All About the Alphabet!
Hey sweet friends! Today I have a TON of alphabet ideas to share with you! Nothing says back to school in kindergarten like the alphabet. I try to get my sweet little kinders back to my table within that first full week of school to assess them on their letters. Of course whether or not they know their letters isn’t everything, but it is a biggie! I like to get my groups going within the first few weeks of school and I base my groups a lot on letter identification scores among teacher judgement 😉
Alright, let’s get started with some fun hands-on and engaging activities you can whip up for your kinders that are CHEAP! Up first is this simple letter sort. You’ll just need a muffin tin, muffin liners, and some beans! I wrote the lowercase and capital letters on the beans and the kiddos will simply sort them! I plan to have the kiddos use our fine motor tweezers to add that in as well…which is also SO important at the beginning of the year!
I snagged these bigger foam letters from Walmart. They are meant for the bathtub, but hey they’ll work just fine! I am going to leave mine in this basket and if using at a literacy center the students will line them up in ABC order. I will also use them whole group by having the kiddos come up and take one…then naming that letter for us!
I purchased these ADORABLE cut-outs at the Dollar Tree for yeah…one buck! I wrote the capital and lowercase letters on them with permanent marker. The students will match the two at a literacy center. Effective and cheap #doublewin!
I showed you these little cootie-pa-tooties the other day with the rhyming word families, but they work great for alphabet match-ups too! They are also purchased from the Dollar Tree!
What do I feel is one of the most valuable necessities in teaching students their alphabet? An alphabet chart! Now, I am REALLY biased in that I prefer my KinderPhonics ABC Chart. However, any ABC chart works wonders. Beyond reciting the alphabet using the chart I think it is important that the chart really becomes part of the classroom. The kids should see the same chart at the guided reading table, writing center, literacy center, writing folder, etc! A lot of our students that come in with little to no letter names will need to see the alphabet many, many, many times to gain recognition of those letters. You can snag this FREE alphabet chart HERE.
Below is an example of a quick and easy activity you can place into a literacy center or play back at the guided reading table. As simple as it seems…those are usually the most effective ways!
I also have a new secret ninja plan to get my kiddos at par for their letters! Ah, ninja plan you say…do tell more! Well, here is the thing. I LOVE how we have evolved education into this this well-oiled machine. I am talking about how a teacher can teach a small group of kiddos while the remaining students continue to learn, but independently! I’m talking about during guided reading {I am teaching a small group} the rest of my class is working on daily five and literacy centers. I do not have a teacher’s assistant, but if I did I would also have them pulling back a group at the same time. So, since I don’t have a TA wouldn’t it be nice if I could clone myself so that my kiddos that aren’t at my table could still get some one-on-one teaching? Umm……well Jessica from Littlest Scholars has flown in to save the day! She has seriously made it possible for my kids to receive awesome one-one-one teaching, but during their independent work time!
At this interactive letter listening centers the students will simply press “play” and it is Jessica teaching them about the letters and the students follow along in the interactive letter book. The students will also work on letter sounds, 1:1 tracking, isolating initial sound
and more! You can see from the snap shot below how it works!
I had a few emails from teachers that loved my endless sight word and rhyming bundles..they requested an endless alphabet bundle! Well, sure anything for y’all! This endless bundle currently has 22 packets but will grow! As it grows you’ll snag all the updates for FREE!
Up first is the alphabet gumball machine! For this activity the students will grab a letter card and then place the correct letter gumballs into the machine!
Sort the deck: alphabet style! For this activity you will attach the letter cards to a brown bag and have the kiddos sort the letters into the correct bag. You can also use this sort back at your guided reading table!
Search and Circle! Students will build those letter identification skills with recognizing the letters in a variety of fonts and sizes.
Alphabet rainbow write. I mean I don’t consider myself the most “fun” teacher since the idea of stamps sends chills up my skin, but I am fun enough to know that kids LOVE to rainbow write!
Dough fun…yep I am all about that too! I love using letter dough mats those first couple weeks of school as I transition the kiddos into daily five expectations!
Wow. We are on a fun streak….alphabet dab it sheets!
Oh, get out of town! Yes, even I *with supervision* have my kiddos use Dip and Dot sheets! 🙂 They really are the best of both worlds…the kiddos are learning path of movement and building fine motor skills!
Alphabet cut & paste! << That pretty much sums them up 😉
Spin and color alphabet sheets! I have included just one letter at a time on each sheet…and some mixed letter sheets like this one!
How about these yummy alphabet match-ups? HA! I purchased these plates from the Dollar Tree and they work perfectly!
Here is a look at the corresponding recording sheet!
Pass the tea, please! These tea party match-ups are just too cute too handle! They basically take me back to my Beauty and the Beast days 🙂
Alphabet tablet tracers! Students will work on their letter path of motions with these. I will be laminating mine and placing them on a metal ring!
How about these alphabet clip it cards. Really, Whimsy Workshop, these clip art letters at the cutest!
The ENDLESS Alphabet Mega Bundle currently boasts $65 in packets, but is discounted to a $25 “buy in” price, WHAAAT?! You can click below to check it out!
Have a great day and see you soon!
Love all the alphabet ideas! I am totally prepping the bean sort for next week, I have quite a few kiddos this year that can really use some fine motor practice. You are killing me, well my pocket book, with the endless bundle sets, lol. JK But seriously, you just keep coming up with growing bundles I can not pass up. Put into my kart! Thanks for all the great resources that you create.
~Laura
Luv My Kinders
Hey Laura! I hope you have a great start back to school! 🙂
Tara
Where is Santa when you need him? Tara, I have $300 in my cart, and most of it is your products. I am very lucky to have an understanding husband who doesn't check our bank balance often. Thank you, thank you for the incredible products you share with us.
Thank you Betsy! You are too sweet! 🙂
Do you burn the the vocal recording onto CD's for the alphabet books from littlest scholars? Love your ideas Tara and this looks interesting too. Just trying to wrap my mind around implementation.
Hi there Gina! Yes, you can burn the cd's or you can actually have Jessica make the cd's for you for an additional cost! 🙂
Tara
I bought your 1st Kinder Phonics packet and it is wonderful. Will you be selling the interactive notebooks individually as well. I would love to have it with the packet.
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