black history month - letters of the alphabet

Saturday, February 5, 2022 - we're going to make traffic lights on construction paper to honor the late Garret Morgan, an African-American engineer who created the first traffic light that included the yellow light which is standard today. Caregivers will strengthen their children's recognition of the alphabet when we spell out the colors of the traffic lights: R-E-D, Y-E-L-L-O-W, and G-R-E-E-N!

Handout: Alphabet Recognition
Handout: Alphabet Tip Sheet

Research has shown that children who can recognize letters of the alphabet have an easier time learn-
ing to make connections between the letters and the sounds they stand for. Children need to memorize the letter names, and they can do this through direct instruction along with many exposures to the letters in print. Practice with writing the letters is a proven method for building and reinforcing letter recognition. Here are some activities for helping children develop their alphabet recognition skills:

1. Teach letter names before children learn the sounds with which they are associated. Teach the
child the alphabet song (provided in the Reading-tutors tutor teaching tips lesson) and sing it
daily. Point to the letters of the alphabet as you sing the song with the child.
2. Provide the letters in different forms: printed on cards, cut out from pieces of fabric, especially
felt or fuzzy materials, or cut out from materials such as sandpaper or Styrofoam. Have the child
trace the letter with her or his finger as she or he says the letter name.
3. Have the child make the letter out of clay, pipe cleaners, finger paint, or form the letter with her
or his body.
4. Teach the child the letters of her or his name. Some pairs of letters are easily confused. It is best to avoid teaching them together. Allow enough time for the child to learn one letter before introducing the other letter.
These pairs include:
lowercase: b-d, m-n, m-w, g-p, g-q, n-u, p-q, u-v, v-w, f-t, c-o, b-p, c-e, a-o, b-h, h-n, i-j, i-l,
and v-y
uppercase: C-G, O-Q, I-L, M-N, M-W, K-X, C-G, E-F, U-V, V-Y, D-O, and P-R.
5. Young children often find letters in the following groups confusing. These letters should not be
taught at the same time.
e, a, s, c, o
b, d, p, o, g, h
f, l, t, k, i
n, m, u, h, r
6. Provide practice in writing the letters. Let the child write the letters on unlined paper first. Students can use paint or finger paint or pencils. Reading-tutors.com provides letter writing practice pages for the child in the two most common letter-writing styles: Zaner-Bloser and D’Nealian. Be consistent, and use only one style of writing.
7. Write a series of words on a piece of paper, for example, box, ran, back, fan, boy. Ask the child
to circle all the words that begin with a letter, in this case, the letter b.
8. Select a letter for the day and write it on a large sheet of card stock. Have the child cut out words
from old magazines that start with that letter. The child can also add her or his drawings of things
that start with that letter.