Whether you are a teacher or summer program instructor, now is a great time to get children ready for school with high-impact, high-fun activities. Join us for the full menu on early literacy readiness skills. In this five-part blog series, we provide Recipes for Readiness addressing:  

• Language Development 
• Phonological and Phonemic Awareness 
• Book Awareness and Print Concepts 
• Alphabet Knowledge and Beginning Phonics 
• Writing and Drawing 

In this blog, we cook up fun around alphabet knowledge and beginning phonics.  

Remember to...

Model: All people learn by seeing something demonstrated, doing it together with help, and practicing it independently until confident. Just like talking, walking, and riding a bicycle, the same is true for learning to read and write!

Make time: 60–90 minutes throughout the day, depending on the child's stamina.

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What are Alphabet Knowledge and Beginning Phonics?

It's all about the name, the shape (what it looks like), and the sound of each letter. Matching letters to their sounds is beginning phonics.

Tips for Alphabet Knowledge and Beginning Phonics Success

Call attention to, notice, and point out letters around you.

“That’s an A, here’s a big B and a little b.” 

“I see a T!”  

“M looks like a mountain!” 

“It’s in my name!” 

“I can sing my ABCs.” 

“d says /d/ like dog!” 

“s says /s/ like sun.” 

Note: Learning the lowercase letters is most essential to reading because most of the letters in print are lowercase letters.  

The easiest letters to learn are Cc, Oo, Ss, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, and Zz because upper-case and lower-case are identical. 

Alphabet and Beginning Phonics Activities to Try

Alphabet Chant & Point 

Using an Alphabet Picture Chart, say each letter, sound, and picture as you point. End by singing the alphabet song while pointing to the letters.  

“A - a - /a/ - apple” 

“B - b - /buh/ - ball”… 

Letter Hunt 

Use printed materials such as junk mail, magazines, or newspapers along with a pencil or highlighter, give directions: 

“Circle all the Tt’s?” 

“Color all the Ss’s!” 

“Underline all the Rr’s.” 

“Put an x on all the Nn’s.”  

When doing a letter hunt, start with the letters in their name or, in other words, they know.  

Word Hunt

Find known words like “mom,” “dad,” “cat,” “dog,” “the,” “is,” “and,” “exit,” or find logos on junk mail.  

Match Game (Pairs of Cards)  

This game involves laying cards out on a table in rows, face down. Players take turns turning over two cards at a time, looking for matching pairs, such as the letters “A” and “a,” or matching a letter to a picture, like “apple.” If they find a pair, they keep it. Other examples could be simple sight words or color pictures to match color words, etc. 

Resources to Try for Alphabet Knowledge and Beginning Phonics

Books:

• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. 

• Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert 

• The Ocean Alphabet Book by Jerry Palotta (ABC series) 

• Firefighters A to Z by Chris L. Demarest 

Songs and Chants:

• Teach Me How to Read  by Mohawk Jones (YouTube rap song) 

• B-I-N-G-O Song 

• ABC Rock by Greg & Steve 

• ABC Phonics Song by Rock ‘N Learn (Youtube) 

Poems and Rhymes:

• Big by Dorothy Aldis 

• M Was Once a Little Mouse by Edward Lear 

Note: There are tons of ABC books on a wide variety of topics, easily found in any library. Follow the child’s interests and develop new ones along the way!