How to Teach Letters to Kindergarten Students
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Teaching letters to kindergarten students is a major focus of the school year. It takes a strong routine and plenty of repetition for students to learn the alphabet. Keep reading for tips and resources to help your students build a strong foundation for reading!
How to Teach Letters to Kindergarten Students
1. Don't Ignore Letter Formation
As we are introducing the alphabet, we help kindergarten students learn to identify the letters of the alphabet at first by looking at the path of motion. When we designed our Engaging Readers units, we not only planned amazing reading comprehension activities, but we also planned our word study as well. We are often asked about how we teach letters to kindergarten students at the beginning of the year.
When kindergarten students come to us at the beginning of the year, they know the names of objects in their everyday life. If you show a student a picture of a car, they will know it’s a car even if you turn it sideways or flip it so it’s facing the other direction. Same with a dog, a bird, a house… they are still the same object. However, with letters that is not the case. When we look at a letter of the alphabet, the meaning of the object changes when it gets positioned differently. Think about the lowercase letters b, d, p, and q. It is important for students to know the names of the letters and recognize letters in the correct formation. This takes a little retraining for our kindergarten friends.
Experts tell us that is important to think about letter formation and to teach students explicitly as you introduce these letters. Research also tells us that students who are confident with their handwriting skills produce a higher quality of writing than those with poor handwriting. (Ruetzel, R July/August 2015 Findings Primary‐Grade Teachers Will Want to Know The Reading Teacher, Vol. 69, Issue 1)
You can see more on handwriting and the path of motion for lowercase and uppercase letters in this blog post:
2. Choose an Effective Instructional Order
According to Wiley Blevins, there is no consensus on the best sequence for teaching the alphabet. Many teachers believe letters should be introduced in alphabetical order, whereas others believe that a young learner should learn meaningful letters first, such as the letters in their names. When teaching young children letter names and letter sounds, we teach letters that allow them to build words quickly. So, we begin with the letters t, a, b, and h. We then follow a set sequence throughout our curriculum for teaching letters and beyond.
Once students learn about a letter, that letter doesn’t go away. Research tells us that students need 6-8 weeks to build mastery. So, the letter t should show up in your review 6-8 weeks after the introduction.
3. Set Up an Instructional Routine
The best way to successfully teach letters to kindergarten students is to be organized and have a routine. When it comes to student learning, routines are critical. Now, I am all about fun and exciting activities to support learning but it’s important that students know what they are working on and what the next step is going to be. We want to teach letters the same way every single time so students can more easily store the information.
During the first 6 weeks, we introduce the entire alphabet. Each week, we introduce 4-5 letters. Many big boxed curriculums provide a letter of the week study. This is not effective.
Research by Jones and Reutzel (2012) showed that letter‐a‐day instructional pacing was significantly more effective than letter‐a‐week pacing in promoting students’ mastery of the alphabet letter names. They attributed this finding to a total of 6–7 distributed reviews of the alphabet letters in a single academic year, compared to only 1.5 distributed reviews when pacing instruction at a letter a week.
4. Use Short and Effective Lessons
So clearly letter of the week is old and outdated. Letter of the day is a better and developmentally appropriate approach. It is also suggested that students NOT spend an hour a day on letter recognition instruction, but rather just 12 minutes a day… 12! Minutes! The instruction should be quick and include activities like letter identification, sound identification, sorting letters, finding letters, and writing letters!
Step One: Letter Introduction
When we begin teaching letter recognition and sound, we provide students with a kinesthetic movement to accompany each specific letter. The movement is listed on the back of our sound cards.
Step Two: Letter Sounds
We identify pictures that represent the letter sound and place the sound cards in a pocket chart.
Step Three: Letters in Sentences
I read an alliteration sentence to students and we identify the word that starts with the focus letter. I also have students repeat the sentence with me a few times.
During our lesson, students are also working in their phonics journals.
Teach letters and phonics with our ready-to-go lesson plans and resources. You can find our Engaging Readers phonics lessons here:
5. Provide Plenty of Repetition
After each letter is learned, I provide students with different ways to practice the letters during their literacy center time. It is important for students to have lots of opportunities to apply their learning and strengthen their neural pathways.
Letter Recognition Activities for Kindergarten
Here are some alphabet recognition activities that are perfect to use for additional repetition during literacy centers or small group instruction.
Starting Strong Letter Activities
The Starting Strong curriculum is aligned with the Science of Reading and includes many activities for practicing letters and sounds.
