This is a page that is devoted entirely to learning the alphabet. Most of the items for individual letters have been updated and I will be adding more and revising some of the old things in the near future.  (Bear with me!) I know that many of you are anxious to have access to these materials and I appreciate your patience! If you have any requests, please don't hesitate to let me know at carl1404@msn.com 

Most early attempts at literacy start out as barely recognizable drawings and doodles. Until children have learned to perceive the attributes and characteristics of letters, they will continue to use and confuse them. On this page you will find research based activities to use at home or in your classroom. Most of the activities are geared toward kindergarten and first grade, but I have found that they helped older children who had already learned to write in their primary language: Arabic! 

Easy as ABC! Collection

The Alphabet Collection contains  hundreds of pages of games, alphabet readers with pocket chart words and pictures, games, puzzles, sorting activities, handwriting, mini books, word cards, shape books, songs and poems, activity packets for individual consonants and an alphabet chart.

Samples of Activity Packets

 

Available in the website catalog: no cost

What does research say?

I retired from teaching in the Language Arts Specialist program at UCSD,in June, 2009, and still have many of the materials that I created for my students. Please feel free to use these for staff development at your site and/or for parent education.

Alphabet Knowledge
(PowerPoint Presentation)

Alphabet Knowledge Handout
 

How to Teach Alphabetic Awareness to Struggling Readers

Shared Reading of the Alphabet Chart

Click on the above link to download a list of alternatives for reading the ABC chart. This develops stronger perception and encourages children to take a more critical look at the letters of the alphabet. Mount your chart on vellum, laminate and keep it handy near your shared reading area.

Purpose: To provide children with a special set of cues that can be used during reading and writing activities.

Materials: Use a large ABC chart for shared reading in the group. Reduce the chart (or download the Alphabet Chart from this page) and place a copy in each child's writing folder to be used as a personal resource during journal writing.

Collect a large variety of quality ABC books to use for read-alouds and shared reading. Read one a day, particularly at the beginning of the year. Cover some of the letters with Post-its and ask children for predictions before removing the stickers. Share a variety of ABC books with your child or group to promote flexible knowledge about letters and sounds.

A student-generated big book of the Alphabet with letters and picture cues may also be used for shared reading activities.

Procedures: Gather the children around or in front of the large ABC Chart. Point to each letter (upper and lower case) and each picture and you lead the children in a shared reading of the chart. Read the letters fluently and pause at appropriate points to allow the children to lead the reading of the letters or to say the pictured cues. Read the chart daily until your child or group is able to read the chart independently. The chart soon becomes a familiar resource for associating letter and sound cues during reading and writing events.

Let's Deal
(Alphabetizing Flash Cards)

My first grade team had a flexible way of having their students practice alphabetical order. We purchased multiple sets of colorful sight word flash cards that are produced by several publishers. The picture is on one side and the word on the other. (We laminated them for durability.) Each child was given 5-10 cards each day to alphabetize as part of their daily seatwork during reading groups. It was a good way to practice alphabetizing while reinforcing sight word vocabulary at the same time. You can differentiate the activity by raising the bar for some students with alphabetizing to the second and third letter. Struggling students or children with poor fine motor skills only had 5 cards each day and none began with the same letter. We encouraged the children to look at the alphabet line on their desks or the one on the wall. Before they copied the words onto a paper, they had a predetermined buddy/parent helper, etc. check them. It was painless that way since they could just rearrange the cards if needed. It can be used as a portable center since they can do it on the floor or on the top of their desks.

Some teachers sort the cards into 3 groups and put them into color coded, numbered envelopes. It's easy to keep track of who completes each envelope. Just copy a class or group list and put it on the front of the envelope. Kids can circle or check their name upon completion. It's good to have the whole alphabet in front of them or available for reference. You'll hear some at-risk students singing the alphabet song as they work on this activity! I love it!

This is a good lead-in to using the dictionary. If your kids have personal writing dictionaries, have them add new words during your guided reading or skill lessons. Ask them where they will find the first letter of the word: at the beginning, middle, or end of the alphabet and refer to your alphabet chart. This will quickly eliminate turning countless pages while looking for the right letter!

