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Kathleen - Teachers.Net welcomes Anne "Mrs. Alphabet" who is again bringing her expertise and talents to our teachers..tonight's topic, "Fun With the Alphabet" should help educators at the early childhood level work with letters and sounds in a meaningful and enjoyable way. Anne, thank you for being here again!
Anne/K/FL - First, what do you already know about teaching the alphabet.
Kathleen - Anne, what I have learned is that it is not necessary to isolate and teach one letter a week
Anne/K/FL - Thank you Kathleen it's a pleasure to be here to share some of my experiences teaching the alphabet.
Sandy/K/Mo - I have learned that I need to use different methods, auditory, tactile,
Anne/K/FL - Yes, Kathleen that is what seems to be in the news recently.
Addie k/mo - i think that it is important to build upon the children's interests and prior knowledge
April - During my student teaching I was a part of the letter a week method .
Anne/K/FL - What do you want to learn about teaching the alphabet?
Jennifer - I want to learn how to incorporate it more effectively in my everyday lang. activities
April - Using the children's names from the beginning of the year also helps. That's part of their interest.
Addie k/mo - i just want to add to my "toolbox"...there are always those few children that have difficulty with the alphabet and i would like additional strategies to reach them
Gumbo/K/La - ........would like new ideas/outlooks...
Anne/K/FL - Jennifer, that's a great way of communicating your wants!
Kathleen - I'd like to be sure I have lots of varied activities
Anne/K/FL - Addie, I like your attitude expressing your openess to accept new ideas and techniques.
Addie k/mo - april, i am going to start my year using the kids names - a la pat cunningham's "month by month..."
April - I'd like to learn how to move them from simply knowing the letter sounds to actually using them in 1st grade
Anne/K/FL - Kat, variety is also a good stragedy for teaching children.
Anne/K/FL - Now let's start with visual can you give me some ways to make sure children are visually zeroing in on what you're teaching.
Jennifer - I used to teach the letters in isolation until last year. Instead of focusing on one letter at a time, we learned them as the opportunity arose and they seemed to learn them and there sounds a lot better than before.
Sandy/K/Mo - whenever I write something I say the letter name and they "echo" spell it
Addie k/mo - i guess, the obvious...that they are looking in the direction of what you are showing them....i bought a laser pointer and the kids really liked it....helped them stay focused
Anne/K/FL - I use puppets, props, pictures, etc.
April - This may be old, but what about forming the letter on the floor with their bodies like Sesame Street.
Kathleen - To make sure of visually zeroing in--one way is to use and provide pointers..then the children's attention is drawn to letters in text, and they can experiment (reinforce) during their free choice time
Peachy/K/NC - A print rich room helps.
Anne/K/FL - Addie, that's great I use a pointer. Did you ever use a flashlight?
Addie k/mo - yes, but more for "math board"...they really thought that was neat
April - A flashlight! That is great.
Anne/K/FL - What I'm saying first is how do you know the children are focusing in on what you're teaching?
Addie k/mo - that's good, peachy...they cant help, but look at letters and words :-)
Addie k/mo - involve the kids in the lesson by asking questions and having them come up front and perform appropriate parts of the lesson
Kathleen - One way you know is by the feedback we get during group work..
Anne/K/FL - Now, second what do you use to check if the children are listening to what you say?
Jennifer - involve the children in the lesson
April - Games in which everybody has a part and can show what he or she knows.
Kathleen - And watching them apply it in their own 'work' (aka play)
Addie k/mo - the "echoing" that sandy mentioned would work as an indicator of listening also
Jennifer - by asking questions, giving them activities to complete using the skill you taught
Anne/K/FL - That's where the echoing is a great tool, Sandy.
Peachy/K/NC - Having them participate during shared reading and writing. They like to "notice" things and come up and point it out to everyone.
Sandy/K/Mo - I listen for them to repeat and apply it in their writing
Anne/K/FL - That's excellent Peachy shared reading is wonderful.
Addie k/mo - using poems and songs to help the children remember information that you are teaching
Sandy/K/Mo - in our big book time they will point out letters they know
Anne/K/FL - Addie that's great children love to memorize poems, do you use a poetry book where children can read a poem and illustrate the poem, too?
