September/October, 2013
Letter Friends &
Awesome Alphabet Songs
Introduction
If you were not an educator and you wanted to get your child ready to read, what skills do you think she would need? What things would you try to teach her to help her on her way? Common sense would suggest letters! Those 26 little letters are where it all begins! They are the tools of a reader—little wiggles and squiggles that turn into words, stories, poems, and great literature. Letters are in integral part of our environment. From the clothes we wear, to the food we eat, to the signs on the road, it’s a letter world! Children are naturally curious about letters and will be excited about learning them when they are introduced in a multi-sensory, playful way. No workbooks! No worksheets! No drill and kill! We need to create activities and experiences where all children will succeed as they become acquainted with those 26 “friends” that will open the door to reading, writing, and a lifetime of learning!
There are many ways to make chocolate chip cookies, and do you know what? They all turn out yummy! This month I have over 100 ideas that will introduce letter friends and a love of reading. Pick, choose, adapt, and use the ones that best meet the needs of your children and your goals. Just make sure they taste yummy!
We also have a free song download and an accompanying book for this month. Click here for your free download of "Letter Tales" and the book.
You will find a free download of Dr. Holly's Letter Limericks at TPT. Mary Amoson created the download.
Have you visited Dr. Jean's blog yet? Click here.
A teacher at a recent workshop said, “You need to make a CD with all of your alphabet songs.” It was a great idea, and so we have a new download with 20 alphabet songs and lots of activities to support the songs in your classroom! You will find the collection in our downloads Song Store.
AWESOME ALPHABET SONGS
Sample song clips available here
1. Who Let the Letters Out? (Kiss Your Brain)
2. The Alphabet in My Mouth (Kiss Your Brain)
3. Sing and Sign (Sing to Learn)
4. Happy Birthday Letters (Totally Reading Vol 1)
5. This Is a Tale (Just for Fun)
6. Alphardy (Sing to Learn)
7. Seven Little Letters (Is Everybody Happy?)
8. Phonercise (Sing to Learn)
9. I Know an Old Man Who Swallowed Letters (Totally Reading Vol 1)
10. Deck the Room (Totally Reading Vol 1)
11. Alphabet Train (Just for Fun)
12. ABC Kickbox (Better Bodies and Brains)
13. Go Letters! (Move It! Learn It!)
14. Vowel Song (Is Everybody Happy?)
15. Vowel Family (Just for Fun)
16. Slide and Blend (Totally Reading Vol 1)
17. Diagraph Walk (Totally Reading Vol 1)
18. Writing Uppercase Letters (Totally Reading Vol 2)
19. Rhyme to Write Lowercase Letters (Totally Reading Vol 2)
20. Alphabet Forwards and Backwards (Keep on Singing and Dancing)