Pre-Reading and Writing Strategies
Salt Box – Line a small box with black paper and add a thin layer of salt. Your child can write letters in the salt. Shake the box to "clean the slate."
Sandpaper Letters – Cut the letters of your child’s name out of sandpaper. Glue these onto a piece of cardboard. Your child can trace his/her name with his/her finger.
Magnetic Letters – Buy several sets of magnetic letters (upper & lowercase letters.) On the fridge or a cookie sheet, help your child find and group together all of the capital and lowercase B/b, then all of the D/d, etc. Talk about the letter’s name and the sound it makes. Then, find all the letters that make a "mmm" sound (M) or an "ssss" sound (C & S), etc.
Alphabet Books – Cut a piece of paper into fourths, staple them together on the side, and write an alphabet letter on the cover. Your child can cut pictures out of magazines that begin with the letter on the cover and glue them on the following pages. Label the pictures.
Finger Paints – Your child can smear finger paints on a piece of paper. Help him/her write his/her name or various letters with his/her finger. Wipe the slate clean, then try some more.
Play-dough – Draw a letter, and have your child roll out pieces of play-dough and fit and mold them together to make that letter’s shape. Try lots of letters!
Spaghetti – Do the same as above with cooked spaghetti. Color small batches with food coloring to make it more fun.
Letter Hunt – Look for letters. Pick a letter of the day and see how many everyone in the family can find. Look on street signs, in books, etc. Make it a game!
Body Letters – Help your child make letter shapes with his/her body. Some letters, like L, your child will be able to make with his/her own body. Some, like M, will require two bodies.
Fine Motor Control Practice – Draw curly lines, shapes, mazes, and have your child trace them with a pencil. Then see if s/he can duplicate these shapes/lines/etc. by him/herself.
Word Wall – Put up separate alphabet letters on pieces of paper on the wall. Write new words the child has mastered, cut them out and put them under the alphabet letter that has the same beginning sound.
Computer Software – Look for software that incorporate phonics into reading activities.
Post-its & Pens – Write single letters on small post-its and have your child stick the post-its on items around the house that begin with the same letter.
Magna doodle – This is great for the car when practicing fine motor skills, writing letters, words, word families, spelling words, etc.
Alphabet Bingo – This game is wonderful for practicing letter names and sounds.
Rhyming Words – Look for rhyming words in books, poetry, writing, etc. Practice making rhyming words with magnetic letters, pens and paper, on the computer, etc.
Poetry – Read lots of poetry to your child. Go back and look for words that start and/or end with the same letter, words that rhyme, capital letters, same endings, etc.
Read! Read! Read! - Read to your child often and discuss what you are reading! Model and encourage as much language as possible.
Strategies for Letter Recognition
from Hubbard's Cupboard
· Letters are Everywhere --Draw your child's attention to letters and words in his/her environment (signs, cereal boxes, toy boxes, menus, etc.)
· Letter Writer--Have your child trace letters on/in different surfaces (sand, rice, cloth, etc.) Say the name of the letter with your child as they form the letter. Try using bath crayons. You can use them in the tub and they erase right off!
· Letter Builder --Build letters with different materials such as macaroni, pipe cleaners, playdough, etc.
· Print the Letters -- Practice printing upper and lower case letters. (one time each week)
· Tactile Letters – Make a tactile letter for finger tracing. Write a letter on large paper. Trace with glue. Sprinkle with sand, salt, or rice. When dry, have your child trace the letter with his/her finger and say the name of the letter.
· Rainbow Letters -- Write one letter on a large sheet of paper. Have your child rainbow write the letter by tracing over it with 4 or more colors of crayons or markers.
· Letter Search -- Name a letter and ask your child to find as many different sizes, colors, and styles of that letter as possible to cut and glue onto a sheet of paper.
· Which Letter? -- Write a row of different letters for your child. Say one of those letters and ask him/her to circle the letter you said.
· Highlights -- Give some of your junk mail to your child and ask him/her to use a marker or crayon to highlight or circle certain letters. (exp. Highlight all of the Kk's orange, all oePp's purple, all of the Yy's blue, etc.)
