Sensory Learning

Our reading groups have been using their senses to explore letters. We made the letter W with tasty pretzel sticks. We used our bodies to form the letter U. We even used finger lights to form our letters in the dark!
During guided reading, students are pointing under each word, as they track print from left to right. It is true that children need their fingers to establish one-to-one correspondence. This principle establishes that one word read equals one point of the finger. It doesn't mean that children point to get the words "right." For now, students are becoming more familiar with text patterns.

Letter W is a tasty pretzel treat! 

You can use finger lights to practice forming letters in the air.

Give me a U

Syllables

Our students have been learning how to segment words by clapping the syllables. We practice by clapping our names and our favorite foods.
We practiced forming and identifying the letters M-R. The lowercase p and q look similar, so here's a little trick to help them remember:
 Have your child make two thumbs with their hands. Next, they will place their thumbs so they are pointed at the ground. Then, tell them that p comes before q in the alphabet. This means that the first thumb pointed down is the letter p and the second thumb is the letter q. For students who are familiar with alphabetical order this tricks works well.

We made uppercase M with craft sticks.

Students can match lowercase letters on their magnetic boards. 

Rhyme Time

Did you know that listening to popular children's songs can help your child learn about rhyming words? We have been singing "Itsy, Bitsy Spider", "This Old Man", and many more songs to identify rhyming words. We even change the words and try non-rhyming words in the songs, just for fun!
Students are learning to write and identify letters L-O this week. We are reviewing a few letters that can be tricky too, like Gg, and Kk.
We read the story "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves," and students practiced writing the word "leaf." We are also practicing story sequencing with this book. What did she swallow first? What did she swallow last that made her sneeze?

Students used chalk to practice writing the letter j. 

We play "mix it, and fix it." Can you place the letters in the correct order?