Montessori Education Center of the Rockies – Early Childhood
Ross
Key Lessons For Writing and Reading
I Spy Game
Materials:
1. Tray or basket
2. Various real objects gathered from the environment, or a collection of miniature
objects.
Preparation:
The Naming Game
Age:
2 ½ years, or whenever a child enters a Montessori environment
Direct Aim:
1. To help the child become aware of the sounds of his own language.
2. Phonemic awareness - to help the child become aware of the fact that words are
composed of sounds.
Indirect Aim:
Preparation for reading and writing
Presentation I: Isolation of Initial Sounds
Presentation II: Ending Sounds
Repeat all the steps in Presentation I, except that you ask for the ending sound in the
words. Say, “I spy with my little eye something that ends with ‘t’. The very last sound
I hear is ‘t’.”
Presentation III: Middle Sounds
Repeat all the steps in Presentation I, except say “I spy with my little eye
something which has ‘a’ in the middle. The middle sound I hear is ‘a’.”
Be sure to choose objects that have only one middle sound, like “cat”, “hat”.
You may also need to help the child slowly sound out the word in order to hear the
middle sound.
Vocabulary:
The names of the objects
Points of Interest:
1. The imaginary spyglass
2. The objects
3. The “I spy” phrase
Control of Error:
1. For one object, seeing the object in the teacher’s hand.
2. There is no control of error with more than one object.
Variations:
1. Play “I Spy” with the children’s clothes – “I spy with my little eye something on
Kathryn’s shirt that begins with _____.”
2. Play “I Spy” with pictures, either in books or on cards.
3. Play “I Spy” with children’s names.
4. Invite the children to think of all the words that begin with a particular sound, or that
ends with a sound, or that have a sound in the middle.
Extensions:
Begin to do auditory blending of sounds to form words. This should only be done at
an auditory level with no letters involved.
Notes:
1. I Spy is a very important activity which should be done every day. You do not have
to do it for very long.
2. Never mention the connection between the letters (graphic symbols) and the I Spy
Game. The difficulty of hearing the sound in a word is enough of a challenge at this
level.
3. Create a “Treasure Chest” of phonemic awareness games. It can not be stressed
enough how essential this skill is for the development of future reading skills.
Montessori Education Center of the Rockies – Early Childhood
Ross
Key Lessons For Writing and Reading
Sandpaper Letters
Materials:
A set of wooden tablets with the lower case letters of the alphabet and double-letter
sounds formed in sandpaper. Vowels and consonants are on different color backgrounds.
The letters can be in either print or cursive. Upper case letters are also available.
Preparation:
I Spy, Auditory Materials (Sound Cylinders, Bells), Tactile Materials (Rough and
Smooth Boards, Fabrics)
Age:
3 years
Direct Aim:
To associate the sounds of our language with their symbols by means of the tactile, visual
and auditory senses.
Indirect Aim:
Preparation for writing and reading
Presentation:
Vocabulary:
1. The name of the exercise
2. The sounds of the letters
Points of Interest:
1. The feel of the sandpaper and smooth board
2. The pattern of the tracing
3. The contrast of rough and smooth surfaces
4. Saying the sound associated with the letter
Control of Error:
Feeling the contrast between rough and smooth surface of the tablets
Extensions:
1. Prepare a tray of fine sand, cornmeal, or some other material that the child may trace
in. You may also encourage a child to trace the letter in the air, on the table, or on
your back. Writing the letter on a chalkboard or sidewalk with a paintbrush and water
is also fun.
2. Sorting objects or pictures to sandpaper or printed letters with beginning sounds.
3. Trace the letters blindfolded.
4. Play the Knock-Knock Game. Turn several of the letters that a child knows facedown; knock on one of them and say. “Knock, knock, who’s there?” Make guess
about which letter you think it is, and say the sound. After guessing, turn the letter
over to see if you guessed correctly. If not, correct yourself, and turn the letter back
over. Let the child try.
5. Find pictures that start with a particular sound in a magazine and make a collage.
6. Find things in the room that begin with a particular sandpaper letter sound.
7. Make a book of letters.
8. Make sandpaper rubbings
9. Sand Gluing exercise – let the child make their own sandpaper letters.
10. Play “Say the Sound Game”; let the child select a sound from a pile and say the
sound.
11. Play Concentration
12. Take a sandpaper letter to a friend and tell him what the sound is and bring it back.
13. Once the child knows several sandpaper letters play Sound Bingo.
Sandpaper Letters
Notes:
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Continue to add new letter-sound associations, two at a time, via three-period
lessons. After the first presentations, you may use double-letter sounds in
presentations instead of just single-letter sounds. Children often learn them as
fast or faster than the single letters.
You may begin with common single letter sounds that are in lots of threeletter words, like s, m, a, o, p, d, and t. You may also begin with the letter that
starts a child’s name.
Give sandpaper letter lessons in a quiet place so the child is not disturbed
during the lesson. Be sure to encourage the child to trace the letter many
times during the three-period lesson. Some teachers create a “sound table”
where all sandpaper presentations are given, so that there is a quiet,
undisturbed place for the lessons.
