Learning Letter Names and Letter Sounds

Letter/Sound of the Week This Week's Letter/Sound
Letter Guessing Homework    Phonetic or Invented Spelling
Alphabet Songs and Poems Sing Along Songs
Fun With the Alphabet Letters Kid Writing
Sign our Guestbook Words We Are Learning

Letter and Sound of the Week

Almost every week we will emphasize a different letter of the alphabet and its "sound." Some of the activities in our Small Groups center on recognizing, hearing, making, using and writing each letter. Your child should be able to name and print the letters we have studied so far this year.

Aa   Bb   Cc   Dd   Ee   Ff   Gg   Hh   Ii   Jj   Kk   Ll
Mm   Nn   Oo   Pp   Qq   Rr   Ss   Tt   Uu   Vv   Ww   Xx
Xx at the end of a word   Yy   Zz
Consonant Digraphs:   sh   ch   th   ph


Alphabet Activities and Songs
Click on a letter above to find activities you can do with your child at home to help him/her practice hearing and guessing that letter sound. You'll also find easy songs to familiar tunes to help your child practice hearing and making the sounds in a fun way.

One of our favorite group activities is singing "The Letter of the Week" songs! Check out our list of original Alphabet Letter Sing Along Songs. We love singing these songs in class! A musical midi plays while you read and sing the words of the song with your child. There are picture clues to help young children remember the words on their own.


This Week's Letter/Sound
March 17   Ww is for wind and weather
Sing Along to Wheels
The Ww Song

Mar 10   Ss is for Dr. Seuss
Our Word List: Ss Things You Get in a Restaurant
Sing Along to Here We Go 'Round the Letter Ss
The Ss Food Song
The Ss Blend Song
Play The "Ss blend" Game
The Ss Animal Song

Mar 3  Kk is for kite
Sing Along to Here We Go 'Round the Letter Kk
I am Learning Letter Kk
Action Rhyme: 10 Baby Kangaroos standing is a row,
When they see their Mama, they bow just so.
They kick to the left and they kick to the right,
Then they close their eyes and sleep all night.

Feb 24   Ll is for library
Sing Along to I am Learning Letter Ll
At The Library

Feb 18  Vv is for Valentine's Day
Sing Along to I am Learning Letter Vv
10 Little v's in the Village
Valentine Song

Feb 10  Ff is for February
Sing Along to The Farmer in the Field
Family Fun
In My Fantasy
The Ff Food Song

Feb 3  Mm is for mittens
Sing Along to Because My Mother Says So
I am a Musician
Colorful Mittens
Read The Mitten by Jan Brett then
sing The Mitten Song

Jan 27  Uu is for up
What words or phrases have "up" in them?
Sing Along to Let's Stand Up
I am Learning Letter Uu
The Under the Umbrella Class Game

Jan 13  Qq is for question
Sing Along to I Am Learning Letter Qq
A Little Duck

Jan 6  Yy is for Happy New Year!
Sing Along to Let's Give a Yell for Letter Yy
We Wish You a Happy Yy Week

Jan 2   review
Dec 16  Dd is for December
Sing Along to Dd is For
Dd Things That Move

Dec 9  Rr is for reindeer
Sing Along to Rainbow Colors: A Rebus Song
10 Little r's in the Room
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Dec 2   Ee is for December
Sing Along to I've Got the Letter Ee
The Long Ee Song

Nov 18-27   Gg is for Grandparents
Sing Along to My Silly Billy Goat
The Gg Song

Nov 11   Ii is for iguana
Sing Along to The Short Ii Song
The Long Ii Song

Nov 5   Nn is for November
Sing Along to I Am Learning Letter Nn
10 Little Nn's in the Nest

Oct 28    Cc is for "can"
Sing Along to The Cc Song
Cc is Coming


Oct 21  Hh is for Halloween
Sing Along to Happy's Hammers
If You're Happy and You Know It
I've Got the Letter Hh
Halloween Poems and Songs

Oct 15  Bb is for bat
Sing Along to In Our Backyard
I Know a Plural That Starts With Bb
I am a Baseball Player
The Bubble Song

Oct 7  Jj is for jack-o'-lantern
Sing Along to I am a Janitor
The Jaguar
I am Learning Letter Jj
Jingle, Jingle and the ending "ing"
The Jumping Song

Sept 30   Oo is for October
Sing Along to The Oo Song
10 Ten Little O's in the Ocean
Try some "op" activities!

Sept 23  Pp is for pumpkin
Sing Along to The Pp Song
I've Got the Letter Pp
The Pp Food Song
Our Word List: Pp Things You Can Eat

Sept 16  Aa is for apple
Sing Along to The Short Aa Song
The Long Aa Song
Apple Tree Fingerplay

Sept 9   Tt is for tree
Sing Along to The Train is on the Track
The Tt Food Song
The Little Turtle Fingerplay

Sept 3    Xx is for "Put an X on..."
Sing Along to Where Is X?



