Letters upon Letters!

mariabecht
Oct 6, 2017
2 min read

In this blog post I will be talking about about the standard below:

Standard: LAFS.K.RF.3.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.

Recently in Kindergarten we have been learning our letters and sounds! Some our of students know these, however some do not. Since the beginning of the year, my CT and I have been collecting data in assessment folders to learn about the students.

We cover a letter each day and then do a review of the letters on Friday. Students have numerous opportunities to interact with the letter and sound. My CT and I use songs and movement to help teach the sound and vocabulary. In Classrooms That Work, the author writes that a wide variety of materials are used in effective classroom. My CT and I use different materials to teach the content. We read an Alphatales book to the students which helps build phonemic awareness and had the student interact with the story. We also make a class anchor chart of the things that start with the letter of the day and a L Flipchart on the board. This is done whole group. Independently, students work in their writing journals, do a cut and sort to identify the beginning sounds, and practice handwriting. This keeps the students engaged and has them gain experience with the sound.

In Classrooms That Work, the authors write that “teachers in the highest achieving classroom used lots of scaffolding and coaching- providing support but always trying to get the most out of every child”. In my teaching, I provide explicit coaching to students on phonics but also let them struggles at times to see if they can come to it.

Students also get the chance to use a whiteboard and 2 draw things that start with the letter. Next, students have the opportunity to draw 2 different things on their whiteboard with a friend! This lets the students work together and enhance the learning. My students enjoy interacting with their peers and pooling their knowledge together. According to New Media Literacies this is collective intelligence, which is the “ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with other toward a common goal” (Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison, & Weigle, 2006). In this lesson the common goal was producing the L sound and objects that start with L.