter recognition is one of the best predictors of reading success. Automatic recognition of letters gives a

strong indication of how quickly a student will be able to learn the sounds of letters and ultimately read

and spell. For students who have not yet attained instant letter recognition and letter-sound

correspondence 5-20 minutes dally of Alphabet Activities is recommended.

The following activities work on instant letter recognition, the sounds of the letters, the application of

sounds to letters for reading and spelling, the alphabet as a sequencing tool, and dictionary use. The

activities can be done with capital or lower case letters and mats unless otherwise indicated.

Large and Small Group Activities:

1. Name Those Letters

Objective: Instant letter recognition

Alphabet as a sequencing tool.

Materials: Alphabet mat

Activity: Student places the writing finger on A on the arc and echoes the letters after theteacher as s/he paints to each letter. This activity is done daily at the beginning

of all alphabet activities. It is a warm-up.

2. Sign Those Letters


Alphabet as a sequencing tool

Materials: Capital letter alphabet mat

Activity: Students signs the letters of the alphabet using the signs provided on the capital

letter mat. Introduce 2-3 signs during a lesson and review those already learned.

Extension: Randomly call out letters and student signs the letter.

3. Chugging Choo-choo




Activity: Student places the writing finger on A on the arc of the mat and echoes the

letters after the teacher while pointing to each letter. Ask student to place the

pointer finger on Z and put his/her engine in reverse. Student touches and

names the letters starting with Z and going backwards to A. Repeat 2 times.

4. Run-away Train


. Alphabet as a sequencing tool


Activity: Student places the index finger of his/her writing hand on A. Student paints to

each letter while naming the letter. To prevent having a "run-away-train," hold

up a stop sign or say, "stop" during the activity. The student stops and then

starts again touching and naming when the teacher/leader says, "gall or lowersthe STOP sign.



5. Show Me




Activity: Student places the writing finger on A on the arc on the mat and echoes the

letters after the teacher as s/he points to each letter. Ask student to "Show Me

a." Repeat with 5~7 letters. Go as quickly or slowly as the student needs to go. If

students are having difficulty, pair weaker and stronger students for this activity.

6. Pinky Point:




Activity: Using the pinky finger of the writing hand, student points and names the letters

of the alphabet. The rules are same as Simon Says. Students only move to a new

letter if the teacher says, "Pinky point." If s/he moves and the teacher did not

say, "Pinky point", the student is out. Ex. Pinky point to a. (The students move

pinkies to a.) Point to g. (The students don't move their pinkies because Pinky

did not say to move.)

7. Before and After




Activity: Ask student to put both arms in the air above their heads. Demonstrate with your

back to the student that the right hand is the after hand. Have student lower

his/her right arms as they say, "My right hand is my after hand." Ask student to

form the painter fingers of both hands into a painter and point to the letter T on

their mats as they say t. Ask the student to move his/her after (right) hand to

the letter after T. Ask the student to name the letter after T. Then ask the

student to say in a sentence: "U comes after T." Continue through 4 or 5 moreletters with the same process.

8. How Many Letters?




Activity: Ask student to put fingers on first letter, A, and count together the number of

letters in the alphabet. (26) Ask them to name the first letter (A), the last letter

(Z) and the middle 2 letters (M, N).



9. Hot Potato

Objective~ Instant letter recognition



Activity: The teacher quickly says a random letter; the student repeats the letters as s/he

quickly points to the letters. ' .

Extension: Teacher gives the sound of a letter and the student quickly echoes the sound,

names the letter, and points to the letter.

10. Alphabet Conversation




Activity: Student touches and names the letters of the alphabet and says them like they

were asking a question after every other letter.

Model: AS? CD? EF? GH? I:J? KL? MN? OP? QR? ST? UV? WX? YZ?

Extension: Alphabet Chorus: 2 or more students are needed for this activity. The teacher is

the choir director. The teacher will hold up 1-4 fingers and point to one group of

students. That group will touch and name the number of letters that the "choir

director" has fingers showing. The choir director will point to the next group andhold up 1-4 fingers. The group will point to the next letters on the alphabet arc

and name the number of letters indicated by the "choir director".

11. Popcorn




Activity: The students sit in a circle. The teacher tosses a beanbag to a student and the

student says the next letter in the alphabet. (Option: Students can give keyword

and sound of letters studied.)

12. Letters/Keywords/Sounds


Instant association of letter with sound

Materials: Lowercase alphabet mats (front or back)

Activity~ Students daily place writing finger on boxes with letters/keywords/sounds and

say letter name, keywords and sounds. Begin reviewing in alphabetical order and

then progress to a random review during which the teacher, leader or a student

calls out a letter. The students place their finger on that box, echo the letter,

name the keywords, and make the sound. Be careful not to put the sound (uh)

at the end of consonant sounds. (ex. (b) and not (buh).

