"The two best predictors of early reading success are alphabet recognition and phonemic awareness."

- Marilyn Jager Adams

"Nothing can take the place of reading, writing, and listening to stories in an early literacy program.  Therefore, whatever you do with phonemic awareness should be done in the context of a print-rich environment with multiple language experiences."
 

I highly recommend the following Phonemic Awareness resource books
by Wiley Blevins.  They will be the basis for many hours of valuable instruction, and will help you offer your students the best possible start in a Balanced Literacy classroom environment:

The Alphabet Song
Tune: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

I display this alphabet song on a hanging chart and make individual copies for poetry journals and to use during Guided Reading (good for teaching tracking and one-to-one correspondence).  I also make small flip-books, using one line from the song on each page, with a star at the end of each line, telling them to stop until we're ready to go on.  My chart and poetry journal copies use the lowercase alphabet, and I make separate flip books for uppercase and lowercase letters.
 

The Backwards Alphabet Song
Tune:  Traditional ABC song tune

Z   Y   X   W   V   U   T

S   R   Q   P

O   N   M   L  K

J   I   H  - pause-  G   F   E

D   C   B   and    A,

Now we know our Z Y X's,
Next time we will go to TEXAS!
 

The "Almost" Alphabet Song
By Victoria Smith
Tune: The Witch Doctor
(you know, that song that goes oo, ee, oo, ah ah,
ding dang walla walla bing bang!)

A  B  C  D  E
F  G
H  I  J  K
L  M  N  O  P
Q  R
S  T  U  V
and that ain't all!

My first graders *loved* this song!
 

Let's Sing Around the Coconut Tree
By Victoria Smith
Tune:  Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

Let's sing around the coconut tree,
The coconut tree, the coconut tree,
Let's sing around the coconut tree,
Singing the sounds of letters.

This is the sound that A makes
a  a  a  a  a  a
This is the sound that A makes
a  a  a  a  a.

Note: sing the short vowel sounds and the most common consonant sound.
For X, I always have my students use the sound at the end of "fox."

I made a simple Big Flip Book for this, with a coconut tree and the upper and lower case of each letter, one page per letter, on a 12x18 light blue construction paper.  I used Ellison cutouts for the letters, and had the kids make the palm trees as a directed art project (torn paper trunk, cut paper palm fronds and coconuts).  Bind the pages together at the *bottom* so that you can hold it in your lap and flip each page down.  The kids really enjoy singing this on their own, and they can hold the book in their lap, just like the teacher, and lead their friends in singing the song!
 

Magnetic Letters Center

I made a construction paper coconut tree (about two feet tall), laminated it, and attached it with double-sided tape to the side of a filing cabinet next to my desk.  I keep a copy of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on the floor, along with two buckets of magnetic letters.  The kids use this as a center, and it's exciting to see the different ways they use the letters:  some kids copy the pages in the story and read the book aloud, others ignore the book and use the letters to spell their name and other words, and still other students sort the letters by color, letter, size, etc.  Many of my students also enjoy making patterns from the magnetic letters and seeing if they can stump me as to what the pattern is ... they love to do tricky things like tall letter - tall letter - capital letter.

Other teachers have told me they use cookie sheets, stove burner covers, pie pans, and oil drip pans as magnetic boards for letters.  Any of these would be great with a copy of the book and some magnetic letters in a portable tub.
 

These follow up ideas for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
are from KinderKorner subscribers:

For letter assessment, I make Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees with capital
letters on it and for every letter a child can tell me a sticker goes on the
letter. When they know all the letters on the tree, they can take it home.

~

From: AndKellie
My daughter's Kindergarten teacher had a unique magnetic letter/numbers center.  It was a big version of a coconut tree like in the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  She used five 5 lb. coffee containers and taped them together one on top of the other and then covered them with wall paper that looked like "tree" texture.  She put slits in the top plastic lid and made branches (like in the book) out of  green construction paper with one end fitting into the slits.  The top coffee can  lid came off and the letters were stored inside. The children loved it!  It really looked like the tree in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. They made words on the sides and  made their names climb the tree.  I will definately make one of these!
~
From JenK1961
I was planning on a Chicka Chicka bulletin board, but I am going to put the children's names on the corresponding letter going up the tree.  Amanda written on a big capital A for example.

~
From Cindy29877
Here's the number and address for School and Carnival Supplies so that you
can purchase the plastic coconuts and the 6' palm tree:

311 Cowan Rd.
Gulfport, MS  39507
1-800-896-1101
Fax (228) 896-3237
 

An Alphabet of Single Letter Poems
Can be used on charts, for poetry journals, as a class Big Book,
or to make individual books to illustrate.

