Letter Recognition & the Alphabetic Principle
After phonemic awareness, the best predictor of early reading achievement is letter recognition. However, accuracy of letter recognition is not enough. The speed and fluency with which a child recognizes letters is strongly related to reading achievement among beginning readers. Therefore the goal of letter recognition work must be mastery (accuracy and speed).
Teach the alphabetic principle before you teach the alphabet.
Before beginning formal instruction in letter-sounds, show the child how to use her phonemic awareness to identify an alphabet letter by its sound when the letter is linked with an object or picture. Because the child now understands the alphabetic principle (that letters and speech sounds map onto each other), she is prepared to understand, identify, learn and remember the 26 alphabet letter-sounds.
Item#200
$12.00
Standup Alphabet Cards
Letter Recognition Game
Hands-on alphabet materials children will want to play with again and again. The pictures on the cards allow the child to understand, identify and remember the sound each letter makes. Fun repetition leads to alphabet mastery.
Item#200S
$10.00
Standup Alphabet Cards [Small Set]
Letter Recognition Game
Hands-on alphabet materials children will want to play with again and again. The pictures on the cards allow the child to identify, understand and remember the sound each letter makes. Fun repetition leads to alphabet mastery.
Teach letter mastery.
The child must master the alphabet sounds through games and activities that produce meaningful repetition. He should learn them by sound, not by name. (Names will come later.) The alphabet is best divided into clusters, arranged so as not to create confusion between similar looking or sounding letters. The child masters one cluster at a time—in sequence—until all 26 letters are learned. Introduction to decoding does not begin until the child has achieved some level of mastery (accuracy and speed) of the entire alphabet. Recommended clusters: [1] a, g, h, m, s; [2] c, d, l, o, t; [3] f, i, p, r, u, [4] e, j, k, n, w; [5] b, v, y, z, qu, x.
Item#201
$15.00
Alphabet Pockets
Independent Letter Recognition Practice
Each envelope or “pocket” contains 4 letter cards and 4 picture cards. The student matches each picture with the appropriate letter. This activity strengthens neural connections crucial to letter-sound retrieval used in fluent decoding. Materials for 32 alphabet pockets.
Item#210
$10.00
Beginning Sounds & Letters
Independent Letter Recognition Practice
An independent activity for reinforcing automatic letter recognition. The child uses phonemic awareness to identify the beginning sound of the picture, then places a game piece (not included) above the correct letter. 78 cards.
Item#211
$10.00
Letter & Picture Sorting
Independent Letter Recognition Practice
An independent activity for reinforcing automatic letter recognition. The child sorts the cards by isolating beginning sounds and then placing the pictures beneath the correct letter. 3 pictures per alphabet letter.
Item#212
$8.00
Alphabet Mastery Game
Independent Letter Recognition Practice
An independent activity for reinforcing automatic letter recognition. Cards are placed in a stack, pictures facing down. The child identifies the letter (by sound first, later by name) and then turns the cards over to verify his answer. 52 cards. Lower case and upper case sets.
Item#214
$10.00
Blended Sounds and Letters
Independent Letter Recognition Practice
An independent activity for reinforcing automatic recognition of letter patterns. The student uses phoneme segmentation to isolate the first two sounds of the vocabulary picture, then places a game piece (not included) above the correct letters. 66 cards.
Item#220
$15.00
Phonogram Flash Cards Set 1 [Large]
Advanced Letter Recognition
Written English uses 26 letters individually and in combinations to represent the approximately 44 sounds in our spoken language. Children need to gain fluency (accuracy and speed) in recognizing these phonograms. 66 cards.
Item#221
$10.00
Phonogram Flash Cards Set 2 [Small]
Advanced Letter Recognition
Written English uses 26 letters individually and in combinations to represent the approximately 44 sounds in our spoken language. Children need to gain fluency (accuracy and speed) in recognizing these phonograms. 66 cards.
Learning to Read is Child’s Play
By Maunz, Matthews and Klein
Item#500, $19.00
The sequence, the research, the materials and the 30 years classroom experience which form the foundation of a practical, developmentally appropriate program that leads young children gently but surely into reading. A how-to manual for the early childhood classroom.