Letter Recognition
Every single reader who lives on this beautiful planet once had to start at the very beginning. I’m assuming not everyone is born fluent in reading and writing. 😉
As Kindergarten teachers will know very well, before a child can begin the steps to reading, they must be familiar with the letters they are going to be using. We have a fabulous alphabet containing 26 uppercase and lowercase letters. So what now?
The next exciting challenge is to get the kiddies enthusiastic about learning these foreign letters … thank goodness we live in a time with social media. We can pop on over to Google and Pinterest and find thousands of ideas in a matter of seconds. It’s amazing but the search results can quickly become overwhelming. As a teacher (and a woman), I absolutely love Pinterest. I am constantly searching for new ideas for my School.
Today’s post shares a few of the ideas and products we use in our school to help our little ones familiarize themselves with the English Alphabet.
Spoon Match up
One of my favorite activities to do are these adorable Spoon Match ups. They were really easy to prep as you just need spoons (colored and clear) and alphabet stickers. Most book stores will have a variety of sticker options. I am super grateful that my little town in Cambodia now stocks plenty of stickers.
The colored spoons would be used for the uppercase letters and the clear spoons would be for lowercase. I didn’t do anything fancy other than stick them on. There was no need to modge podge them and I haven’t had a single issue with it either. The kiddies are instructed to not pull them off but they seem to have no desire in doing so.
These are a perfect addition for stations or for early finishers. They’re just so versatile and easy to whip out.
Loo match up
I thoroughly enjoy using these match up puzzles, mainly to see the kiddies reactions and of course, to practice. There’s a lot of shocked faces followed by laughter.
These puzzles can also be adapted to suit different levels. Students are able to match lowercase (toilet) to uppercase (toilet paper) and there are also logs, which contain beginning sounds. These are ideal for stations, group or independent work.
The biggest task would be printing, cutting and laminating. However, as a teacher, I think we are constantly creating resources and like I always say, “Once it’s laminated, it lasts forever.”
Magnetic match
You can never go wrong with magnetic letters. I remember how thrilled I was when I bought my very first set for teaching, way back when. My hubby looked at me like I was the weirdo but I remember being SOOO excited at all the possibilities these little letters could be used for.
This is a very easy activity to set up. All you need to do is print out this sheet, provide letters and VOILA, lotsa fun ahead. I LOVE observing the kiddies through this as they’re always super zoned but also very helpful towards their pals. So sweet!
Grab your FREE printable at the end of this post. 🙂
Pirate Match
Our last activity for today’s post is also one of my favorites. I really love how these turned out and it’s another great way to practice letter recognition.
Of course, it does require some more printing and laminating but hey…isn’t that what a hubby is for (haha). My kiddies have all enjoyed matching these up and they have also bring great for early finishers.
What’s not to love right?
Product links:
I hope you enjoyed reading this and I would love to hear from you.
Have a magical day!
Laura 🙂