April - Addie, poems are going to be the key in my room. I recently received a package with a poem for each week of the school year.
J@Va - Has anyone seen or read the book Alphabatics, it's a great alphabet book?
Anne/K/FL - I use funny children's straws for pointers and the children find letters and words pointing with the straw.
Cheryl/SC - Our K kids have made great gains with Cunningham's Building Blocks model. The personal association the kids make with letters seems to be the key--i.e. their names, fast food restaurants, etc.
April - We will be making that poetry book to illustrate and share with parents.
Addie k/mo - we have a poetry walk in our class...six poems per week, two new ones are added and 4 "favorites"...on fridays i give the kids a copy of the poems that are "coming down" to illustrate and keep in their poetry notebook. it makes a good collection for them to take home at the end of the year
Anne/K/FL - What physical activities do you use to encourage letter recognition and phonics?
Anne/K/FL - Thanks, Cheryl those are great ideas for letter and word recognition.
Jennifer - I use a Bean Bag alphabet song by hap palmer
Anne/K/FL - Jennifer, I love Hap Palmer he is so clever and creative.
Addie k/mo - we have an alphabet/phonics center with puzzles, alphabet stamps, do-a-dot markers and alphabet templates, etc....for the children to choose activities from which to practice letter/sound rec.
April - I have cut out the letters from sandpaper with the diecut and plan to use these as review cards for my 1st graders. very tactile.
Sandy/K/Mo - I have several phonics file foldergames..
Anne/K/FL - Yes April the tactile sense is important! Did you ever blindfold children doing this activity the kids love to be blindfolded
Kathleen - Anne, what are some of your favorite physical activities to teach alphabet and sounds?
Gumbo/K/La - recyled mardi gras beads to form letters.....I also use the manual alphabet and sign language.....puzzles,etc.like addie..
Addie k/mo - i am planning to have a group of kids form the letter 'sesame street style' (as was already mentioned) and taking a pix with my digital cam. then i am going to print out the pix to make a large abc strip for my room
April - I did that with a child I tutored during college. He loved it!! He wanted to play the teacher.
Sandy/K/Mo - Addie that sounds neat.. post it on your page?
J@Va - I found that the Leapfrog's Alphabet electronic board helps a lot with letter recognition and sound.
Addie k/mo - sandy, i will when i get it done and make sure that it works :-)
Anne/K/FL - I assign a physical activity to each letter for example b bounce like a bunny, c curl like a cat, d dance like a dinosaur and I have a rhyme that accompanies each action.
Sandy/K/Mo - Anne.. what do you do with the puppets?
Anne/K/FL - First Sandy I use the puppet to gain their attention and then later I have an Alphabet Theater with children puppets from A to Z and animal puppet from A to
April - Anne, do you act those out with the children?
Anne/K/FL - Alphabet Center for the children to use.
Anne/K/FL - Yes, I am an actress at heart. I taught Creative Dramatics and Dance to Teachers and that is my specialty.
Anne/K/FL - For the ch blend I teach the Cha Cha Cha>
Cheryl/SC - What's the secret to getting the shy kids to participate?
Sandy/K/Mo - my room is over the office and if we make to much noise they call up and tell us to stop :-)
Anne/K/FL - Do you sing songs for alphabet recognition and phonics?
Sandy/K/Mo - we sing for the alphabet but I don't have any phonics songs
Jennifer - I have tape called Fun with Phonics-Consonants that has a song for each consonant. They are real cute and use a lot of the specific letter sounds
April - Anne, that is my problem. Coming from 4th, I just don't know that many. Need suggestions.
Anne/K/FL - Chery, that's a good question I find something very special that they do and build their ego up first and then coax them into participating.
Kathleen - Cheryl, puppets help the shy kids feel more comfortable
Anne/K/FL - Kids love music I wrote my own but I'm hearing about some on the mailrings.
Gumbo/K/La - we just sing our own little sounds of the alphabet---apple, apple /a/ /a/ /a/,etc.......
Kathleen - I use a Discovery Toys song for letter/phonics practice
Roe/k-1/RI - Anne, my kids love 'Chicka,chicka,Boom! Boom!' Boom
Gumbo/K/La - ..use cassettes,etc. too.....and I'm making up some more songs.....
