Use of Reading and Writing Strategies for Teaching Letter-Sound Correspondence

Provide children with a sample of a single letter book (or create one from environmental sources, newspapers, coupons, circulars, magazines, or your own text ideas). Make sure that your selected or created sample includes a printed version of the letter in both upper and lower case forms. Make certain that each page contains a picture of something that starts with that specific letter and also has the word for the picture. The book you select or create should be a predictable one in that when the picture is identified, the word can be read.

Once the children have been provided with your sample and have listened to it being read, challenge them to each make a single letter book. It is often best to focus on familiar consonants or the first letter of the child's first name. Use of the first letter of a name invites children to develop a book that tells about themselves and the words that they find. This is an excellent way for the reading workshop aspect of teaching alphabetic principles to complement and enhance the writing workshop.

Encourage children to be active writers and readers by finding words for their book on the classroom word wall, in alphabet books in the special alphabet book bin, and in grade- and age-appropriate pictionaries (dictionaries for younger children that are filled with pictures).

Of course, the richest resource within the reading and writing workshop classroom for teaching and fostering the alphabetic principle lies in the use of alphabet books as anchor books for inspiring students’ writing. While young children in grades K-1 will do better with the single letter book authoring activity, children in grades 2 and beyond can truly be inspired and motivated by alphabet books that enhance their own reading, writing, and alphabetic skills.

Furthermore, use of these books—which have and are being produced in a variety of formats to enhance social studies, science, and mathematical themes—provides an opportunity for even young children to create a meaningful product that authenticates their content study while enhancing alphabetic skills and, of course, print awareness[SAW4]. Consider selecting an alphabet book that has a particularly inviting concept, art style, or adaptable format within the children's capacity to use as a model.

For example, author Tana Hoban uses actual color photographs of letters in her 26 Letters and 99 Cents. Children may want to make clay letters or create letter sculptures that develop their own "in style of” alphabet book similar to Hoban's. If nutrition is the science topic, children might want to examine Lois Ehlert's very
accessible Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z. This, combined with an examination of the fruits and vegetables in a local store (perhaps a pleasant walk from the school and a quick break from the routine local outing) can yield a wonderful alphabet book on fruits and vegetables that can also include those fruits and vegetables eaten in various cultures (e.g., mangos, plantains, pomegranates, etc).

The alphabet book can also offer the class a chance to work collaboratively within a template created by the teacher. Completion of this collaborative work can be shared with peers in another class and parents. It can also be kept as a model for the following year's class (of course, with the recognition and acceptance of the authors!).
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Strategies for Promoting Letter Knowledge and Letter Formation

Engage the children in a “tale trail” game. Use a story they have already heard or read. Ask the children to circle certain letters and then re-read the story, sharing the letters they have circled.

Give the children plenty of opportunities to do letter sorts. Pass out word cards which have the targeted letter on them. Ask the children to come up and display their answers to questions about the letter. As an example, consider the letter “R.”
• R as the first letter—rose, rise, ran,
• R as the last letter—car, star, far,
• R with a t after it—start, heart, part, smart
• Two Rs in the middle of a word—carry, sorry, starry

Play "What's in a Name?" Select a student's name. As an example, consider "William." Copy the name down on a sentence strip. Have the children count the number of letters in the name and how many of them appear twice. Allow them to talk about which letter is upper case and which letters are lower case. Have the students chant the name. Then rewrite the name on another sentence strip. Have the strip cut into separate letters and see if someone from the class can put the name back together correctly.


As you read a book with or to the children, ask them to show you specific letters or lower case or upper case letters. Read the text first and encourage as many children as possible to come up and identify the letters. Use a big book and have felt letters available for display as well. If grade-, age-, and developmentally appropriate,
have the children write the letter they identified themselves. (Or, for even more fun, construct the letter using pipe cleaners, craft sticks, or colored markers, using different colors for upper and lower case letters.)

Play “letter leap” with the children and have them look carefully at the room to identify labeled items that begin with a specific letter by “leaping” over to them and placing a large lettered placard next to them. Children who have advanced in letter formation can then be challenged to “leap” through the classroom when called upon to literally “letter” unlabeled objects.
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