DON'T LET THE LETTERS OUT! - Here's a take off on the popular chant, "Who let the dog out? Woof! Woof! Woof!" that will get your students excited about letters and sounds.

Write different letters of the alphabet and sounds using the chant on separate sheets of paper.

For example: "Who let the A out? /a/a/a/ ", "Who let the B out? /b/b/b/."

Have children illustrate pictures of animals beginning with the sound on each page.

Put the pages together and bind in a cover that says, "Don't Let the Letters Out!"

SWEET A B C'S - Ask children to bring in their candy wrappers after Halloween.

Sort the wrappers, graph the wrappers, then use them to make an alphabet book.

Take 26 large sheets of paper and write a different letter on each page. Let children glue the wrappers on the pages according to their beginning sound.

Write silly comments on pages that don't have wrappers. For example: "Q - Quit eating so much candy!" "V - Very yummy candy." Put the pages together in a colorful cover.

HEIDI HIGH AND LOUIE LOW (My Favorite Finger Story!) (Every time Heidi High speaks use a high, soft voice. Every time Louie Low talks use a deep, loud voice.

Begin by sticking up your thumbs. Wiggle your right thumb and say, "This is Heidi High." Wiggle your left thumb and say, "This is Louie Low."

One day Heidi High opened her door (open fingers), went outside (stick out right thumb), and closed her door (close fingers). She said (wiggle right thumb), "What a beautiful day! I'm going to visit my friend Louie Low." So Heidi went up the hill and down the hill and up the hill and down the hill (move right thumb up and down in front of body until it reaches your left fist). She knocked on the front door and said (pretend to knock on left fist with right hand), "Oh, Louie Low. Oh, Louie Low. Let me try the back door. (Knock on opposite side of left fist.) Oh, Louie Low. Oh, Louie Low. I guess he's not home." So Heidi went up the hill and down the hill and up the hill and down the hill (move right thumb up and down back in front of your body). When she got home, she opened her door, went inside, and shut her door (open fingers, tuck in thumb, then close fingers to make a fist).

The next day Louie Low opened his door (open fingers), went outside (stick out left thumb), and closed his door (close fingers). He said (wiggle left thumb), "What a beautiful day! I'm going to go visit my friend Heidi High." Continue same as Heidi did on the previous dayŠ

The next day both Heidi High and Louie Low opened their doors (open fingers), went outside (stick out thumbs), and closed their doors (close fingers). Heidi said (wiggle right thumb), "What a beautiful day! I'm going to go visit my friend Louie Low." And Louie said (wiggle left thumb), "What a beautiful day! I'm going to visit my friend Heidi High." So they both went up the hill and down the hill (move thumbs toward each other until they meet in front of your body) until they ran into each other. They danced and played and had the best time (wiggle thumbs). After a while Heidi said, "Well, Louie, I better go home." And Louie said, "Well, Heidi, I better go home."

So they gave each other a hug (hug thumbs), and they both went up the hill and down the hill (wiggle thumbs apart to opposite sides of the body). When they got home they opened their doors (open fingers), went inside (tuck in thumbs), closed their doors (close fingers), and went to sleep (quietly put hands together and lay your head on them).