One of my fave subjects to teach is reading. I absolutely love our morning literacy time. When
I plan my year of phonics instruction out, there are basically three parts that it includes. There is
some sort of letter introduction at the beginning of the year, where I introduce every letter of the
alphabet. Once they have been introduced, then we dive into whole group phonics instruction, and
then once students are assessed, we add small group instruction.
Today, we’re going to talk about the 26 day letter introduction. This begins the first full week of
school. I like to do this because I don’t like to make assumptions about what they know. This
way we can all start off on the same foot. Each day pretty much looks the same, just with a
different letter. Everything that I will be talking about you can find here.
We introduce the letter then add it to our “plate”, which is our brain. We talk about how the letter
looks, and how you form the letter. I like to use the terms straight lines, big lines, little lines
and curves.
Next up is our tactile letter. Nothing about this has to be fancy! This helps to reach learners
who are tactile learners. We pick a material to cover the letter with. Sometimes we do tissue
paper, other times I have them to tear construction paper to glue onto the letter. This is perfect
for fine motor practice. You can also use finger paint, noodles, glitter (eek!), cheerios or
pom-poms, etc. Whatever you have on hand really!
- Letter Introduction
- Sound Introduction
- Alphabet Posters (Skill Application)
- Tactile Letter
- Letter of the Day book
- Exit Ticket