Alphabet Knowledge
THE ALPHABETIC PRINCIPLE
Development of reading skills is dependent upon children’s understanding of the alphabetic principle (Texas Education Agency, 2002). When someone understands the alphabetic principle, they recognize that the sounds we speak can be represented by letters or groups of letters.
Developing this understanding includes:
knowing that certain shapes are called letters;
knowing that letters represent sounds;
learning the individual names and sounds of letters;
learning that sounds blend together to form words;;
being able to hear the different sounds in words.
RATE OF INSTRUCTION
The TSTL resource lays out instruction of letter names and sounds in cycles rather than through a single exposure that occurs in more traditional “letter of the week” routines.
Children learn best through repeated exposure over time (Texas Education Agency, 2002) which requires revisiting concepts regularly. Introducing or re-visiting three to four letters per week (shared between French and English educators), in conjunction with regular reviews, allows for these concepts to be solidified over time.
Generally, it can be assumed that a child has mastered a letter name and/or sound when they are able to identify this with automaticity, meaning they are able to consistently produce the letter name or sound in less than 2 seconds.
LETTER RECOGNITION
Letter recognition is the ability to recognize the letters of the alphabet by their shape and orientation.
Developing automaticity in this area understandably takes time. Students have 52 letters (uppercase and lowercase) to learn and many of them are visually similar.
For instance, the letters ‘p’, ‘b’, and ‘d’ include the same strokes and are only differentiated by the direction they face. Instruction must include emphasis on letter forms and orientation as well as regular practice noticing differences and similarities between letters in order to develop visual discrimination and eventual automaticity.
UPPER AND LOWERCASE LETTER
Children often come to school having more familiarity with uppercase letters. It can be tempting to focus only on uppercase letters to start, however, children need to learn to identify the more commonly used lowercase letters as well.
By introducing upper and lowercase letters together, we expose children to both forms of letters and begin the work of pairing the two forms in their minds.
NAME AND SOUND OF LETTERS
There have been many discussions about whether students should be taught both the name and sound of letters or the sounds alone.
Research shows us that although a child may learn to read with knowledge of letter sounds alone, the alphabet forms the basis of literacy instruction in both French and English. Letter names provide a basis to talk about letters (such as variations in sound that individual letters can make); are necessary for spelling instructions; and provide a connection between upper and lowercase letters.
Many letters of the alphabet include their sound within their name (e.g., ‘b’ - /b/) which provides an additional anchor to letter-sound correspondence (Shanahan, 2018)
By pairing the teaching of letter name and sound, we begin the work of connecting these necessary concepts for learners. As noted above, this is all part of the work necessary to grasp the alphabetic principle.
SCOPE & SEQUENCE
Research has shown that alphabet instruction is more effective when the introduction of letter knowledge (sound, name, form) follows a scope and sequence (Centre For Effective Reading Instruction). The scope and sequence will determine content for systematic and explicit instruction.
There is no one agreed upon order in which to introduce letter-sound relationships. It is generally agreed, however, that the order of letters chosen should:
progress from most frequent to less frequently used letters.
include an early introduction of some continuous sounds (e.g., /m/, /s/), as well as letters that can be used to build many words (e.g., m, s, a, t).
consider initially separating visually similar letters (e.g., b,d,p,q) and auditorily similar letters (e.g., /e/ and /i/, /n/ and /m/ in English and /b/ and /p/, /v/ and /f/ in French).
note letters that have their sound in the name (e.g. m, s, p) and those that do not (e.g. h, w, y)
OCDSB SCOPE & SEQUENCE FOR KINDERGARTEN
Here is a suggested scope and sequence for OCDSB Kindergarten classes that can be used for both languages of instruction:
*Focus on short vowel sounds and teach hard sounds for g and c.
Systematic and Explicit: Instruction should build from simpler to more complex concepts through a step-by-step, logical sequence.
Progressions of skills can be found throughout the TSTL document to support instruction, such as the letter scope and sequence above, which you can also find on page 13 Teaching Sounds, Teaching Letters.
TYPES OF SPEECH SOUNDS
Speech sounds can be divided into two main categories: continuant and stop sounds. They are often referred to as “stretchy” and “quick” sounds for young learners.
Continuant sounds are ones that can be stretched out and held (e.g., /mmmmm/ and /sssss/ along with all the vowels).
Stop sounds (e.g., /p/ and /t/) cannot be stretched.
Many continuant sounds are found at the beginning of the OCDSB scope and sequence because they are easier for learners to hear. As they learn to blend, it is easier to use sounds that can be stretched into one another. Take for example, the word “sun”. The beginning sound can be stretched into /sss/-un. Stop sounds do not allow for this stretch, which can make them more difficult to hear.
Individual speech sounds are often mispronounced by either adding a schwa sound to the pure sound and/or bouncing on the sound. A schwa is when a vowel sound is attached to the end of the pure sound (e.g., /lu/ rather than /l/). Sometimes, despite explicit instruction, students will add a schwa to certain letters such as ‘g’ and ‘b’ because it is difficult not to. Encouraging their efforts while offering immediate corrective feedback is key. Bouncing on a sound involves repeating a sound more than once (e.g., /t/ /t/ /t/ rather than /t/).
