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This was a highly recommended website that I searched using google "teaching alphabet to kindergarten article". Generally, the first few results on google tend to be the most credible and viewed. I chose this due to its content and breakdown on examples of teaching.

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7 Ways To Teach Letters and Beginning Sounds In Kindergarten

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7 Ways to teach letters and beginning sounds in a kindergarten classroom. Kids will love these activities and so will you!

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Again, I google searched "How to teach the alphabet to Kindergarten." I, then, looked into Natalie Lynn Kindergarten and was pleased to find out that many teachers use her content in teaching. She provides great tips, in depth explanations, and class work sheets to use with students.

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6 Tips For Teaching The Alphabet in Kindergarten - Natalie Lynn Kindergarten

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When it comes to teaching the alphabet in Kindergarten, it can still feel a little bit like throwing spaghetti at the wall. You try all the things hoping that one of them is the best way to teach the alphabet in Kindergarten and make it stick. It doesn’t have to be that way, though! These […]

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Using Google, I was able to locate this article on teaching letters. It had recommended using the first 26 days of school with one letter a day. From my own experience, I have seen this be successful in kindergarten students. After further review, I determined this was a good resource used by many other teachers.

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How to Introduce Letters in Kindergarten

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Teaching letters and sounds to kindergarten students is the foundation of language arts. There is a lot of conflicting research out there about how to introduce letters in kindergarten. This blog post explains how to teach letters to kindergarten students. It's important to take the first 30 days of school to teach rules, routines, ...

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This article, found using google, was written in 2024. It appears to be factual and correct, and with it being a current article; I determined it to be a good resource as it is up to date with todays standards and teaching methods.

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Let's be honest for just a moment... the amount of skills that kids are learning to prepare them to read is mind boggling. There are so many pre-requisites that help set children up to become independent readers - and not just prove they are able to read at a certain level. Building phonological awareness starting with rhyming and alliteration, cementing letter knowledge, segmenting and blending, phonics, and phoneme manipulation just to name a few!

I get it... It can quickly become overwhelming. While some skills are definitely linear in progression, others are developed simultaneously. I recently shared some tips for building print awareness and as students are becoming more familiar with those skills, we are simultaneously working to build their letter knowledge.

Several months ago I shared the what and why behind building letter knowledge, and you can check out those details on this post. Today I want to share some of the best ways I've found to build letter knowledge - recognizing letters, naming letters, and the ability to tell what sound each letter commonly makes.

While people have different opinions on how many letters a week to focus on, I've found that going deep with 2 letters per week in Kindergarten is the most effective - although 3 letters is another option. This way we are providing enough exposure and practice with each letter while not taking an entire week to focus on each letter.

On the first day I introduce a letter I start out by explicitly telling students what letter we will be practicing and showing them the letter. We talk about what we notice (curves, no curves, straight lines, etc) and practice making the most common sound for that letter. Then we watch a short Storybots song for the letter. You can find a Youtube playlist of Storybots letter songs here.

After we we've been introduced to the letter we move onto creating a circle map! These are so simple - literally place the upper and lowercase letter in the middle of a chart paper/construction paper and let students brainstorm words that begin with that letter (watching Storybots before this helps get their ideas flowing, and you can also build in alphabet read aloud books for more inspiration). I usually keep these on large binding rings so that students can go grab them and flip through to refer to them as needed.

From there we practice writing the letter together so they're prepared for practicing during the handwriting center later in our literacy block. This is the perfect time to reinforce top-down writing! I keep this super simple! We generally will either (a) skywrite them (students hold their writing arm straight out and use their pointer finger to "write" the letter in the sky), (b) use our pointer fingers to trace the letter on our leg or a friend's back or (c) practice writing them on a dry-erase board. Each time we write the letter we verbally state the letter's name.

I think building in this writing practice - which honestly only takes 2 minutes - is so important for helping students make the necessary connections in their brain for the formation/shape of the letter, letter name and sound.

For independent practice with these letters I like to have my students do book hunts! You can let them use sticky notes or just point to where they find the target letter in book pages (or just make a copy of the page and let them use highlighters or markers). Of course, I also utilize a handwriting center during guided reading time where students have the chance to continue practicing the formation of the letters. Let's also not forget about continuing to practice the letter sound. I like to use simple picture sorts for students to sort pictures based on whether they start with the target sound or not.

Now you may be wondering how I am reviewing letters throughout the year as well as exposing students to letters who may be ready to move on to new letters. I shared all about my alphabet card routine in this blog post - and you can even grab your own set for free! I also take time during small groups (for students who need it) to review letter names/sounds/shapes. One of my favorite activities are sorts based on a characteristic - whether a letter is the target letter, what letters have curves/no curves, etc.

There you have it! Super simple and still engaging! My students always love these routines and they have worked so well for yeaaaaars in cementing letter knowledge! What other fun ways do you help your students to practice letter knowledge? Let me know!