Extension: Leader calls out a letter and the student answers with the keyword and sound.

Reverse this activity to reinforcement spelling by the leader calling out the sound

and the student naming the keyword and letter name.



Keyword5~Aa: Albert Alligator holds an apple. /a/

Bb: Brian bumblebee bats the blue ball. /b/Cc: See Cameron Cat in a canoe and a catfish, too. /k/

Dd: Dirty Daisy Dog digs a ditch. /d/

Ee: Eddie Elephant exercises. /e/

Ff: Frankie Frog has a funny flashlight. /flGg: Guppy Goldfish golfs. 19/Hh: Hal Hippo is a hockey star. Ih lIi: Isabelle Iguana is an Iceskater. IiiJj: Jolly jellyfish enjoys jam. Ij lKk: Katy kangaroo kicks and kicks. /k/

LI: Leo Lion licks lemon lollipops. /IIMm: Morris Mouse is a mighty magician. Im /Nn: Nine eggs in the little nest? No! 1,2,3/n/

00: Oscar Octopus says /0/.Pp: Polly Parrot baked a pumpkin pie. /p/

Qq: Quiet Quail walks quickly. /kwl

Rr: Rita Rabbit raises two real roses. Ir lS5: Silly Spider spins a silky spider web. /5/Tt: Tony turtle tells time. /t/

Uu: The ugly umbrella is up. lu/Vv: Vince Valentine plays the violin. Iv lWw: Willy Worm wiggles in the warm sun. Iw lXx: Max Fox sits in the box. /ksl

Yy: Yo Yak yanks his yo-yo back. /y/

Zz: Zelda Zebra zips the big zipper. /z/

13. Finger Exercises



Materials: Alphabet mats

Activity: As student names the letters of the alphabet, s/he writes the letter on an

imaginary chalkboard in the air using just the index finger of his/her writing

hand. (Option: Student can write the letter on the palm of his/her not writing

hand with the finger of his/her writing hand while saying the letter.)

14. I Spy with My Eye



Letter-sounds


Activity: Take turns naming something in the room that begins with each letter of the

alphabet starting with a and continuing in alphabetical order.



1S. Making Beautiful Music

Objective: Instant letter recognItion



Activity: Designate one or more students as the hlqh voices and one or more students asthe low voices. When the high group is pointed to, they will say as many letters

in their high voices as the leader holds up fingers. When the low group is painted

to, they will say as many letters in low, deep voices as the leader holds up

fingers.

Students can say one letter every time the teacher lowers a finger while pointingat them in the same rhythm and speed as the finger is being lowered. Practice

with a few letters to ensure class understands. Say the alphabet Making Beautiful

Music.

Option:

16. Snap and Clap



Letter-sou nds


Activity: Student repeats the letters of the alphabet clapping when they say a consonant

letter and snapping when they say a vowel. (Point out that consonants are blue

and vowels are red on the mats.)

17. On Your Back!



Materials: Capital alphabet mats and capital letters.

Activity: Student chooses a partner. The first student in the pair picks a letter from the

container and does not show it to the other student. The student who picked the

letter draws the letter on the back of the other student with his/her finger. The

student tries to guess the letter that is being drawn on his/her back. They tradeturns after the letter is guessed.

18. Turn-over




Activity: Write a letter on the board and the first student starts with that letter of the

alphabet. Each student says a letter going in alphabetical order (Teacher writes S

on the board and the students go down the line with each student saying only 1

letter STUVWXYZABC...) until the teacher says, "Turn-over!" and writes a newletter on the board. Tile next student begins again starting with letter on the

board. Each student has an alphabet mat in front of him/her.



19. Make the Arc



Materials: Alphabet mats and letters

Activity: The student places the letters in the center of his/her mat and turns the letters

right side up. Student is led to find the first letter of the alphabet (A) and place it

on the arc at the bottom of the mat. Then the student is led to find and place

each letter of the alphabet on the arc on the mat on top of the matching letter.

After placing the 26 letters, the student touches and names the 26 letters again.As student places the letters back into the bag, student says the letter names

again. If a student continues having difficulty, pair that student with a stronger

student. When the stronger finishes his/her arc, s/he helps the weaker student

by pointing to the letter on the arc. The weaker student names and finds the

letter.

Extension: When a student is ready, the mat is turned over to the back and the student

places the letters on the arc in order without matching.

20. Who Am I?



Materials: Alphabet mat, capital letters

Activity: The teacher or leader places a plastic capital letter in each student's hand behind

the student's back. The student tries to figure out the letter s/he has by the feel.