See the following videos for support with speech sounds:
Offering corrective feedback video
Adding a schwa or bouncing on the sound can interfere with blending. See chart below:
Also be aware of these two errors as sounds are often mispronounced in videos and songs to make them more melodic.
ARTICULATORY REFERENCING
The goal of articulatory referencing is to draw children’s awareness to what they are doing with their mouths (lips, tongue) when they are producing a sound. It is not to teach articulation. Educators need to have awareness and comfort with how sounds are produced before they can begin cueing students in this regard.
Most children learn how to articulate sounds without explicit instruction, so large chunks of instructional time are not necessarily needed in this area (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Educators might provide quick references for students to support these connections, such as when making the /m/ sound, they might note that the lips are together. Drawing attention to these motor skills may be done through a quick conference for only one or two students who demonstrate a need for support.
Finally, one other time articulatory referencing can be helpful is when children are encoding (spelling/writing) words. Helping children understand that their mouth moves for each spoken sound can facilitate connecting letters to each of those sounds. This can also be helpful if children are confusing two similar sounds (e.g., /b/ and /p/ in the words ‘big’ and ‘pig’)
ARTICULATION MILESTONES
Even with articulation cues, a child may not be able to properly produce a sound. If a child’s articulation is in line with their level of development (see chart below), continue to support, but allow time for motor development. However, if there is a gap between what you see in the chart and a child’s abilities, you should reach out to your school’s Speech and Language Pathologist via your Learning Support Teacher.
SOUND WALLS
Sound Walls provide a visual placeholder for the multiple spellings for each sound organized by the place and manner of articulation. Through them, students learn spelling patterns through understanding that one sound can be made with a variety of graphemes.
Though the shift away from word walls and towards sound walls is a good one, neither are necessary in Kindergarten! Embedded Mnemonics support students in developing knowledge of the 26 letters of the alphabet and their most common sounds (single letter sounds and short vowels). Therefore, students who are not yet developing knowledge of various spellings for one sound do not benefit from the use of a sound wall. Developing fluency of single letter names and sounds is important before moving to more formal and complex phonics instruction and the introduction of a sound wall.
The best time to introduce a sound wall is often in Grade 1 when students are able to handle a greater cognitive load. Even then, in order to use a sound wall effectively, educators should have a high degree of skill and comfort in making articulatory references with their students. It is better not to use one at all, then to use one without solid educator knowledge. Your school’s SLP is a great resource if this is something that interests you.
ASSESSMENT TOOLS & TRACKING
Assessment in this area focuses on letter name and sound by looking at letter form. Part of this measure is the level of automaticity students have in these skills. Remember automaticity means the child can produce the name or sound of the letter in less than three seconds.
Assessment also serves to find out whether a child is able to make the distinctions between letter names and sounds. The two concepts can often be confused early in the learning. With the use of embedded mnemonic devices we also see students offering anchor words rather than the name or sound. While this is important information, educators should be looking for students to provide the targeted skills.
The purpose of these assessments is to inform our instruction. Armed with this information, educators can plan for most group instruction, small group instruction, transition routines and playful practice.
This table of assessment tools can be found on page 18 of the TSTL or by clicking HERE.
RESOURCES TO SUPPORT ALPHABET KNOWLEDGE
As stated earlier, connecting the sound, shape, and name of letters in memory is paired-associate learning. This kind of learning requires many opportunities for practice and application in order to anchor concepts in the memory permanently. Playful practice affords students the many exposures they need for mastery. A curated list of activities (Appendix B, page 90) of TSTL can be used for planning centers and small group instruction. Such activities provide necessary practice and review.
Additional supports such as Flow of the Day suggestions and Playful Practice can be found in the TSTL Appendices.
UFLI FOUNDATIONS IN KINDERGARTEN
Many Kindergarten educators are interested in the UFLI resources and curious about how they can best be used with OCDSB Kindergarten students. The OCDSB is not recommending UFLI as a program for full class instruction in Kindergarten at this time, but rather for small group instruction of students who are ready for it in Cycle 4 based on assessment data. The use of this resource is appropriate for students who are moving from alphabet instruction to a phonics scope and sequence.
TSTL was created by the OCDSB to address letter name and sound instruction in a way that honours the developmental readiness of learners between the ages of 3 and 6. The TSTL resource is not a prescribed program, but rather allows flexibility and responsiveness for our young learners with a focus on developing the alphabetic principle before phonics instruction.
By laying the foundations of the alphabetic principle, TSTL paves the way for future phonics instruction which may be planned using a resource such as UFLI Foundations. Instruction at the Kindergarten level may pull from elements of UFLI Foundations such as word lists and letter formation in conjunction with practices outlined in this document.
A side by side comparison of the TSTL resource and the UFLI Foundations can be found in Appendix C on page 110. of TSTL