Addie k/mo - i also find that with the shy kids, i encourage them to participate, and give them every opportunity for a turn...but then i pretty much adopt a "suit yourself" attitude....it isnt long before they see that everyone else is having fun and no one will laugh at them and they will participate too.
Peachy/K/NC - We chant the sounds along with pictures on a poster.
Anne/K/FL - Yes, Kathleen the puppets help but also try to coax them into the Housekeeping area or have another child more agressive play with thme and help.
Kathleen - Peachy's and Gumbo's sounds song and chart sound like the Discovery Toys song and chart I use
Addie k/mo - on the mailring there were some cute alphabet raps! i am putting them on charts and illustrating them
Roe/k-1/RI - We also just chant using our pictures, a-apple, b-ball,etc.
Anne/K/FL - Roe, the kids love Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Peachy/K/NC - Mine came from Guided Reading by Fountas.
Kathleen - Anne, I meant shy children participating in the oral or physical actvities for letter/sound practice
Sandy/K/Mo - Roe do you put up a tree for Chicka Chika Boom?
Addie k/mo - one thing that we did differently last year was i printed letter patterns on sentence strips and we "read" them by making the letter sounds
Peachy/K/NC - Good idea, Addie.
Cheryl/SC - Anne, what do you do with Chicka...?
Anne/K/FL - What do you teach first letter recognition and then phonics, both together or what?
Roe/k-1/RI - Another great big book is 'On Market Street'. I've taped the story so they can listen to it on their own after they are familiar with it.
Peachy/K/NC - I do it together starting with their names.
Addie k/mo - my kids love "chicka..." too. we made "chickaboomers" which were noise makers out of two liter bottles. also, when we got to the chickas we would clap and on the booms we would bump hips with a neighbor
Anne/K/FL - Cheryl, that is a book that probably has a song that goes with it to share with the children.
Roe/k-1/RI - Sandy, yes we have made a tree. The kids love it!!
Kathleen - Anne, neither letters or phonics first, integrated
Sandy/K/Mo - I teach both at first then really stress phonics again
Jennifer - I teach both letter recognition and phonics together
Anne/K/FL - Addie that's adorable see how clever you are and what you did with just one book!
Cheryl/SC - I know Bill Martin's book but wondered about your particular activity.
Addie k/mo - on the letter patterns, we especially practiced ones that were visually similar, such as b and d to practice telling them apart when they were right together
Roe/k-1/RI - Kathleen, I'm with you. I do not teach any letters in isolation, and have found this has the best results by year's end.
Anne/K/FL - Cheryl, that's not a book that I expanded upon, but Addie and others did some cute activities.
Addie k/mo - thanks, anne...except that one of the first grade teachers (jokingly) complained that her first graders had to do the "hip thing" when they got to that story in their reader....she just wasnt doing it right!!!
Addie k/mo - i teach letters and sounds mostly integrated, but i still introduce each one using the success in kindergarten reading and writing program....i just feel better knowing that everything has been systematically "presented"
Anne/K/FL - I use Mrs. Alphabet and her 33 children from A to Z. I make up wild stories and the children are flabberghasted at what the kids do and never forget one detail. For example Bobby the Baseball Player put buggle gum in a girl's hairdo oooo!
Anne/K/FL - Addie, yes many programs are excellent and well structured for teaching in the classroom.
Anne/K/FL - Do you think it is harder to teach consonants or vowels?
Peachy/K/NC - That reminds me...I use tongue twisters for each letter. We have a new one on a sentence strip each day.
Cheryl/SC - One vote for vowels!
Addie k/mo - i find that there are certain consonant sounds that are harder for the kids to remember than others....long vowels are easy....and kids seem to mix up short e and i, they seem more difficult to hear
Sandy/K/Mo - I have a harder time with vowels..
Kathleen - short vowels are very hard for kindergartners...wait until grade one for that with most children
Jennifer - I definitely think it is harder to teach vowels.
Anne/K/FL - Peachy, I love tongue twisters can you share one?
