Practicing letter recognition (for reading) and recall (for spelling)

Recognition (for reading)

Main purpose: to say as quickly as possible the correct sound when a letter is displayed

Flashcards

Resources

• • Set of A4 size cards with a letter on one side and its mnemonic on the other (e.g. the letter s on one side and a picture of snake shaped like an s on the other).

Procedure

• 1. Hold up the letter cards the children have learned, one at a time

  2. Ask the children, in chorus, to say the letter-sound (with the action if used)

  3. If the children do not respond, turn the card over to show the mnemonic.

  4. Sometimes you could ask the children to say the letter-sounds in a particular way (e.g. happy, sad, bossy or timid - mood sounds)

  5. As the children become familiar with the letters, increase the speed of presentation so that the children learn to respond quickly.

Interactive whiteboard variation

Resources

• • Interactive whiteboard with large letters stacked up one behind the other

Procedure

• 1. Reveal letters one by one by 'pulling' them across with your finder, gradually speeding up.

Frieze

Resources

• • Frieze of letters

  • Pointing stick/hand

Procedure

• 1. Ask the children to tell you the sounds of the letters as you point to the letters at random.

  2. As the children become familiar with the letters, increase the speed of presentation so that the children learn to respond quickly.

  3. Sometimes ask a child to 'be teacher' as this gives children confidence and gives you the opportunity to watch and assess them as they respond.

Interactive whiteboard variation

Resources

• • Interactive whiteboard

Procedure

• 1. Display the letters the children have learned

  2. Either point to one letter at a time or remotely colour one letter at a time and ask the children to tell you each letter-sound.

Recall (for spelling)

Main purpose: to find the correct letter in response to a letter-sound being spoken

Fans

Resources

• • Fans with letters from sets 1 and 2 (e.g. s, a, t, p, i, n), one per child or pair of children

Procedure

• 1. Say a letter-sound and ask the children to find the letter on the fan and leave it at the top, sliding the other letters out of sight.

  2. If all the children have fans ask them to check that they have the same answer as the partners. If the children are sharing, they ask their partners whether they agree.

  3. Ask the children to hold up their fans for you to see.

Variations

• • The children have two different fans each.

  • The children work in pairs with three different fans.

Quickwrite letters

Resources

• • Small whiteboards, pens and wipes for each child or pair of children

Procedure

• 1. Say a letter-sound (with the mnemonic and action if necessary) and ask the children to write it, saying the letter formation patter as they do so.

  2. If the children are sharing a whiteboard both write, one after the other.