My Little Book of Words for Writing

This is a handy little reference book that is meant to support early and emergent readers and writers. It contains Dr. Edward Fry's first three hundred high frequency words. Each letter of the alphabet has its own page with a colorful graphic that serves as an anchor for the sound. I would suggest laminating the cover and then binding the book at the top.

Ways of Learning the Alphabet

Check Linda Dorn's book, Apprenticeship in Literacy,  page 93, for a discussion of looking at letters and concrete suggestions which include looking at:   
          
The name of the letter
Show your child a letter card and ask him/her to tell you the name of the letter.

The  way the letter looks
Talk about the shape of the letter. What is the composition of the letter . . . circles, sticks, tails, etc.?

The sound the letter makes
Show your child a letter card and ask him/her to make the sound that the letter produces. Remember that each vowel makes two sounds.

The feel and look of the letter in our mouths (look in a mirror)

Focus on the pronunciation of the letter and the production of the sound. Where is the tongue, and what is it doing? Where are your teeth? (It helps to look in a mirror for this exercise.) I purchased a round makeup mirror with a stand at the local drugstore for this purpose. It was easy for children to handle, easy to store and the magnified side is great.

The movement of the letter as it is written (talk it through in steps)
Talk through the method of producing the letter in printed form.

Mrs. Word Bird 
Lyrics: Cherry Carl       Tune: It's a Small World"
 

Mrs. Word Bird wants to eat.
Fill her tummy with a treat.
Look for pictures here and there -
under every chair!

Look for bathtub and bacon and butterfly,
You'll find baby and books if you really try.
There is block, boat and bee,
This is fun you'll agree.
If you'll find just one for B.

Variation: verses are available for other letter sounds with reproducible picture cards.
 

Alphabet Flip Book

This is a sample of an alphabet flip book or "peekover" book. If you'd like directions on how to assemble these, please let me know. I have patterns for several other animals.

Alphabet Peekover Flip Books
Zip File Set
 
      
 

All Aboard for ABCs

Promoting Knowledge
of Letters and Words

This page contains lecture notes from an Apprenticeship in Literacy seminar with Linda Dorn. An explicit discussion of activities to support instruction in primary classrooms is included.

Letter Lotto
AlphaToons

Download and print the playing cards, mount on vellum, and laminate for use. This lotto game comes in two formats: one to review beginning consonant sounds and the other for letter recognition. Comes with directions for playing and enough cards for six children.

Use the graphic on the link for sequencing activities (number order, alphabetical order, story sequence, etc.)  Allow students to work collaboratively if needed.

Accountability Piece: Duplicate the recording sheet so that children can show the work they accomplished during center time. You may want to assemble the recording sheets in a sequencing log.

Option: Use the graphic as a template. Fill in some of the boxes. Laminate and allow the children to use wipe off pens or place in sheet protectors. Make a transparency and use in the overhead projector center.   

My Phonics Sticker Book

When you reproduce this book, you'll need to cut the pages into fourths, collate and bind. Print as many as you need for a group and use with alphabet stickers below. Students can "read' their sticker book, saying the name of the picture and the capital and lower case letters while pointing. This builds 1 to 1 and provides an anchor for automaticity in letter recognition.

Alphabet Stickers

Use with the Phonics Sticker Book above or in your instructional program if you're a reading teacher. Use laser labels (Avery Dennison #5260 or MACO #ML-3025), thirty labels per sheet, 1" x 2 5/8". Some teachers prefer that children draw their own pictures, but emergent readers rarely remember what it was they drew. This method produces a colorful book to read again and again. 

More Trace and Write Cards
 

Lower Case Modern Set
Capital Modern Set

(sample)

coming soon!

(Sample)

This set is available on the AlphaToons Practice Pages CD. However, if there is a letter or two that you need, please send me a request via email. The link above will allow you to download a zip file of all of the alphabet pages for this activity.

Writing Fine Motor Skill Activities
Zip File Set

 
(samples: 2 of 11)

Alphabet Word
Wheel Set

This set is available on the AlphaToons Practice Pages CD. However, if there is a letter or two that you need, please send me a request via email.