How could you use a routine experience with letters in the environment to build alphabet knowledge?

Question

How could you use a routine experience with letters in the environment to build alphabet knowledge?

Answer 1

Transitions

ex)

*  As children enter into the classroom write a letter with washable marker on their hand.  When it is time to dismiss to another activity after your morning group time, show a letter, trace with your finger or do air writing and ask who has that letter on their hand.  That person is welcome to go to the next activity.

*  I've seen it where teachers label their small group tables with a letters.  They change weekly but it is an easy way to incorporate letter knowledge.  Refer to the tables by the letter name.

*  Sign in time/attendence.  Have them find their name and place it under the correct letter on your word wall.  (Can be a name wall instead if you don't use a word wall).

*  Morning meeting:  start the morning off with a sentence that has many of it's words starting with a specific letter.  Like in Dr. Seuss's ABC  Aunt Annie's Aligator ate apples.  (Alliteration)

*Alphabet Dice:  Make an alphabet die for this game of luck. Cut two half-gallon milk cartons in half. Push one carton bottom inside the other to form a large cube. Cover the cube with contact paper "before" labeling each of its sides with a different letter of the alphabet. To use the cube, youngsters take turns rolling the die and naming the letter.   When they have named the letter they can go to the next activity.

*Find a Letter

Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb

Find a letter in your name,

In your name, in your name.

Find a letter in your name

And tell us what it is.

Find a letter that you know,

That you know, that you know.

Find a letter that you know

And tell us what it is.

* Letter Stepping:  Print the letters of the alphabet on a large piece of paper.  For younger children, print the letters in abc order; for older children print letters in random order.  Tape it securely.  Say a word to a child, and ask the child to step on each letter to spell it out.  

There are many more alphabet knowledge activities that you can incoporate throughout your day.  I find that there are some regular transitions and I like to use these as a way to work on basic concepts...including alphabet.

Having a set of alphabet cards/visuals available helps as well.

Answer 2

label stuff in your classroom so the kiddies can see words in print  (door, desk, chair, ect.)  point out signs on walks through the school (like EXIT)