Letter Knowledge

Hi, my name is Ms. Brown and this is my first time blogging :)

I have had the pleasure of working with Jenna for almost 3 weeks now. As part of my Bachelor's of Education, I am taking an "alternative" placement in a setting outside of the typical classroom.  Using all of the wonderful resources, advice and knowledge from Jenna and the Early Literacy team, I've put together some information that I have found to be useful and relevant to promoting language and literacy at home.  Stay tuned for more! 

2 of the best predictors of your child’s success in reading are letter knowledge and phonemic awareness. Here are some ways to help improve your child's letter knowledge. 

1. Recognizing the Alphabet

Knowing how to identify letters is an important stepping stone for learning how to read. Further, if your child can name all the letters, he or she will be better able to understand the alphabetic principle – knowing that each letter stands for a specific sound.

The “Elemeno” Problem:

The Alphabet song is usually our first introduction to this alphabetic principal. However, about half way through the song, most children tend to combine the l, m, n, and o, to make "elemeno.” It can be difficult for your child to understand that each letter makes its own sound, when these 4 letters are made into one big nonsense word.

To make sure your child has a solid alphabetic foundation, try some of these suggestions:

- Listen to several versions of the alphabet song.

• “ZYXs” was featured on the Big Comfy Couch, and challenges your child to sing the ABCs backwards.  
  

• 
  Preview this great CD of ABC songs with a twist. Bonus- they leave out the “elemeno” lyric.

- On tongue depressors, or popsicle sticks, make a set of alphabet sticks. Have your child arrange them in order.

- Provide many forms of the alphabet – sandpaper letters, for instance, are great tactile forms of the alphabet (see below). Or something they’re sure to love – eewy gooey letters! Place some clear hair gel in a bag, and add some food colouring. Make sure the bag is zipped tight! Have your child form letters with their finger on the outside of the bag.

- Read lots of Alphabet Books. Alphabet Books are Great Because They ...

• Help children learn letter sequence
• Help children connect a sound with a letter
• Support oral language development in beginning readers
  

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Alphabeasts by Wallace Edwards

Home-made Fall Book

Here is a book you can make with your child to celebrate the arrival of fall (or even use the fancier word...autumn!) This book is made using shapes cut from fall colours, as well as the letter that each shape begins with. This book can be used to teach colours, vocabulary, letter sounds, and so on.

You can even extend the activity with your child by making a complete alphabet book. Find fall pictures with your child using magazines, the newspaper, and flyers.

Literacy is delicious

Introducing...MULTI-GRAIN ALPHABET PRETZLES!!!

If you haven't seen these delightful snacks yet, you must go to your local President's Choice (PC) grocier and pick up a bag. I was introduced to these at a staff retreat on Friday and have been raving about them since then. I am impressed with PC for comming out with such a fun and healthy snack (they are blue menu - low fat)!

These pretzles offer a great jumping off point for talking about letters and the sounds they make. Also, can you think of a better way to work on name recognition???


What do you think?

Shape Monster Booklet

Help your child notice shapes by pointing them out and talking about them. Seeing and recognizing shapes is a very important step children must take before learning their letters of the alphabet. When you think of an upper case A, there is a triangle shape in it.

Go to the website below to find a printable Shape Monster booklet. Your child can colour the shapes in it. Afterwards, you can read it together!

Click here for the Shape Monster Booklet!

Another Idea...



Look at the book Colour Zoo by Lois Ehlert. It is really fascinating how you can see the animals just using basic shapes. Ask your child, "What animals do you see?"

Read the book. Talk about the shapes as well as the animals. The back of the book has separate shapes which you can also point out or refer to from time to time as you read the book.

25 Ways to Use Magnetic Letters at Home

Here are some suggestions on how you can use magnetic letters at home (or in child care). Enjoy!

SOURCE: http://www.olentangy.k12.oh.us/pdf/kinder/magblocks.pdf

1. LETTER PLAY Encourage children to play with the magnetic letters on the refrigerator or on a table. Playing with letters allows children to learn more about how they look.

2. MAKING NAMES A child’s name is their most important word. Have children make their names several times, mixing up the letters, making their names and checking them with their names written on a card.

3. LETTER MATCH Invite children to find other letters that look exactly the same as a letter in their name (e.g., place an m on the refrigerator and have the child find all the ones that look like it). They don’t need to know the letter name.

4. NAME GAME Have children make names of friends or family. Have them make the name, mix the letters, and make the names several times.

5. MAKING WORDS Make a simple word like mom or dad or sun and have your child make the same word by matching each letter below the model (sun – s-u-n).

