Letter Knowledge Cheat Sheet

Why is this skill important?

• Letter Knowledge is the ability to recognize, name, and say the sounds of all 52 uppercase and lowercase letters.
• Being able to name the letters in the alphabet is one of the critical predictors of reading success.
• Words are made up of letters and letter combinations, so the ability to recognize letters with automaticity (without having to think about it) is an important early reading skill that allows children to focus on putting letters together to make words.

Children who have not mastered letter-sound knowledge by the end of kindergarten are more likely to be poor readers.

How long and how often?

Letter Knowledge can and should be taught in short lessons (5-15 minutes) every day in preschool classrooms. It should also be reinforced throughout the day.

Students learn Letter Knowledge best through frequent exposure and repetition of the letters.

Introducing a letter every 2 to 3 days allows for multiple review cycles throughout a school year. Students who learn letter names and sounds more quickly make significantly greater progress in reading (Blaiklock 2004).

Plan your instruction sequence using Letter Knowledge Instruction chart (below).

Preparation

1.Teacher must know the letter sounds

Watch and listen this 2 min. video to hear clear

and accurate letter sounds:

https://youtu.be/RxXGds2LhIo

• Practice the exact, precise letter sounds before teaching.
• Children should hear the letter sound in its “purest” form and avoid adding a voiced extra sound.

For example: For the letter “b”, the sound should be /b/ NOT /b--uh/

• Review the letters that have continuous and stop sounds, as well as voiced and unvoiced sounds (see charts below).

2. Plan the week’s lessons and activities

Use this Explicit Instruction Sample Week Lesson Plan for a week’s worth

of activities that promote explicit instruction and literacy rich content

instruction.

How to explicitly teach this skill

See Letter Knowledge Lesson Template (below).

Suggested Connections

Make connections with letters throughout the day by pointing out and naming letters and saying their sounds in books, around the school, and in other activities.

Prep & Materials

Some considerations should be taken when teaching Letter Knowledge:

1. Teach continuous sounds (those sounds that do not automatically stop when you say them (like /m/ /s/ and /a/) first.
2. Teach short vowel sounds early.
3. Teach letters in an order that provides students with more frequently used letters first. For example, this order:

a m t s i f d r o g l h u c b n k v e w j p y T L M F D I N A R H G B x q z J E Q

1. When children are taught letters in this order, they can make more words sooner. For example, using the first four letters (a m t s) they can make the words: am, at, mat, sam, mast.
2. Teach lowercase letters first, except for letters that look similar when uppercase or lowercase (S/s).

Considerations/ Differentiation

• When teaching the alphabet, make sure students can identify the sounds related to the letters of the alphabet.
• If a student struggles to master the letters you are teaching, slow down and provide additional practice.

Sources

University of Oregon Teaching Letters