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The Best Way to Teach Letters & the Alphabet - The Teaching Texan

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Let's be honest for just a moment... the amount of skills that kids are learning to prepare them to read is mind boggling. There are so many pre-requisites

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This article, also written in 2024 was a great article as well. I really like how it came from a person who has taught kindergarten. She uses a photo card approach and makes them available for download to help teach.

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I have been asked several times how I teach the alphabet. I have an alphabet activities page, but haven’t actually outlined how I go about teaching it.

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This was also searched in "How to teach the alphabet to Kindergarten Class." I rejected this article because, based on other articles, it was important to teach the alphabet in the correct order. this also was based more on her "opinion" rather than study.

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How Wee Learn - Out of the box learning ideas, playful art, exploring nature, and simple living - that is How We Learn!

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Teaching Letter Recognition – What Order to Introduce Letters - How Wee Learn

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Wondering about the order for teaching letters to your little ones? I’m on it! I feel as though I am always writing about waiting to teach letter recognition. Wait and let little hands get strengthened by other activities. Wait until little minds have had ample time to hear different words and sound…

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I know choosing this one isn't a direct website, but I felt it was appropriate as it contains 6 websites that foster alphabet learning. It was written and resourced by a teacher of 30 years, and I felt with that much experience that she would be a great reference point.

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A lot of online sites can make learning letters fun for kids. Here are a few of my favorites: Find the letter–easy, medium, hard–from PBS kids, intuitive to use; even K won’t have any t…

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Starfall was actually recommended to me by a family member who is a kindergarten teacher. They explained to me that they use this resource with all of their kindergarten students who also play it at home as well. While my focus here is the alphabet, starfall also teaches in other subjects such as math and reading.

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Learn to Read with Phonics, Fluency, and Comprehension

Free online resources and printouts courtesy of Starfall.

Free Printouts:

■ Reading and Writing Journals. Classroom experience has shown that children learn decoding skills as they focus on the sounds in words they write.
■ 21 Learn-to-Read Books. This sequence successfully teaches phonics, sight words, fluency, and comprehension.

For children with disabilities, see Accessibility Information.

What's the best way to teach children to read?

"When I was younger, Starfall was my favorite website. I truly believe that Starfall set the foundation for my future."
- Sarah, Undergraduate at Stanford University

Starfall's successful learn-to-read activities are based on teacher's experience and research:

Developed and tested in the classroom;

Follows scientific evidence-based methods recommended by the NICHD National Reading Panel;

Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness;

Systematic phonics instruction;

Methods to improve fluency and comprehension.

Starfall motivates through positive reinforcement and play. Children delight as they see, hear, and interact with letter-sound relationships in words, sentences, games, and songs.

Where Children Have Fun Learning to Read™

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Free online resources and printouts courtesy of Starfall. ■ Reading and Writing Journals . Classroom experience has shown that children learn decoding skills as they focus on the sounds in words they write. ■ 21 Learn-to-Read Books . This sequence successfully teaches phonics, sight words, fluency, and comprehension.

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I chose this website after searching for websites on google to help teach the alphabet. It has games that the students can play at home or in the class room to help them learn the alphabet. It is also FREE. I did notice there is a premium version that can be purchased that has additional content, but based on what I was able to play with on the free version, I felt it was sufficient.

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Fly from A-Z with confidence! Master the ABCs with our fun and interactive alphabet games for preschool through kindergarten. Play now!

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I chose this video as it as geared towards teachers. I went to youtube and typed in "Teaching the alphabet to kindergartners for teachers." I did have to search through as it generated videos geared towards the student, and I really wanted a resource that was for the teacher directly. This video was posted four months ago and the creator has almost 80k subscribers and is utilized by many teachers.

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What Teachers Should Know Before They Teach the Alphabet!

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On Youtube, I searched "Teacher tips on Teaching The Alphabet." This one was a little tricky as I had to scroll through videos to find one that was directed solely to the teacher, as well as one that wasn't outdated. I ultimately decided on this one due to it being posted 1 year ago by a literacy expert who has trained teachers and other specialty educators on this topic.

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How to Teach Kids to Write the Alphabet | Writing Alphabet Letters | Pre-Writing Activities

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I rejected this link for various reasons. While it was written this year, I felt that it was more "idea" than fact or method. The main page was also geared more towards parents, and I was looking for more teacher resources. It did have a section for teachers, but I wanted it to be solely for teachers from the start because of my intention to use it as a learning tool for myself to teach.

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SplashLearn Blog - Educational Resources for Parents, Teachers & Kids

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10 Best Ways to Teach the Alphabet to Kids of All Ages

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Detailed guidance on how to teach the alphabet to kids! Understand the top ten ways and tips on teaching letters to kids in the most effective way!