21. Lettero



Materials: Capital letter alphabet mats and capital letters

Activity: Eachstudent picks 9 letters from his/her set of letters. If student has difficulty

counting to 9, count together and pick letters while counting. Student places aletter in each square of the grid on the mat. The teacher/leader draws letters

from a bag of letters and shows the class the letter or writes the letter on the

board. When a letter is called, students push that letter to its place on the arc.

When a student has all 9 letters called, the student calls, "Lettero."

22. Sound off




Activity: Each student chooses 9 letters and places them in the grids on his/her alphabetmat. The leader draws a letter out of his/her bag and says the keyword and

sound (not the name of the letter). If student has the letter that makes that

sound, s/he moves the letter to the stri p at the top of the mat. Play continues

until a student has all 9 letters drawn. The student says, "Sound-off!"



23. What's Missing




Activity: The student places the letters in the center of his/her mat and turns the lettersright side up. Student is led to find the first letter of the alphabet (A) and place it

on the arc at the bottom of the mat. Then the student places each letter of the

alphabet on the arc on the mat. After placing the 26 letters, the student touches

and names the 26 letters again. Students now work in pairs. One student closeshis/her eyes and the other student removes a letter from the arc and holds it so

the other student cannot see it. The student opens his/her eyes and "proofs" the

arc to find out which letter has been taken. The letter is returned when it is

guessed and the other student gets a turn. As student places the letters back into

the bag, s/he says the letter names again. (This game increases in difficulty by

the student taking up to 4 letters from the arc and the other student guessing

the 4 missing letters.)

24. Capital to Lower Case Matching


Alphabet as a sequencing toolMaterials: Lower case mats and lower case letters

Activity: The student places the letters in the center of the mat and turns the letters right

side up. Student finds and places each letter of the alphabet on the

letter/keyword/sound boxes on the front of the mat. After placing the 26 letters,

the student touches and names the 26 letters again. Student names letters as

s/he puts them in the bag.

25. Twenty Questions




Activity: The student places the letters in the center of his/her mat and turns the letters

right side up. Student finds and places each letter of the alphabet on the arc on

the mat. After placing the 26 letters, the student touches and names the 26

letters again. The leader picks a letter out of a bag and the class guesses the

letter. The only answers the teacher can give are "yes" or "no," They can ask ifthe letter is in the first half of the alphabet or they can ask if it is a vowel or a

consonant; but they want to guess the letter in as few questions as they can.

Lead them to ask questions. As you answer, students put eliminated letters back

in their bags. This game requires scaffolding in the beginning if students do not

know how to ask questions. Count the number of questions and graph each time

students play. The goal is to discover the letter in the fewest number ofquestions.



26. Spelling



Letter-sounds

Application of letter-readlnq and spelling

Materials:

Activity:

Lower case alphabet mats and lower case letters

The student places the letters in the center of the mats. Student finds and

places each letter on the are, The student touches and names the 26 letters

again. Ask students to find the letter a and put it in a grid in the center of theirmat. Now ask them to put the t in the grid after the a and read the word, Ask

student to add letter to make sat, Change sat to pat, pit, sit, pit, tip, tin, tan,

nat, not, nut, cut, cot, cat. Only change one letter with each new word, Ask

student to place the letters back into the bag, saying the letter names again,

Extension: a. Practice spelling cV words using: no, go, so, wo, we, be, he, me,

b. Practice spelling Vr words using: car, far, bar, jar, mar, tar, par, park, bark,

mark, lark, dark, hark, hard, lard, card, cart,

or: or, nor, for, fork, cork, corn, born, horn, morn, corn, cord, ford, fort,

forth, north

wor: work, word, worm, world, worst

c. Practice spelling Vce words using: ate, date, fate, gate, hate, late, rate, mate,made, fade, face, lace, mace, race, pace, pane, cane, lane, mane, name,

came, dame, fame, game, lame, same, tame, time, dime, lime, rime, rtte,bite, bide, hide, tide, ride, rice, dice, lice; mice, nice, rice, price; pride, bride,

bide, bode, rode, code, cone, bone, lone; tone, tote, note, vote; use, fuse,

fume, fune, dune, tune

d. Practice spelling VV words. Write ee on a small piece of paper and use in

spelling: feet, meet, beet, sheet, sheep, deep, keep, keel, feel, feed, heed,

need, reed, seed, weed, wee, see, bee, fee

Write 00 on a small sheet of paper. Tell student the sound (00) like in book.

Practice spelling the sound using; book, look, took, cook, hook, hood, stood,good

e. Multiple syllable words can be spelled one syllable at a time. Ask students to

say magnet, Now ask them to say the first syllable: mag. Help them to breakit down into sounds and move a marker for each sound in the first syllable.

Then move the corresponding letter for each sound below the marker. Next

say the second syllable and lead the students to break the second syllable

into sounds. Have them move a marker into the top row of boxes to

represent each sound. Then have them move the corresponding letters below

the sound markers, When students are ready, they can write the letters in

the bottom row of boxes.

f. Students sign the letters as they spell words.