Check out Cherry Carl's Alphabet Avenue!
http://www.alphabetavenue.net/

Please sign our Alphabet Activity Guest Book.

Get your free Guestbook from Bravenet!


Phonetic Spelling - Invented Spelling
How to Make Letter Guesses


Printable Phonics, Syllable and Accent Rules
http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/phonics.rules.html

In the beginning, an adult should help the child learn to make good letter guesses by s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g each word he/she wants to write down, slowly and clearly. Tell your child, "Watch my mouth." Then have your child imitate the way you move your mouth as he/she repeats the sounds slowly. Then your child should begin guessing which letters to write down. It may help to say the word a few times so your child can listen to each of the sounds at the beginning, middle and end. After the child writes his/her guesses, a grownup should write the correct spelling under the child's words. Compare the child's writing to the adult's writing and point out all the good guesses. Praise all guesses even if they are incorrect. "That was a good guess. "Went" does sound like it begins with "y" but it's actually "w." Try to think of "Wawa" when you want to write the "w" sound." "The" is tricky to spell, but you'll use it a lot so that's a word you'll memorize some day."

Click here for more
"Kid Writing" Teaching Tips for Kindergarten Helpers
adapted by Mrs. King


Letter Guessing Homework

Every week on the back of the "Letter Printing" Homework your child should draw a picture of something that begins with that letter sound. He/She should label the picture using "invented spelling" (spelling that is based on phonics) and should guess how the word is spelled. After your child writes down his/her letter guesses, you should write the word correctly under the child’s writing and show your child how close he/she came to spelling it correctly.

Printable Phonics, Syllable and Accent Rules
http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/phonics.rules.html


Kid Writing

What is your child's stage of writing development?
http://www.lindaslearninglinks.com/earlywrtgdev.html
http://www.learningtowrite.ecsd.net/stages%20of%20writing.htm

We use Kid Writing in our classroom. Your child will write in a journal using invented spelling or phonics based spelling. Generally, the children are helped by an adult with "stretching" or "sounding out" the words they want to spell. They are encouraged to use our "word wall" to find the words they write often. We will keep the journals in school so we can see each child's growth in guessing letters and spelling words as well as starting a sentence with a capital letter, leaving spaces bewteen words, and using punctuation at the end. The children enjoy seeing their own growth!

We sometimes ask the children to write on their own using the strategies we are learning to encourage "risk taking" and less dependency on an adult.



Our Word Lists: for some "sounds" we make a classified list of words
Words We Are Learning: a list of words and word activities

Handwriting
Printable Letter Printing Practice for Kids
http://www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/

Can you add to our Food Alphabet?
Write to Mrs. Jones

Letter Activities with Food Videos on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/Cullensabcs


Songs and Poems About the Alphabet
Check out our class Sing Along Songs about each letter by Mrs. Jones

The Letter Sound Song
Sing this song to practice the letter sounds:
Make the sound of the letter instead of naming the letter in the song.
(For example, "b" is "buh" but do not overemphasize the "uh" sound)
It is more fun if you act out the motions while you are singing.

Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It

If you're happy and you know it,
Bounce around "b" "b"
If you're happy and you know it,
Bounce around "b" "b"
If you're happy and you know it,
Then your face will surely show it
If you're happy and you know it,
Bounce around "b" "b"

Catch a ball "c" "c"...
Dance with me "d" "d"...
Fall down "f" "f"”...
Gallop like a horse "g" "g"...
Hop on one foot "f" "f"...
Jump so high "j" "j"...
Kick in the air "k" "k"...
Laugh out loud "l" "l"...
March in place "m" "m"...
Nod your head "n" "n"...
Paint a picture "p" "p"...
Run in place "r" "r"...
Sit on the floor "s" "s"...
Talk to me "t" "t"...
Vacuum the rug "v" "v"...
Walk around "w" "w"...
Yawn right now "y" "y"...
Zip your zipper "z" "z"...

The Name Song
Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It
You can sing this as a long song or read it as a short poem.

If your name starts with A shout "Hooray!"
If your name starts with B clap with me.
If your name starts with C touch your knee.
If your name starts with D say "Yippee!"
If your name starts with E touch your teeth.
If your name starts with F say "Wake Up Jeff!"
If your name starts with G blow a kiss to me.
If your name starts with H say "Neigh!"
If your name starts with I blink your eye.
If your name starts with J say "Gidday!"
If your name starts with K then start to sway.
If your name starts with L ring a bell.
If your name starts with M look at them.
If your name starts with N cluck like a hen.
If your name starts with O touch your toe.
If your name starts with P say "Whoopee!"
If your name starts with Q say "Achoo!"
If your name starts with R drive a car.
If your name starts with S make a mess.
If your name starts with T watch out for the bee!
If your name starts with U say "Whooooo!"
If your name starts with V pat your knee.
If your name starts with W, X, Y or Z
Then stand up, take a bow and say "That's me!"