Mary K&1 - I've been checking mail and not paying good attention, so I don't know it you've discussed using Dr. Suess's ABC Book. I read that book, a little at a time over and over. We do "In the ear and out the mouth" it's great for helping the kids get a feeling for the sounds of the letters. I start with the Easy sounds first - the ones whose names start with their sounds, this can include long vowel sounds.
Kathleen - Peachy, would you give an example of the tongue twister on sentence strip idea?
Roe/k-1/RI - I think the vowels are more difficult--especially in New England!
Addie k/mo - i find that mine do fine on short a, o and u....they at least learn "keywords" to go with the short e and i....we have to teach them though according to our curriculum
Mary K&1 - Short vowel are the hardest for the kids to hear, so they are the hardest to teach
Peachy/K/NC - They came from P. Cunningham's Phonics They Use, Anne.
Anne/K/FL - I have a system I use for vowels I tell the kids girls are perfect they always say the name of their letter , but boys are wierd and make wierd sounds for example Ami is long A and her brother Adam is short A.
Jennifer - We do not really teach vowels in kindergarten. We just teach them that there are five vowels .
Roe/k-1/RI - I use a name chart in my classroom. It helps when we do interactive writing and is a good link for the children. "chair begins like Chad, etc. This year everyone knew "w", since we had a William. This really helps.
Mary K&1 - Do any of you fine folks use the Letter People?
Kathleen - Anne, I might not feel comfortable with the girls are perfect boys are wierd activity, but you find that you are able to acheive results by teaching a trick for remembering vowel sounds?
Anne/K/FL - Jennifer we just have fun telling stories, but I am amazed that children do comprehend this system.
nat/k/ma - I teach short vowels but they don't really get them. They say short a for all the short sounds
nat/k/ma - I use the letter people now for 25 years.
April - Who are the letter people?
Anne/K/FL - Mary, I use my own Letter People, but the Letter People you are referring to are fun too.
Jennifer - Anne I like that idea. I might try it. Just to introduce the vowels and their sounds
nat/k/ma - Little balloon people with special characteristics. Mr M has a munching mouth. The kids love the balloon people. They love the characteristics of each letter of the alphabet.
Anne/K/FL - Kat, I'm only joking with the kids and they know that because there is one boy who says the name of his letter Xavier.
Anne/K/FL - I like the idea of using the children's names to expand letter recognition and phonics.
Kathleen - Anne, maybe there are inanimate objects that could be substituted in case some children don't 'get' the joke.
Sandy/K/Mo - I think I need to take the year off and just go observe all you wonderful people :-)
Anne/K/FL - What activities do you use for printing letters and words?
Roe/k-1/RI - Ugh! Handwriitng!
Mary K&1 - nat, the Letter People were first introduces in 73, that's when I started using them also!
Gumbo/K/La - shaving cream writing.....
Addie - Hello, can anyone tell me a little bit about inventive spelling?
Jennifer - We write letters in the sand, with finger paint, in shaving cream. We paint them, stamp them and trace them.
Sandy/K/Mo - I have small chalkboards, sand tray, air writing and pencil/paper in letters to people or stories
Anne/K/FL - Roe, you can have fun printing like using chocolate pudding, shaving cream, whipped cream, ketchup.
Addie k/mo - my kids favorite are the do-a-dot markers and letter templates
Cheryl/SC - We don't do any formal handwriting instruction. We model a lot of writing and let kids experiment wherever they are in whatever stage of writing they can.
Marie/1/Canada - Hi. Maybe to put less stress on the boy/girl idea, you could say that there are "shy" kids (short vowels) who don't say their own name, and "loud" kids (long vowels) who like to say their own name. (Just off the top of my head. My son would be offended by the boy/girl thing.)
Addie - You do this with your students???
Roe/k-1/RI - We have to teach letter formation, but I don't stress it. Mostly chalkboards, white boards, sand, salt boxes.
Anne/K/FL - Addie, what do you want to know about inventive spelling?
Addie - Anne, I want to know if it is effective, pros and cons, etc
Kathleen - Marie, that's a good idea..I would be more comfortable with the 'shy' and 'loud' idea. thank you.
Addie - I am doing a research paper
Sandy/K/Mo - I will get the cheap bisquits and have them make their letters and then we make them cinnamin doughnuts
Anne/K/FL - That's a good idea Marie, thank you.