Strategies for Letter Sounds
from Hubbard's Cupboard
· Flashcards/ABC Picture Chart—Daily do a quick review of letters and sounds. Show the card and have your child either…say the letter name and the picture name; say the letter name and the sound; say the sound and the picture name; or say the letter name, picture name, and another word that would start with that same letter.
· Sticky Letter --Make 3x5 letter cards. Make several of the same letter. Work on one sound at a time. Have your child find an object in the house that begins with that sound and tape the card to it. Keep it up for a few days so that your child can be reminded of the sound each time they see the letter card.
· "I Spy" letter sounds -- "I spy something that begins with the sound of b." Or, say, "I spy a ____. What letter do you hear at the beginning of that word." This is great for waiting in line or driving in the car.
· Brainstorm--Give your child a sound and ask him/her to think of as many words as they can that start with that same sound.
· ABC tub games--Get a butter dish or small bowl. Gather several household objects that begin with the same letter sound and a few that don't. Your child must figure out which items begin with the same sound and put them in the bowl.
· Search the House -- Your child can search around the house for objects whose names begin with a certain letter. (exp. B- bananas, brush, band-aid, belt, etc.)
· Picture Sound Collage -- Ask your child to search through magazines, etc. for pictures that start with a certain letter. Have them glue all the pictures they find onto one sheet of paper to form a letter collage.
· Tongue Twisters -- Play with tongue twisters-traditional or made up! They are fun and emphasize the initial consonant. (exp. Pink pigs play with purple pegs.)
· ABC Memory—Find 1 picture that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Also, make flashcards, 1 for each letter. Play memory by asking your child to match each letter to it's corresponding picture. (exp. An apple with the letter Aa)
Here is a list of strategies from Kindergarten
- Use magnet Letters- order from A to Z, spell words, pick out certain letters, match magnet to a picture
- Play letter concentration/memory game
- Use pipe cleaners to form letters
- Use play dough to form letters
- Reread stories from letter books and review various skills taught
- Play with bathtub foam letters/bathtub crayons
- Make a journal at home-have your child write to you and you respond back
- Play Boggle Jr.
- Use letter stamps or letter markers
- Let child write letters or words using shaving cream
- Create an ABC book using pictures from magazines
- Take slime and use a finger to draw letters and words
- Play “I Spy” in the car (I spy something that starts with f)
- Play spotlight game-use a flashlight to shine on letters or words
- Highlights - give some of your junk mail to your child and ask him/her to use a marker or crayon to highlight or circle certain letters. (exp. Highlight all of the Kk's orange, all of the Pp's purple, all of the Yy's blue, etc.)
- Sticky Letter –Write letters on post-it notes. Make several of the same letter. Work on only a couple sounds at a time (or just one). Have your child find an object in the house that begins with that sound and stick the post-it to it. Keep it up for a few days so that your child can be reminded of the sound each time they see the post-it. You can also do this by having your child sounding out the object and sticking it to it.
- Write letters to friends and family
What to do if your child gets "stuck"
Studies have shown that reading at home is the most important thing you can do to ensure your child's reading success. Now that your child is beginning to read, they might get stuck on a hard word. Here are some hints you can give to help your child read a hard word on their own.
1. Give time and encouragement. ("You give it a try.")
2. Suggest checking the picture if it will help. ("That word is in the picture.")
3. Ask if it looks like the right word. (If the word is crocodile: "You said alligator. Does that word look like alligator?")
4. Ask if it makes sense. (Does it sound right to say, "We go the to store?")
5. Rerun the sentence. ("Go back to the start of the sentence and try it again.")
6. Be patient, encouraging, and positive about all the attempts your child makes.
7. This is a very slow process at first. But remember to ENJOY IT!
10 Reasons to Read Aloud to Children
by Susan Nixon, MA Ed.
Children will:
1. Hear new words;
2. Develop sentence sense and an ear for rhythm;
3. Enjoy and compare diverse writing styles;
4. Create common connections to ideas (as a class);
5. Use reading as a springboard to discussion and writing;
6. Gain new knowledge and understanding;
7. Hear standard forms of English;
8. Learn about a variety of writing genres;
9. Feel things they've never felt before;
10. Share a wonderful time with you and your favorite read-aloud books!