6. ALPHABET TRAIN Have your child put the lowercase magnetic letters in the order of the alphabet. Then they can point to them and sing the alphabet son. Have them repeat the process with uppercase letters.

7. CONSONANT/VOWEL SORT Have children sort the consonant letters and the vowel letters.

8. FEATURE SORT Have children sort letters in a variety of ways – e.g., letters with long sticks and letters with short sticks, letters with circles and letters with no circles, letters with tunnels and letters with dots, letters with slanted sticks and letters with straight sticks.

9. COLOR SORT Have children sort all the red, blue, green, yellow letters.

10. UPPERCASE/LOWERCASE MATCH Have children match the uppercase letters with the lowercase form.

11. WRITING LETTERS Have children select ten different letters and write each letter on a paper. They can use the magnetic letter as a model.

12. WRITING WORDS Have children make five simple words (such as dog, fun, big, hat, like, sit)and then write them on a sheet of paper.

13. MAKING FOOD WORDS Make some words that identify food – e.g., bun, corn, rice. Have children draw pictures of each, mix the letters, and make the words again.

14. MAKING COLOR WORDS Give children a list of color words with an item made in that coloras a picture support (for example, a red ball). Have children make the color word with magnetic letters using the model, mix the letters, and make it again several times.

15. MAKING NUMBER WORDS Give children a list of numerals with the number word next to each. Have children make the word and mix the letters two or three times.

16. LETTER NAMES Specify a color and have children take one colored letter at a time and say the letter name.

17. MAGAZINE MATCH Look through a magazine or newspaper with children, cutting out some larger print simple words (such as man, box, boy). Glue them on a sheet of paper with plenty of space below each. Have children make each word below the printed one.

18. FIND THE LETTER Make a set of alphabet letters, upper-or lowercase, on a set of index cards. Shuffle the “deck” and take turns drawing a card and finding the magnetic letter that corresponds to it.

19. LETTER IN THE CIRCLE Draw two circles and place an h in one and an o in the other. Have children put letters in the h circle and say how they are like the h. Do the same with the o. This activity will help children learn to look at features of letters. Vary the letters in the circles; accept their explanations about what they are noticing.

20. CHANGE THE WORD Build several simple words and show the children how to change, add, or take away a letter to make a new word. Examples are: me, he, we; me, my: at, hat, sat. After the demonstration put the needed letters in a special place in an empty container for them to practice.

21. ALPHABET SEQUENCE Place the letter a on the table and have the child find the next letter (b)and place the letter c next to the b and have the child look for the next letter (d). Continue through the alphabet with lowercase letters. Repeat the uppercase letters.

22. LETTER SORT Place a pile of magnetic letters on the table for the child to spread out. Have the child put all letters that are the same together in a pile. Then if appropriate, have the child give the letter name for each pile.

23. LETTER CHAINS Make a five letter chain (for example, pfrmo). Have children find the sameletters and make the same chain below your model. Then have the children make a chain that you copy.

24. LETTER BINGO Make two cards with a grid of three boxes across and three down. Trace one lowercase letter in each box. Put a pile of magnetic letters that are representing the letters on the cards and some that are not in a plastic bowl. Play a Letter Bingo game. Take turns taking a letter, saying its name, and then placing the letter in the box if there is a match. If there is not match, put the letter back in the bowl. The first to fill three boxes across, down, or diagonally says, “Bingo” and wins the game.Play the same game with uppercase letters.

25. RHYMING PAIRS Use a magnetic cookie sheet. Make a simple three letter word such as dog, but, cat, fan, can, hot, man, net, pan, rat, sit. Say the word and then say a second word that rhymes (dog-log, bug-mug, cat-fat, fan-man). Ask the child to make the rhyming word below each.

Magnetic Doodling Boards

The Magna Doodle is a good educational tool for children because it allows children to practice their letters, write messages, and also create original works of art (with no mess!) Parents and caregivers can also use a magna doodle to teach shapes and numbers.


There are lots of versions of the magna doodle in stores, not just the brand name mentioned. The one pictured below was bought at a toy store for $3. It is small, which makes it a nice size for going along in the car.


How would you use a magnetic doodling board with a child?

Letter Knowledge Tip: Playdough Cutters

Whip up a batch of home made play dough and provide your child with alphabet playdough cutters. There are lots of activities you can do with the playdough.

Your child can:
- free play with the cutters
- cut their name into the playdough
- match objects they cut out with the first letter/sound of the object's name
- build larger letters by rolling the playdough into snakes. Depending on your child's developmental level, you may choose to give them an outline of the letters or they may prefer to make them free hand.

Playdough is not only useful in learning letters! It can improve hand strength, dexterity, and motor skills. Recent research also shows that using your fingers and hands actually stimulates your brain and increases the number of neural connections it makes.

