We begin by
looking at our new letter in our
Jolly Phonics big book,
hearing the letter name and sound, then
repeating what we hear. But that, of course, is only the beginning. . . .
We walk the letter (and usually say a chant about the formation).
We write the letter : On whiteboards . . .
On paper . . .
With chalk . . .
Or even with our fingers in some colored rice!
We sort our letters (The red cubes have "Mamas" - uppercase letters; while the magnets are all "babies" - lowercase.)
We go on letter hunts in poems and stories . . .
. . . Or to find objects beginning with a certain letter sound.
We match upper- and lowercase letters using clothespins and paint chips (good for fine motor practice and color identification, too).
Sometimes we stamp our letters.
(Teacher note: I like to make my own stamps using craft foam, bottle caps, and glue. I'll try to find a link or put a tutorial together soon. It's really easy, and the children love them!)
While studying the effects of the sun, we found the letters of our names hidden in blocks of ice.
It's fun to turn our bodies into letters. (We also used our legs to make "triangles" and did special "Tt"/"Triangle" jumping jacks.)
We amaze our teachers by making letters in our own ways . . .
Out of whatever we can find!
Or even by finding our favorite letters in a book we're reading.
(We especially love finding the letters in our names. They're very sneaky, always hiding in places around the room!)
We explore letters in poems hanging in the reading corner.
And of course while reading books!
So many letters to be found!
These are just a few of the everyday ways we learn about the English alphabet at school. We began using Jolly Phonics in mid-November, originally spending two weeks on each letter sound. Much of our first term was spent getting the children accustomed to reading and writing left to right. Now that they're comfortable turning pages and holding pencils, we've upped our pace a bit :)
More to come! Stay tuned.
