The Letter P

P is the 15th letter of the alphabet-- almost finished! 

The children got to choose popcorn or pretzels and some even enjoyed a mix of both this week and they LOVED it!

Austin decided to add a drawing of a porcupine to the P page in his ABC book!  The children draw a picture, write the letter, find that letter in the newspaper, and find the letter sticker.

On Friday, we combined the letters O and P for some more practice!  There are basically three levels of this type of combination.  First, we combine the items in the letter tubs and the children name each one and place it in the correct tub.  Then, as you can see below, they sort different pictures on the smartboard. 

And then they complete their own picture sort on paper!

One last activity allows the children to discriminate O's and P's from other letters.  And, to be honest, they love any activity in which they get to use the Dot Markers!  

Here is Nathan finding all the O's first!

The Letter O

Learning about the letter O was so much fun!  Since we've already learned about three other vowels, the children were well prepared to talk about how the letter O has at least two sounds: long/strong and short.  The toughest part was making sure everyone made these O's correctly by starting at the TOP instead of at the bottom of the line! 

Great job starting at the top!



Here is Nathan sorting some uppercase and lowercase O's on the smartboard.  I paired the uppers and lowers together since they look very similar!  The children moved two each turn.



And, as usual, we had some yummy O snacks! 

Oatmeal Cream Pies



And, Oreos!  Don't worry too much-- we DID have fresh fruit on Friday!

After some more practice with the long and short O sounds, the children did a picture sort on the smartboard.

The children also added the O page to their ABC books.  With each letter the children write the letter, draw a picture of something that starts with that letter, find the letter in the newspaper and find a sticker of that letter. 

The Letter N

It's time to celebrate the Letter N!

Here is Zachary sorting some uppercase and lowercase N's! 

We always begin by practicing writing both forms of the letter correctly.  The children love this quick sort on the smartboard.  I have uppercase and lowercase letters in lots of different fonts printed and in an envelope so they can sort more during center time if they choose.

Jack, those are some AWESOME N's!

After handwriting practice, we focus on the all important sound!  We do an initial sound sort on the smartboard with each letter and then combine them on Fridays. 

Mario sorts a picture of a Newt!

We combine all our skills by completing a page in our ABC books. 

The children write the letter, find a sticker of that letter,

 find that letter in the newspaper

and draw a picture of something that starts with that letter. 

Here is a Nest!

For snacks this week we enjoyed Nutty Bars---



And, Nila Wafers with Nutella---



I've really tried hard this year to practice the true sounds of each letter with the children.  It's more of a challenge to make the /n/ sound than it is to say "nuh". 

14th letter is complete!

The Letter M

It's time to celebrate the Letter M!

The letter M means that we are exactly half way through the alphabet!  Even though we only learn and review the letters for 2 days a week, I can tell the children appreciate it.  Many of the children recognize the upper and lowercase versions of each letter, but the sound and handwriting practice is a must!

We always begin with a letter and picture sort--

Then, the children practiced writing the letter M.  It's always tough to remember, but start each letter at the TOP!

And, for my favorite part of the letter study, the SNACKS! 

We had Muffins and Moonpies!

Everything was Mmmmm  Mmmmm good! 

The Letter L

It's time to celebrate the letter L!

At the beginning of every letter study, the children practice differentiating between the lowercase and uppercase forms of the focus letter.  Then, they practice sorting pictures based on the sound of the focus letter vs. other letters we've studied. 

 After practicing together, the children completed the L page in their ABC books.  The children find an L sticker and an L in the newspaper.  They write the letter L and then draw a picture of something that begins with L. 

Jennifer found an L in the newspaper. 

This child drew a ladybug. 

Caitlyn is drawing a lion!

I do my best to match up our snack of the day and the letter we are studying.  It really isn't too hard since we only study each letter for two days.  And, the children are hilarious when trying to guess what we are having!  This week we had--

Lays and Lemonade



And, Lemon Squares-- homemade by Mrs. Lochel!





On Fridays, we combine the two letters that we've studied that week and complete a variety of activities.  First, the children complete a picture sort independently. Later in the year, the children will begin working with picture sorts based on their spelling stages from Words Their Way.  For now, I just create these sorts on a weekly basis with clip art for the letters we are studying!  I typically use the same clip art for the sorts on the smartboard so they have already practiced naming each one at some point during the week.  A good way to practice this at home would be to choose two letters/sounds and have your child find pictures in a magazine or newspaper that fit into either category.

Then, they have to use our favorite dot markers to locate both letters-- uppercase and lowercase! 

12 letters down...14 more to go!