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten
An inviting look at the first day of school in Miss Bindergarten's class.
              The simple rhyming text tells how the animal children get ready for the big event.  As a bonus, the names of the students are listed alphabetically,
each first letter corresponding to its animal type (Jessie is a jaguar, Zak is
a zebra, etc.) -- there's an alphabetical list of the animals at the end of the story.
 

Our Big Book of Names

I make a big book from 12 x 18 construction paper, using enough sheets to have a double page spread for each letter of the alphabet.  I bind the book down the long side, using the Velobind machine.

The top of each left-hand page has a large capital and lowercase letter written on it, so it looks like this:
Aa

To work on the book each day, I put all the children's names in the pocket chart and the book on the easel.  We start with the letter A.  Anyone whose name begins with the letter A gets their name written on that page in large letters, with the capital A in red, like this:
Andrew

We go through the entire alphabet this way, doing as many pages per day as seems reasonable.  When we've finished writing everyone's name, we go back to the beginning and add all the names that include that letter.  Andrew would also get his name on the following pages:  Nn, Dd, Rr, Ee, Ww.  I write the page's letter in red, and all the other colors in black.  On the Nn page, Andrew's name would look like this:
Andrew

Once the book is finished, I make a new -- blank -- copy, with only the 26 letters filled in, and the kids write in their own names, using red and black markers.  When we get a new student, we add her name, too.  These two books are favorites all year long, and the children love to read their name and their friends' names on all the different pages.
 

Make Your Own Alphabet Books
Ideas sent in by KinderKorner subscribers
 

Multi-Medium Alaphabet Book
This one uses several types of art -- lots of fun!

The book contains 13 sheets of regular, white paper which is divided in
half horizontally. Letter the pages (upper and lower case letters) in
 sequence, using 1/2 page for each letter.  Identify each item
on the pages by printing the quoted words for each letter.

A "Apple"
1/2 apple print with red paint

B "Blue Balloon"
Use the canister that a roll of film comes in - dip solid
     end in blue paint and add a blue line down for string

C "Corn"
Glue dried corn to page

D "Diamonds & Dots"
Glue diamonds and dots on the pag
(dots are hole punch scraps)

E "Egg"
Cut out egg shape

F "Face"
Students draw a face with eyes, nose, mouth

G "Green glue & green glitter"
Green colored glue (use food coloring),
sprinkled with green glitter

H "Hand"
Painted handprint

I "Ink stamps"
Use a variety of rubber stamps and ink

J "Jewels"
Ellison letter J with glitter glue dots for jewels

K "Keys"
Colored chalk of keys

L "Lace"
2" piece of lace or a lacey paper doiley

M "Mitten"
Children trace their hand in the shape of a mitten,
cut out and glue to page

N "Newspaper Numbers"
Numbers cut from newspaper

O "Orange"
Orange print with 1/2 orange

P "Purple Potato"
Potato print made with purple paint

Q "Quilt"
Wallpaper squares glued into a quilt pattern

R "Ribbon rectangles"
Rectangular pieces of ribbon

S "Sand"
Make a capital S with white glue and sprinkle with sand

T "Triangle"
Glue on 3 toothpicks in a triangle shape

U "Upside down"
Magazine pictures glued upside down

V "Valentine Hearts"
Sponge-print hearts

     W "Wall paper"
Cut the letter W from wall paper scraps

X "Extra X's"
Draw a tic tac toe board with more x's than o's

Y "Yellow Yo-yo's
Two yellow circles with a yellow yarn for string

Z "Zipper"
Crayon rubbing of a zipper
 

Steno Alphabet Books
From LindaW418

When I taught first grade I had each child bring in a steno book.  I then put the stick-on dividers of different colors and left about five pages in between each divider.  I then wrote each letter of the alphabet on each tab (upper and lower case letter) and inserted them into the dividers.  I now had a dictionary that they could add words that they learned and pictures.  It is very neat and they can keep it after.
 

Creative ABC Book
From ITEACHKIND

An alphabet book that we did that turned out really cute and was lots of fun was with pictures.  Our school has a digital camera that we can borrow and use on our computers.  I assigned each child a letter of the alphabet and had them bring in one item that began with the letter I assigned them.  I told the parent to make sure the item was bigger than an apple.

Each child stood in front of my classroom Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree holding their item.  For example, a child with the letter A brought in an apple, a child with the letter S brought in a stuffed snake, and for the letter R a girl brought in her pet rabbit.

