Letter Sound Memory:

            Using pairs cards with images having the same beginning sounds, place the cards face down. Have each child turn over two cards. The child is looking for the cards with images that have the same beginning sound (Pie and Pig /p/). If the child finds a match, they get to keep the cards. If they don’t match, the cards are turned back over, and the next child gets a turn. Play until all the cards have been matched. Images with the same ending sound or rhyming words can be used as well.

Letter Sound Bingo:

            Using bingo cards with images, give the children the beginning sound they are looking for (“Find the picture that starts with /f/”) The cards can have different pictures for the same beginning sounds (images of a fish, a flag, a foot). The teacher can use beginning sounds or ending sounds for the game. Play until each player has filled their Bingo card.

Both activities help children to listen for the beginning or ending sounds of words in an engaging way. Identifying phonemes (letter sounds) is an important stage of phonological awareness.

Family Activity

Families can practice phonemic awareness with their child during their day. When families are running errands, caregivers can ask their child to find things that start with a particular sound. (“What can you find that starts with /k/?  “Car, cat, candy, candle…)

Developmentally Appropriate Activities:

Boo:

            Print out 3 to 4 complete sets of the alphabet on cards and several that say “Boo”, that have ghosts on one side. Hand each child 5 cards and set the remaining cards in the middle of the table. The first child with the letter “A” places down their card moving clockwise have the next child place a “B” if they have it or draw a card from the pile. If a child has another “A” they can start a new pile. The children try to complete each stack A-Z. The child who places a “Z” gets to keep the pile. If a child draws a Boo card, they must return any cards they have won back to the pile.

Alphabet Musical Chairs:

            Place white boards around a table with a different letter of the alphabet on each board. Play music and have children walk around the table. When the music stops the children sit at the table and write the letter that is sitting on the white board.  The music can begin again, and the game continues.

Boo helps children practice the order of the alphabet and as the number of piles grow to determine the letter, they have that may be used.   Alphabet musical chairs teaches the correspondence between the letter they read and the written letter. (From pocketofpreschool.com)

Family Activity

Letter Detectives:

            Families can have their children see how many letters they can find in a specific location. (“How many letters can you find in your bedroom?”) Children can look for a specific letter when families are shopping. (“Find as many “B” as you can in the grocery store.”)

Finding letters out in their world helps children make the connection between letters and words. Confirms that words are made up of letters.  

Developmentally Appropriate Activities:

Dramatic Play:

The dramatic play area of the classroom can be labeled. Before the children get to play in the dramatic play for the first time go over the labels and the items they go with. As the children play they are connecting words to specific items.

Story Time:

            Before reading a new story with children find any words that may be new to them or used in a way they are not used to. Print out images that match the words. Go over the new words with the children before reading the story.

Labeling items in the classroom are constant reminders that letters and words have meaning and are related to items they children come in contact with. Images that illustrate new words or ideas help children with comprehension of new words and ideas.

Family Activity:

When grocery shopping families can point out the labels of grocery items. They can ask children to try to find the labels in the produce section or sale labels around the store.

Developmentally Appropriate Activities:

Read Aloud:

            Choose books rich in dialogue and descriptions. As you are reading the story be sure to vary the rate you read and how you express the emotions and scenes in the book. Children will begin to understand that reading is not just saying the words but how you add to the story with tempo and expressions.

Nursery Rhymes:

            Choose a nursery rhyme a week. Teach the children the nursery rhyme and have them repeat after you.  Pick activities during the week that have the children retell the story or explore the characters in the story.

Children in preschool are not reading independently so they rely on teachers to share stories and their feelings and descriptions. Teachers can ask questions about what children think might happen next or how a character might be feeling. Practicing retelling helps children build their comprehension.

Family Activity

The most important thing families can do is read with their children. Reading new books as well as rereading favorites until children have memorized them and can “read” them back to their families build children’s fluency.

Developmentally Appropriate Activities:

Retelling:

            After reading a story with a group of children ask them to retell the story. Ask children what happened first, middle and ending.  You can ask them to make predictions at the beginning and see if the predictions come true.  

Questions:

            While reading a story stop and ask questions about what has just happened or how a character may be feeling. Teachers can ask children what they think might happen next based on the pictures and the words in the story.

Teaching children comprehension skills starts by talking about the books they are reading. Having children think about what might happen next based on what has already happened helps build their ability to read and comprehend a story.

Family Activity

Talking with children about what a family member is doing or about how their day have been, are ways to engage children with words and comprehension. Asking children to use their words to explain what they are building or coloring, narrating they activities or the family members build their vocabulary and understanding of words.

            First Five California is a help place for families to help their child grow and learn in their first five years. Information is available for children ages birth to five years old.

https://www.readingrockets.org/

            Reading Rockets is a great sight for parents and teachers to help young children become engaged readers. There are specific sections related to children with developmental exceptionalities.

https://www.colorincolorado.org/

            While Colorin Colorado is dedicated to bilingual families and literacy, there are helpful activities for all families and children.