If the child doesn’t say the sound after tracing it, say it for him, modeling that
the letter and sound go together. If the child doesn’t trace correctly, continue
to model that correctly. You may show the child where to begin tracing
repeatedly, and sometimes it’s helpful to trace with the child, laying his hand
on yours.
If a child forgets a sound, encourage him to trace the letter, which may help
him to recall the sound.
If you are working with an older child, he may not want to trace because he is
past the sensitive period for touch. Concentrate on group games with an older
child.
There are many different ways to arrange and display the sandpaper letters in
your classroom. Some teachers prefer to keep the letters on the shelf in their
box, others prefer to keep them in set groupings in baskets, and others prefer
to display them on a wall-mounted shelf so they are all visible at the same
time.
Montessori Education Center of the Rockies – Early Childhood
Ross
Early Language Skills
The Naming Game
Materials:
1. Tray/basket to carry a few objects
2. All the objects in the environment
Preparation:
Grace and Courtesy lesson on sitting at a rug
Age:
2 ½ years
Direct Aim:
To give the child names for objects he encounters in the prepared environment.
Indirect Aim:
1. Preparation for further language work.
2. To building the child’s sense of security in the prepared environment.
Presentation:
Vocabulary:
The names of the objects gathered from the environment
Points of Interest:
The opportunity to see objects from the environment up close; new vocabulary
The Naming Game
Control of Error:
None
Variations:
1. Ask one or two children who are familiar with the game to gather various objects
themselves for a game.
2. You could cover the items on the tray to add an element of drama and suspense.
3. Gather several children around you. Ask each child, individually, to go and stand by
a particular object in the environment. Include names of the Montessori materials.
4. Have the children replace the items in the basket back in the environment where they
belong.
Extensions:
1. Combine a naming game with a Mystery Bag activity.
2. Ask a child to get an object and place it beside another object. At the end of the
game, ask the children to replace the objects in their proper places in the environment.
3. Ask the children to classify objects in all kinds of ways (all the brushes, all the blue
objects, all the metal objects, etc.).
4. (For four year olds) Choose two or three objects that are similar in some way
(function, pronunciation, etc.). Give a simple but accurate definition of the objects
and how they are used.
5. Play line games to help children learn the items/materials in the environment.
Notes:
Don’t forget to do this exercise. It helps move the children toward normalization by
becoming well acquainted with their environment.
Montessori Education Center of the Rockies – Early Childhood
Ross
Early Language Skills
The Question Game
Materials:
None needed, although you may use an object or picture about which you will ask
questions.
Preparation:
The News Period
Age:
2 ½ years
Direct Aim:
To stimulate the child’s verbal self-expression through conversation.
Indirect Aim:
1. Preparation for further language works.
2. To build the child’s sense of security in the prepared environment.
Presentation:
Vocabulary:
Any new words that may come up in what is said during the game
The Question Game
Points of Interest:
1. The opportunity to talk in a group.
2. To develop relationships through conversation.
Control of Error:
None
Extensions:
1. Use a picture or an object as the basis of a question game.
2. Suggest that the children draw a picture based on the discussion.
3. If a child can write, suggest that he/she write a story based on the question game.
Notes:
The more spontaneous a question game is, the more fun it can be. Make it as interesting
and lively as you can. It is best played in a small group, but you can play it with a large
group of children as well. Be sure to leave enough time for the children to answer your
questions. It’s easy for an adult to dominate the discussion; avoid the temptation to do
so.
Montessori Education Center of the Rockies – Early Childhood
Ross
Early Language Skills
Classified Vocabulary Picture Cards
Materials:
Sets of picture cards, each set having approximately ten cards, which deal with a
particular aspect of the material environment (trees, fruits, leaves) or the social
environment (farms, cities, vehicles, clothing). Other collections of pictures might deal
with geography, geometry, biology, etc. A topic card showing the entire set is helpful.
Each set can have a different colored dot on the backs.
Preparation:
A lesson on the care of the cards. If necessary, lessons with real objects can precede the
classified cards. This step is helpful with very young children, and can be done with a
small group.
Age:
2 ½ years
Direct Aim:
1. To enrich and enlarge the child’s vocabulary.
2. To help in the child’s classification of the environment.
Indirect Aim:
Preparation for further language works and reading classification.
Presentation:
Classified Vocabulary Picture Cards
Vocabulary:
1. Name of the exercise
2. Names of the objects pictured in each set of cards
3. Name of the classification
Points of Interest:
The pictures on the cards
Control of Error:
None
Extensions:
After working with each of the sets individually, the child may mix the cards from
several sets together on the rug. Put the topic cards across the top of the rug. Then sort
each card into the category to which it belongs, placing them in columns below the topic
cards. As the child’s skills develop, she/he can mix more and more sets together. The
color coding (dots) on the back of the cards can be used to check work.
Notes:
When making cards, be sure to use very clear pictures.