I took a picture of each of the children.  Then, we loaded it on our computer, and we made a copy each child with his or her item  (If you do not have 26 kids in you room take your picture with an item, use the principal, specialty teachers, etc).  I took the finished pictures and made copies of them for all the children.  Before I made the copies, each child wrote at the bottom of his or her picture the letter of the alphabet in capital and lower case and the name of the item.  For example:  A a   Apple.  Then, each child put his or her name on the top of the picture.

I used rubber cement and we glued the pictures to construction paper and had our publishing shop put spiral binding on them.  The title of our alphabet book
was "My Kindergarten Alphabet Book."

It was a great end of the year book because each child had a darling alphabet book with pictures of his or her classmates.  Hopefully they will keep them for many years to come.
 

Trash Alphabet Wall Book
submitted by Dawn in T-town

For my trash alphabet, I asked the art teacher if she had any old poster
board that she never used.  She gave me a stack of manila poster board
and I cut them down to 1.5 ft for each side.  I put the capital and lowercase
letter on each and laminated them.

The kids brought in (clean) trash that began with each letter and I used a hot glue gun to attach the garbage to the matching letter (Examples -- P was a Papa Johns pizza box, A was animal crackers, C was Coke, cereal, creamed corn.  It's excellent for different beginning sounds!)  Write a note home and get the parents involved!

The only problem we had was with "X".  I went to my doctors office and asked them to donate an X-ray, so they cut off the identity of the person and gave me one of a rib cage.  It was really cool, so I hung it below the poster, over a window and the sunlight came through it.  Have fun!  If you get stuck on "Z", save a Ziploc bag box!
 

Eating the Alphabet:
Fruits and Vegetables From A to Z
A brighly illustrated book with lots of fruits and veggies
for all 26 letters.  Our favorite is Ugli Fruit.
Also available as a boardbook.  Under $6.
 

Follow Up Activity to Eating the Alphabet

After we've worked with Eating the Alphabet for several days, discussing the various foods, I read "Yuck Soup" from The Wright Group.  Then we make a class big book innovation combining the two stories, which we call Yum Soup.  We brainstorm a list of yummy foods from A to Z, and I list them on a Language Experience chart.  Then each child gets an 8" x 8" square of white construction paper to illustrate one of the foods in the story.

I glue the illustrations onto 12" x 18" construction paper, and glue the following writing frame to the bottom of each page:

In went some _______.  Yum!

It makes a terrific class book, and it fun to do in October or November, when we're studying harvest foods.
 

Alphabet Sounds Song
Sing the sound the letter makes, not the letter name.

When we learn these sounds you see,
Ready to read then we will be.
a, a, apple
b, b, ball
c, c, cat and
d, d, doll
e, e, egg and
f, f, fan
g, g, goat and
h, h, hand
i, i, indian
j, j, jam
k, k, king and
l, l, lamb
m, m, man
n, n, nickel
o, o, ox and
p, p, pickle
q, q, queen and
r, r, rail
s, s, sun and
t, t, tail
u, u, umbrella
v, v, vase
I'm nearly through see my happy face.
w, w, wagon
x, x, box
y, y, yard do you see a fox?
z, z, /z/ and z, z, zoo
That was fun and now we're through!
 

The "Bat-man" Consonant Song
My kids love this one and it's great for October, when we study bats!
You sing the sounds of the letters to the Batman theme tune.
We don't do the vowels, but you could it you wanted to.
Here are the first three verses, to get you started:

b  b  b  b  b  b  b  b
b  b  b  b  b  b  b  b
Batman!

c  c  c  c  c  c  c  c
c  c  c  c  c  c  c  c
Catman!

d  d  d  d  d  d  d  d
d  d  d  d  d  d  d  d
Datman!
 

Kinesthetic Activities

Learning Letters Through All Five Senses
This unique and engaging book presents a wide range of sensory activities for each letter of the alphabet.  By including all the senses, we can help children learn with their entire bodies. In this way, children not only learn the basic building blocks of language, but also experience them. Highly recommended.

Alphabet Aerobics
Submitted by Jen

One thing I do with my first graders for spelling is spelling aerobics.  For letters that reach the topline (i.e., b,d,f,h,i,k,l,t), we put our arms up in the air and stand on our tiptoes.  Letters that touch the middle line (i.e., a,c,e,m,n,o,r,s,u,v,w,x,z) we put our arms to our sides.  Letters that go below the bottom line (i.e., g,j,p,q,y) we all squat and sit on our heels.

For example, the word bag (up / stay / down).
 It's fun for the kids and a great workout for the teacher:)
 

Sign Language Center & Activities

I teach my students to sign the alphabet in ASL (American Sign Language) when we're learning the letters and the alphabet songs.  It adds a kinesthetic dimension that's very helpful for some students, and it's fun for almost everyone!