In particular, the GIF letter formation slides can help students become more familiar with the letters of the alphabet.
The curriculum also includes handwriting practice that gives students the chance to connect phonemes and graphemes.
Handwriting practice is an excellent way to help students remember the letters of the alphabet. “In the early grades, when students practice dictation using an explicit approach to reading, areas of the brain that help cement these letters and sounds into their long-term memory are activated.” SOURCE: Graham, Steve, et al. “Extra Handwriting Instruction: Prevent Writing Difficulties Right from the Start.” TEACHING Exceptional Children, vol. 33, no. 2, Nov. 2000, pp. 88–91,
Letter Identification Editable Worksheets
These printable and editable worksheets are a great resource for practicing letter identification. You can simply add which letters you want your students to practice, select the themed activity pages, and print. You can easily differentiate these worksheets to meet individual needs.
Alphabet Games
These fun games are perfect for reviewing letter knowledge. Students pull out a card and say the letter name. There are special cards that make this game even more engaging. I love the multiple themes so this activity can be used throughout the year and not lose its excitement.
Click the link below to see the bundle of alphabet games:
Printable Alphabet Books
These printable alphabet books focus on one letter at a time. Students are able to practice letter identification and formation with a take-home printable book. Each book also has a QR code that gives students additional digital activities for alphabet practice.
Sequence Game - Letter Identification
This Sequence game is a fun way to practice lower case letters. Students will use the spinner, identify the letter, and then place a marker on the mat. Students will continue to play until they get five in a row.
There are also multiple sets of this game so you can add in initial sounds, blends, digraphs, and vowels later in the year! Check out the bundle, HERE!
Literacy Centers
These literacy centers are non-seasonal, easy to differentiate and follow a predictable format. They’re the perfect addition to your literacy stations and a fun way to help your students get more repetition with letter recognition.
Digital Letter Practice
If you have a technology center, these digital letter practice activities are great for the beginning of the school year. You can use these on Seesaw or Google!
ABC Songs
Alphabet songs are also a great way for students to practice letter identification and sounds. Here are a few to check out.
ABC Books
Of course, kindergarten teachers have lots of alphabet books! I have a blog post with some of my favorite alphabet books. You can check out the list and snag some free printables here:
Wanting to Learn More About the Science of Reading?
Free Alphabet Posters
These free alphabet printables are perfect for your little learners! These alphabet posters show letter-sound associations and the correct formation of letters. Plus, they align with our Engaging Readers phonics program and Science of Reading curriculum.
Note: There is another set of alphabet posters that show correct letter formation. You get both sets! Just add your name and email below.
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Deedee Wills
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
Hi, I'm DeedeE.
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
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37 Responses
Hi DeeDee,
I have filled out the request for your freebie on this page several times and for some reason I am not getting an email back with a link. I tried it on a couple of different computers and at different times. Any ideas? My email address is mhubkey@aol.com
Thanks so much for your time.
Oh gosh Michelle,
I looked up your email and it looks like you may have accidentally marked my emails as “spam.” When this happens all of my emails and automation gets blocked from being sent. Can you email me and I can try to email it directly to you.
deedee@mrswillskindergarten.com
Sorry…I forgot my name is Michelle!! Thanks
I just deleted your old subscription and tried to push it out to you. You may find an email from me in your inbox or possibly your spam/junk folder. If you add me to your email contacts, that might help.
EDIT: Okay… well… I guess once you hit the “Complained” button, there is no way to change it. You may need to use a different email address.
Oh my gosh…I don’t know how I did that!! I do apologize. I did look in my Spam folder and there is nothing there. I will try to use another address and see what happens. Thanks so much for your help.
Michelle
Do you have a link to the phonemic awareness task cards that are pictured above?
YES! They are also included in the Engaging Readers set for August/September! WOOT! That unit is packed with all the goodies! LOL
Can you add the link here for the task cards? Thank you!
It is in the post, but here it is for you too! Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Engaging Readers Reading Comprehension Units
Hey DeeDee,
Where can we get the introducing the alphabet file? I didn’t see it in the Curriculum Map and I already own the engaging readers set. Am I just missing it? Thanks!!
Hi Hillary,
The Curriculum Map contains the order in which we introduce the alphabet. Kindergarten starts on page 6 of that document for the first 6 weeks of school.
Hi! I love this post. My school uses the Wonders program and with their pacing guide they are still learning letter sounds in January!!! It is so slow… Is there a way to buy just your Alphabet activities rather than the whole Engaging Readers set? Or, is the alphabet study materials all in August and September and I can just buy that set? I would LOVE to buy the whole thing but don’t have that in my budget right now!