27. Battle




Activity: Students play in pairs, Each student picks one letter from his/her bag and names

the letter. The student whose letter is closer to Z, says, "I win because _ is

closer to Z than _. The student with the winning letter puts his/her letter on

the alphabet strip at the top of the mat. The student with the losing letter puts

his/her letter at the bottom of his/her mat. The student with the most letters atthe end of the game is the winner,



28. Auditorv Sequential Memory




Activity: The student places the letters in the center of the mat and turns the letters right

side up. Student finds each letter of the alphabet and places it on the arc on the

mat, After placing the 26 letters, the student touches and names the 26 letters

again. The teacher says a series of 2-7 letters (not in alphabetical order).Student repeats and picks up letters and places them in his/her bag. Student

does not pick up letters while they are being named.

29. Four in a Row




Activity: Students play in pairs. The pair has 1 set of plastic capital letters. Each student

has a container or a "shield" to hide his/her letters from the other student. Each

student doses his/her eyes and picks 7 letters and places them where the other

student cannot see them. The goal is to get 4 consecutive letters is a row(alphabetical order-ABeD). The remaining letters are in a pond. The first player

discards one Jetter to the pond and takes one Jetter from the pond. The first

player to get "4 in a RoW" says "4 in a Rowl" and shows his/her 4 letters.

30. Dominos



Materials! Capital letter alphabet mats and capital letters

Activity: One set of letters is given to a pair of students. The students place the letters in

the center of a mat and turn the letters right side up. Students place M and Nand on the arc. Students close their eyes and pick 5 letters each. MN is the

"spinner domino." The first student must play the letter before or after MN

(LMNO). If the student does not have Lor 0, then s/he goes to the "bone yard"

and takes the needed letter and plays it. Each player can only play one letter

durtng a turn. If the needed letter is not in the "bone yard," the student takes no

letter and misses his/her turn. The goal is to be the first player to play all of

his/her letters.



31. Letters Up~7up



Letter-sound

Materials: 1 set of capital letters

Activity: Seven students start out at the front of the room. The rest of the students are

given 1-2 capital letters. Students at their seats close their eyes and hold up one

letter. The students who are "up" take one letter from one student. When all

seven have taken a letter, the leader says, "Heads upl 7 Up!" The students who

are seated hide their letters. Students at their seats take turns calling on

students who are "up." When a student who is "up" is called on, s/he must do an

action that starts with the sound of the letter that s/he took, If the student can

guess the action and the letter was taken from that student, then the student

who is up sits down and the one who guessed is now up.

32. Alphabetizing

Objective: Instant letter recognition Alphabet as a sequencing tool

Materials: 5 index cards

Activity: Write on index cards: ant, bear, cat, dog, elephant Ask students how the room is

organized. Are books and toys and paper put in the same box? Or do books go inone place and papers in another? Why? Let them discover that alphabetical order

is the same way. It is organizing words so we can find them quickly. Guide class

to put the 5 words in alphabetical order by the first letter.

33. Dictionary

Objective: Instant letter recognition Alphabet as a sequencing tool Dictionary use

Materials: Dictionary

Activity: Lead students to discover that dictionaries are in alphabetical order. Write the

word dog on the board and tell students to look at the first letter of the first

word. Ask students where this letter is in the alphabet? If the word begins with

this letter, where would the word be in the dictionary? Would the word be in the

first or second half of the dictionary? Discuss the first letter of the word and ask a

student to open the dictionary to where they think the word might be. Show the

students guidewords and lead students to use first letter of the word to decide if

they should go toward the front or back of the dictionary. Locate 2-3 words.

34. My Book of Words



Materials: (7) 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper folded in half and stapled plus colored paper for

the cover.Activity: Students write a title (Jane's Dictionary or Bryan's Book of Words) on the cover

and their name as the author and illustrator. Write one letter of the alphabet

(capital and lower case) on each page and draw or paste pictures that begin with

that letter. Title page: title, their name as author and illustrator.



Environmental Print Letters in a canister:

Cut out letters and place in a film canister.

Shake the canister and spill out the letters.

o Put the letters of the alphabet in order

o Make as manywords as you can and record them on the strip of paper

o Find the letters for the word family ake-now make as many words as you

can that have ake.

o Using the word families such as an, ap, at, it, in, aw, ay, id, am et, ill, ock,

ank, ame, ink, ish, ice, ide, ight, and any others you can think of to make

words.

o Make a word with the letters in the canister, and use that word in a

sentence.

o Make a word with the letters in the canister - Canyou make any words

that rhyme with the word you made? Record the word on

paper and write the words that rhyme with it.

o Using the letters in the canister, make a one, two, three and four syllable

word.

catchem while theyre young

Documents