Teaching Letter Identification

This week is the first week of school. The students will spend the beginning few weeks getting to know each other, learning classroom and school procedures and rules, and engaging in activities with classroom materials while learning expectations and routines.

It’s a time for me to get to know the students.

I do some informal assessments during this time. Our first grade teachers begin formal assessments in a few weeks.

During this time, I prepare materials for guided reading assessments and guided reading groups.

Our first grade teachers use The Next Step in GuidedReading Assessment kit. 

We also use Jan Richardson’s book, The Next Step in Guided Reading.

Most of our students enter first grade ready for traditional guided reading groups. But, I may get a few students each year that cannot identify most of the capital and lowercase letters.

Jan Richardson gives a procedure for helping those students learn the letters of the alphabet. She advises using it when students cannot identify at least 40 lower and uppercase letters of the alphabet.

Use letter cards or an alphabet book with alphabet letters and familiar beginning sound pictures. The student traces the lowercase and uppercase letters of the alphabet with his/her finger and says the name of each picture.

Have the child do this daily with a tutor or volunteer. The tutor helps the child when needed.

Jan Richardson has found this to be an easy and effective way to help students with letter identification.

I created a booklet for those students who need practice identifying the letters of the alphabet.

The pages can be cut and stapled together to make a booklet.

I added an alphabet letter card that can be laminated and used at a literacy center for reference. It can also be stapled inside a student's reading and/or writing folder.

You can preview and purchase it here. I hope you find it useful.