What Can You Do With Playdough???

Talk about it
Encourage language development. Say, "Roll the playdough" and "Pat it!" Talk about the colour, cutters, how it feels. Ask your child what they are making and join them in their dramatic play.

Scent it
Add some nontoxic scents (such as vanilla, almond, peppermint, or orange) to your homemade play dough to create a new sensory experience. Encourage your child to describe the smells with words.

Make impressions in the play dough
When the dough is smooth and flat, encourage your child to press small objects with different shapes and textures (fork, buttons, dried pasta, seashells) into the dough to make imprints and create an interesting pattern.

Make snakes or worms
Show your child how to make a long dough snake or worm by using the flat of his hand to roll a lump of play dough back and forth on a flat surface.

Cut it
Learning to use scissors can be a challenge for many kids because it's difficult for them to hold and cut floppy paper. Playdough, on the otherhand, cuts easily! Using child-safe scissors, encourage your child to snip the playdough into small pieces.

Does anyone have any great home made play dough recipes to share?

Now I Know My ABCs...

According to cognitive and developmental psychologist, Marilyn Jager Adams, “The two best predictors of early reading success are alphabet recognition (letter knowledge) and phonemic awareness”.

Letter knowledge is knowing that letters are different from each other, and that they have different names and sounds.

Most children enter school being able to say the alphabet. Many children will learn this skill by about age four. However, being able to say the names of the letters is not the same as “knowing” the letters. Children learn the alphabet best through the active exploration of the relationships between letter names, the sounds of the letter names, their visual characteristics and the motor movement involved in their formation. Set up alphabet activities where children can both see and touch letters.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to help your children learn their ABCs. Instead, here are some ideas that you can use to make your own games that promote letter knowledge.


Using a die cutter

Queen's University has an Ellison machine (or die cutter) that can be used by the public. A die cutter is a hand-operated machine that uses steel rule die shapes to cut through a wide range of materials quickly and easily. It's basically like using a cookie cutter. Die cutters work much better than scissors. using scissors takes time and patience. However, die-cutting allows you to quickly replicate the same perfect shape over and over again. You can make these for little to no cost - purchase your materials you wish to cut at the dollar store to save on costs.

Here's a video on how to use an Ellison machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC1F3JcmozM

Note: Some scrapbooking stores make die cutters available to customers as well.


**Create a Letter Sensory Bin**
Provide different textures of letters in a sensory bin.
Textures you can use:
- sand paper
- foam
- felt
- scrap fabric/old clean clothing
- paper
- sponges
- faux fur
- cardboard from cereal boxes


**Create Lacing Letters**
Using a strong and sturdy material, cut a 4" set of the alphabet. Punch holes along the outline of each letter. Cut out 26 one-foot pieces of yarn. Put tape around one end of each piece of string to form a point (this will be the head of a “needle”). Tape each “needle and thread” to one end of every letter of the alphabet. Set the ‘lacing letters’ on a tray for children to explore.


**Sandpaper Letter Chart**
Use sandpaper to and 2' letters to create a complete sandpaper alphabet. Glue the letters onto a piece of bristol/poster board. Hang the chart at children’s eye level on the wall or set it on a small table/the floor for exploration. Talk to children about the shapes of the letters and the letter names.


**Sorting Letters**
To help young children learn letters, have them sort letters by various features such as those that have a stick, a circle, a dot, a hump, a hook (tail) or a slant. Use magnetic or foam letters at first so children can feel the shape of the letter. You could also use letters on printed cards. Have older children sort letters based on their attributes. Talk with children about how some letters may have more than one feature. For example, both sticks and circles in “d,b,p,q”.

Here are some links that may be helpful to you:
Ellison website:
http://www.ellisoneducation.com/category/32

Ellison Machine information at Queen's University:
http://library.queensu.ca/webedu/services/ellison.pdf

Queen's Education library's hours:
http://library.queensu.ca/webedu/edhours.htm

More suggestions to come tomorrow!

Reading is as easy as ABC

One of the best predictors of early reading success is alphabet recognition. Alphabet books are a great way to talk about letters with your child. Many alphabet books centre on child-friendly themes or concepts, such as animals or places.

Alphabet books are a fun way to help your child:
Learn the letter sequence of the alphabet
Connect the printed letters with letter sounds
Develop vocabulary and stimulate language use

The first time you read an alphabet book with your child, read it without pausing so they can enjoy the language and illustrations. Next time you read it, talk about the names of the letters and the sounds the letters make.

Focus on sounds that are important to your child. For example, if your child’s name is Melissa, talk about how the letter M makes the sound ‘Mmm’ like “Mmm...muffins!”