Learning Letters
Letter Identification
What is it? Letter identification is the ability to see an upper or lowercase letter and quickly say the name of the letter. Why is it important? Knowing the names of letters allows teachers and children to communicate easily about letters and their sounds. What can we do at home? Magnet Letters - There are many, many ways to using magnet letters on the refrigerator! Help your child... *spell his/her name and the names of family members. *sort letters by shapes or characteristics, such as straight lines/curvy lines, circles/no circles, tails/no tails, or uppercase/lowercase. *put letters in ABC order (sing the alphabet song when you are figuring out the order). *match uppercase letters with lowercase letters. *search for letters. Say the name of a letter, and have your child find that letter. Newspaper letters - Have your child search for a particular letter in the newspaper or a magazine, and cut out that letter whenever he/she finds it. (As a bonus, this also works on fine motor cutting skills.) Use large motions - Have your child write letters in the air or on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. Have your child use his/her body to form letters. Use tactile materials - Have your child use his/her finger to trace letters in a pile of shaving cream, on a tray of powdered jello or pudding, or on a sheet of lightweight sandpaper. Type the letters - Allow your child to use the computer (or even an old typewriter) to type letters that he/she knows. Play guess the letter - In this game, partners take turns using their fingers to write a letter onto their partners' backs. The partner needs to guess the letter. |