Alphabet Rhyme

A is for apple, B is for ball,
C is for cat, D is for doll.
E is for egg, F is for feet,
G is for girl, and H is for heat.
I is for igloo, and J is for jump,
K is for kangaroo, L is for lump.
M is for mighty, N is for nest,
O is for octopus, P is for pest.
Q is for queen, and R is for rail,
S is for sitting, and T is for tail.
U is for uncle, umbrella and use,
V is for vacation, valentine and views,
W is for window, whistle and way,
X is for xylophone that we like to play.
Y is for yellow and yelling and you.
Z is for zero and zipper and zoo.

*****

Alphabet Rhyme

A is for apple, armadillo and air.
B is for book, beachball and bear.
C is for cat, crayon and cape.
D is for dog, dragon and drapes.
E is for elephant, eagle and eye.
F is for farm, fire and fly.
G is for goat, golf and guy.
H is for hat, hippo and hi.
I is for instrument, ice and igloo.
J is for juggle, jungle and jumparoo.
K is for kangaroo, kite and kid.
L is for lamb, lion, and lid.
M is for mother, mouse, and might.
N is for noodle, nest and night.
O is for octopus, ostrich and owl.
P is for penguin, pig and pal.
Q is for queen, quilt and quail.
R is for rabbit, rainbow and rail.
S is for seal, swan and sun.
T is for table, tiger and ton.
U is for umbrella, underwear and umpire.
V is for vulture, volcano and vampire.
W is for wizard, water and wishbone.
X is for x-ray, Xerox and xylophone.
Y is for yak, yogurt and you.
Z is for zebra, zero and zoo.

*****

Alphabet Forwards and Backwards
Traditional tune

A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N O P
Q R S T U V
W X Y and Z
Now, I've said my ABC's.
Next time sing them backwards with me.

Z Y X W V U T
S R Q P O N M
L K J I H G
F E D C B A.
Now, I've said my ZYX's,
Bet that's not what you expected!

*****

Here's a poem to learn the vowel sounds:

A is my name.
Two sounds I make.
Short a in lamb,
Long a in cake!

I is my name
Two sounds have I
Short i in pig,
Long i in pie!

O is my name
Two sounds I know
Short o in pot,
Long o in go!

E is my name
Two sounds for me
Short e in hen
Long e in he!

U is my name
Two sounds for you
Short u in cup
Long u in cue!

The Short Vowel Beat

First clap your hands. Then stomp your feet.
Everybody do the short vowel beat.
Candy, candy, /a/, /a/, /a/.
Candy, candy, /a/, /a/, /a/.
Make the short a sound.

Wave your arms high. Swing your arms low.
The short vowel beat is the way to go.
Red hots, red hots, /e/, /e/, /e/.
Red hots, red hots, /e/, /e/, /e/.
Make the short e sound.

Move to the left. Move to the right.
The short vowel beat is way out of sight.
Licorice, licorice, /i/, /i/, /i/.
Licorice, licorice, /i/, /i/, /i/.
Make the short i sound.

Hop two steps up. Hop two steps back.
The short vowel beat keeps you right on track.
Chocolate, chocolate, /o/, /o/, /o/.
Chocolate, chocolate, /o/, /o/, /o/.
Make the short o sound.

Shout it out loud. Whisper it low.
Just one more vowel in the beat to go.
Yummy, yummy, /u/, /u/, /u/.
Yummy, yummy, /u/, /u/, /u/.
Make the short u sound.

Now give a high five to a nearby friend.
The short vowel beat has come to the end!

*****

Sing this Raffi song to practice the long vowel sounds:
Apples and Bananas

I like to eat eat eat apples and bananas,
I like to ate ate ate apples and bananas,
(all a's pronounced with a long a as in ate)
I like to eat eat eat epples and banenes,
I like to ite ite ite ipples and baninis,
I like to ote ote ote opples and banonos,
I like to ute ute ute upples and banunus,
I like to eat eat eat apples and bananas.

Pass the Letter Game
You can play this game with any number children.

Have a complete set of alphabet letters. Give several to each child. Have them each select one and leave the remainder in a pile in front of them. Begin playing some music. While the music is playing, have the children pass the letters around the circle. When the music stops, have each child hold up his/her letter and say which letter it is. Now have them choose another letter from their pile and begin passing them to the music again. Continue on to give all of the children practice in recognizing letters.

If only two are playing adapt the playing rules by changing the number of cards passed or naming each card as it is passed. Or make one pile to turn over, if a player names it correctly he keeps it, if incorrect he must pass it to the other player. Play stops when all the cards have been turned over and guessed. Count your cards and the one with the most wins.


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