Addie k/mo - i find that it is a good way for the children to apply their letter sound knowledge and it allows them to communicate through writing far earlier than if they had to have everything spelled correctly
Kathleen - We seem to have a second Addie here...
Anne/K/FL - Cheryl, modeling is a most effective tool for handwriting.
Peachy/K/NC - What is your opinion of "teaching" handwriting in K, Anne. I mostly model and offer lots of hands on things.
Mary K&1 - I'm going to stick my neck out here, but I feel very strongly about the importance of good letter formation. I work with too many kids in RR who don't have a good system for forming their letters and spend too much time "drawing" them rather then having an organized system for automatic formation
Cheryl/SC - It's mostly modeling to convey that writing is telling--less about handwriting.
Sandy/K/Mo - I encourage inventive spelling and send notes home to parents explaining it.
April - Sandy, that is adorable! Does it get very messy?
Kathleen - I do as Cheryl describes, more experimenting than direct handwriting insrtuction..lots of modeling and opportunities to apply during Center time, on dry erase boards, etc.
Sandy/K/Mo - Mary I agree about handwriting.. I spend lots of time on it. Yes April but that's the fun :-)
Addie - Sandy, how to you explain it- I am doing a paper on inventive spelling and need info. Thanks!
Anne/K/FL - Addie I personally like inventive spelling and think childrn benefit from expressing themselves with confidence. I tell the children to read to me from what they wrote, and I don't correct their spelling, but do address spelling at another time.
Addie k/mo - mary, do you teach them that they have to form them a certain way, or as long as they have an organized system it is okay???
April - How do you explain inventive spelling to parents who are traditionalists?
Roe/k-1/RI - I think kinderkids for the most part do not have the skills for precise handwriting. Teach them correct formation, some will get it, others will get it later. First grade is soon enough.
Kathleen - I think that good modeling of letter formation is important, but too many little ones can be instructed to 'handwrite' in a way that dampens or destroys the disposition to be a writer
Addie - Anne, good idea to correct spelling at another time; that way there is balance
Cheryl/SC - We've stopped calling it invented spelling. Parents seem to like "temporary spelling" better!!! Semantics!!
Sandy/K/Mo - I usually only have 1 a year that doesn't have good handwriting.
April - Handwriting is stressed from the beginning in K in my school. They write the entire alphabet and write to 100 every morning as a practice and also their names.
Anne/K/FL - Yes, inventive spelling is how the child interprets the word at that time.
Addie - Well ladies thanks for the little bit of info got to hit the library!
Mary K&1 - It's best to have a strong organizes system for forming letters, eg. the letters with a 'c', like a,d o, etc. should all have the same starting point
Roe/k-1/RI - Kathleen, I agree with you 100%!!
Gumbo/K/La - most of my kids come in writing.....
Kathleen - I remind myself often of Lillian Katz' admonition: "Because they can does it doesn't mean they should"
Peachy/K/NC - I call the inventive spelling the Baby Steps stage to parents. I call their invented spelling "kindergarten writing" to the children.
Sandy/K/Mo - I explain to the parents that it is a step toward correct spelling and that the "right" way will come.
Cheryl/SC - April, where do you get those kids???
Gumbo/K/La - kat-----I agree, but difficult to get parents to accept.....
Kathleen - Anne, would you post your url so that all will have access to your wonderful site and to get it into the transcript?
Cheryl/SC - I'm with you, Kathleen!
Addie k/mo - i explain that inventive spelling is to correct spelling as babbling and babytalk is to conventional speech
Anne/K/FL - Parents are more accepting as they see their children progressing.
Sandy/K/Mo - I expected for my kids to leave writing. All of mine come in writing their names and some numbers
Anne/K/FL - http://www.mrsalphabet.com
April - Cheryl, I'm starting 1st and will be getting those kids this year. I'm referring to what they can do by the end of the year. It's simple drill on the teacher's part.
mazal - finger in air, followed by slates/chalk in lap, then with pencils on paper- grade 1
Anne/K/FL - I send 26 newsletters a year with contests, tips, suggestions, and activities.
Kathleen - Teachers.Net is grateful for the multi-talented people who agree to share their expertise with our teachers..like Anne, "Mrs. Alphabet"!
