Letters

• We learn the sound of each alphabet letter.  The children already know the names.  They need to know the sound in order to read, so we learn sounds.  
• We also learn the ASL sign for each letter and how to sign a word that starts with that letter.  
• To accompany the letter sound, we have a Sound Bag.  This is full of items that I gather from home that start with our letter for the week.  We have fun guessing what might be inside!  Sometimes the children need clues.  Sometimes they think of things that I haven't.  The items are placed in the middle of the table so everyone can see when it is time to draw.  
• I have a set of sandpaper letters that I made.  They are on large puzzle pieces so that a child could match uppercase and lowercase.  These are passed around, and everyone traces over the letters.  
• Next is magic rice!  This is a tray with rice for them to draw the letter in.  When they gently shake the tray, the letter disappears, like magic!  (The children named the rice tray, and I love it, so Magic Rice it is.)  
• Now, after all this feeling and listening and seeing, it is time to write the letter.  The children have a Lesson Book that they add to each week.  They draw the letter, or at least try, and then draw whatever they'd like that starts with the letter.  
• Some years we have clay too.  This adds even more fine motor skills to our letter time, and the children have an entire alphabet at the end of the year, or 26 balls of modeling clay. :)