I also have a Sign Language Center, which consists of an ASL alphabet posted taped to a cabinet door, and a small portable tub of sign langauge books.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Games and Learning Centers
 

Alphabet Caterpillar
     My students love building the Alphabet Caterpillar!
Be sure to make several sets of this fun game.

Cut 4" circles from several colors of prelaminated construction paper.  Arrange 27 circles in a color pattern (ABAB, AABAAB, ABCABC, etc).  Write one letter of the alphabet on each circle with permanent marker (you could do uppercase on one side and lowercase on the other), and draw a face on the final circle.  Store in a ziplock baggie.

Students spread the circles on a table or on the floor, and put the circles in alphabetical order.  The color patterns are a big help with this task, so start with simple patterns and work up to harder ones (or single colors).

Alphabet Bingo

Make your own bingo cards from laminated tagboard,
with the letters of the alphabet written randomly on the cards.

I store these in a ziplock baggie, along with a deck of alphabet flash cards,
for calling off the letters.  You can play as a whole class, in small groups, or use as a center or traveling homework activity.
 

Read the Room Alphabet Bingo

Give students a 5 x 5 grid that's large enough for them to write in.
You can dictate the alphabet and they can write each letter in the upper corner of any square they choose.  When they have letters in all their squares, you can call out the names of letters and the children have to find a word that either starts with or contains that letter, and write it in the square.

Another version of this is called Word Hunt.  Assign one letter of the alphabet and the kids have to find any 10 words posted around the room that begin with or contain that letter.
 

Alphabet Letter Tubs

Ask your grocery store or take-out restaurant to donate 26 pint-sized clear plastic containers with lids.  Collect a variety of objects (you probably already have tons of small manipulatives that would work) that begin with each letter of the alphabet, and put them in the tubs.  Label each tub with a stick-on vinyl letter or with permanent marker.  You can also use baby formula cans for this, and cover them with Contac paper (or just use the empty cans on their own, for the kids to put in alphabetical order).

To help build your collection of objects, send home a snack-sized baggie (the ones that are about 2 inches tall) for homework, along with a note that you are collecting objects for the letters a, b, c, d, and e (do about 5 letters per week, and you'll have a full set in less than a month).  Ask students and parents to select items that won't rot (no food!) or break easily, and that do not need to be returned.  Be sure to tell them the object must fit inside the baggie!

You can use any extra objects as a separate center for letter sorting and rhyming activities.  Just put them in a tub with 26 plastic cups (labeled A through Z) and laminated construction paper than has been divided into 6 or 8 boxes, each labeled with a letter of the alphabet.
 

Alphabet Matching Board

     Materials:
     * one large sheet of colored posterboard
      * 26 library pockets (or get the larger ones, make for holding report cards,
and use more than one poster board)
* 3 x 5 index cards, or tagboard cut to size
* magazines and catalogs to cut up

Write each letter of the alphabet on a separate library pocket, and glue the pockets to the posterboard in ABC order.  Laminate *after* the pockets are glued on, and use a razor blade or craft knife to cut the pockets open.  Let students find magazine pictures to cut out and glue to index cards, for objects that start with each letter of the alphabet (these can also be laminated for sturdiness).  To use board (on the floor or a table), children take all the pictures out and then sort them back into the pockets.  Pre-emergent readers like to simply look at the pictures and talk about them, using one letter at a time.
 

Alphabet Websites

Alphabet Across America & Australia
26 classes around the world each adopted a letter of the alphabet
and created special activities, songs, and poems.
A great resource site!
 

Fingerplays for Each Letter of the Alphabet
from Natural Learning
 

Jan Brett's Alphabet Line Bulletin Board Set
A beautiful alphabet illustrated by Jan Brett,
to print out in full color.  Brett fans will love
H (Hedgehog) and A (Armadillo) and R (Reindeer).
 

Central Kindergarten Center's Letter Centers
Links to centers for all areas of the curriculum,
sorted by letter of the alphabet ... an outstanding resource!

Looking for more ideas?

My bookstore pages have lots of information on how I use various materials in my classroom, and on activities you can do with your students.  The thematic pages are complete unit resources, with lots of poems, songs, and links on each page.  Make yourself comfortable and take a look around!

Choose from the categories below.
Underlined subjects are links, the other ones are coming soon!

Click below to go directly to
Amazon.com to browse for books.

These pages are updated often,
so please come back soon to see what's new at KinderKorner!
 

Kinder Korner and all non-credited text materials on this page
are copyright by Victoria Smith, 1998 & 1999.
All rights reserved.

This page went online on August 23, 1999.

Graphics on this page are from