Hi there!
I’m sorry, we are not currently planning on selling the phonics independent of the reading units.
HI Dee Dee, I am a huge fan!!! So I’m and moving from kinder to TK next year and I want to clarify where I can purchase you introducing the alphabet unit. Am I correct it is not in the engaging readers? Also, what do you suggest I use if our kinder is using the engaging readers?
Warmly,
MIchelle Mangan
Can you please email the response to me
Hi there! I’m sorry, your email bounced back to me. 🙁
However! Great news! We have two editions of Engaging Readers so multiple grade levels can use them. The alphabet activities/phonics are in the Engaging Readers units.
Hi Deedee,
I did not receive the file. Checked my email and I have nothing blocked. Please resend. Thanks so much!
Julie
I just sent the file to you! 🙂
Hi! I love being able to earn my PD points with topics that benefit me and my students! Thank you!
I was wondering if the alphabet cards shown at the top of this post are part of a bundle or can they be bought individually?
Thank you for sharing your gift for teaching with others!
Randa Smith
Hi Randa!
I’m so glad you are enjoying the webinars! They are part of the monthly units 🙂
I love your products and organization! I’m looking for the Math Workshop Bundles, “Guiding Kinders Units 1-10” , that I see in your Curriculum Guide. Please help me find these resources. Thank you!
Hi Kelly,
Gosh, I’m sorry! There should be hyperlinks to the units. You can find the math bundle by clicking:
Kindergarten Math Curriculum
Kindergarten Math Supplements
I love this post! I have read it several times and I am wanting to use this knowledge for my Kinders next year. Do you offer the abc worksheets shown in the pictures? I have clicked everything and can’t seem to find anything. I have also purchased the engaged readers but they are not included in that. Am I missing something??
Please help!
Britta
Hi there! I highlighted some text to make it more clear, but every ABC activity that I included in the blog post are part of our Engaging Readers units. You can see those by clicking:
Engaging Readers Set #2
Engaging Readers Set #1
Sorry….summer brain! So, If I already receive the emails, the Curriculum guide download is in the email??
I wanted to be sure you got it. Yes, the curriculum guide is the free file in this blog post. If you did not get it, just email me and I can troubleshoot it for you.
deedee@mrswillskindergarten.com
I just finished watching your workshop about centers. I loved it. I went to your site and saw a freebie, Introducing the Alphabet. I tried to click on it, but it didn’t work. I would love to have it for this 2018 year. When I get my school money, I will be purchasing some of your teaching bundles. Thanks so much for making these workshops.
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
The free file in this post is the curriculum guide at the end of the blog post. If you did not get it, can you email me and I will troubleshoot it for you. (check your spam folder, too).
deedee@mrswillskindergarten.com
Hello Deedee!
I am prepping for next year and was wondering whenever you introduce the letters/sounds do you also introduce the path of motion from your handwriting unit and have the students complete the worksheet or do you wait on this part or do it at another part of the day?
Thank you for any feedback!
Chelsea
Hi there!
Yes, I you the path of motion forms in the “Make It Neat” unit. I don’t expect perfection, but they do pretty good. Then we can practice more in the weeks and weeks to come with other activities. I don’t start the Minute to Win It until the 2nd semester.
I hope that helps.
Are the task cards shown above sold separately?
No, I am sorry they are not at this time.
I have been trying to access the research articles that you have cited. I am a member of ILA, but I must be doing something wrong. How can I access the research?
Thank you!
You have to have the full membership I think. You may want to contact their help desk to see why you are not able to access the articles. I was only able to “check them out” for a limited time.
Hi, thank you so much for all your resources. I find them very helpful. I watched your guided reading webinar. I saw this resource and wondered if there is any way to get it still. I couldn’t find it in your store. I as well wondered if there was a way of watching a webinar that is older. I signed up for “Interactive Read Aloud” webinar but then things came up I and couldn’t watch it. Is there any way of seeing it now? Thank you again
Yes, If you look at my sidebar on the blog, you will see a button so you can watch webinars. There is a link there for you! 🙂
Hi Deedee,
I wondering if there if you have a video of the letter sound movements? I bought the Engaging Readers set and I’m just a little unclear on how to do the movements based on some of the descriptions. Kinda silly but I just want to do it correctly 🙂
I am sorry. I do not have a video. 🙁