Slingerland Letters
When we teach the letters we have the children
trace the letters in the air, while they say the letter, the
key word on the wall card, and the letter sound. We use
a multi-sensory approach. We touch on the visual,
auditory, and kinesthetic modalities.
We say the following in bold print for each letter. In
Pre-K, we also say what is written in parentheses when we
first learn the letter. Once a child knows how to write
the letter, he/she no longer needs to say the part in
parentheses.
A apple /a/ it’s a vowel and it opens your throat
(around, up and down)
B ball /b/ tall stem down, up and away from my
body/across my body if the child is left handed
C cake /c/ (half-way around)
D duck /d/ round like an “a,” tall stem up and down to
the line
E elephant /e/ it’s a vowel and it opens your throat
(over, up, and around)
F fish /f/ (hook down and cross it)
G goat /g/ (round like an “a,” hook down below the
line/or down in the basement)
H house /h/ (tall stem down, up and hump around)
I inch /i/ it’s a vowel and it opens your throat (line
down and give it a dot)
J jam /j/ (hook down below the line/or in the basement,
and give it a dot)
K kite /k/ (tall stem down, diagonal in and out)
L lamp /l/ (tall stem down)
M mitten /m/ (down, hump around, hump around)
N nest /n/ (down, hump around)
O olives /o/ it’s a vowel and it opens your throat
(round like a circle)
P pig /p/ (down below the line/or in the basement, up
and around)
Qu queen /qu/ (round like an “a,” hook down the other
way)
R rug /r/ (down, and half a hump)
S sun /s/ (round this way and that way)
T turtle /t/ (tall stem down and cross it)
U umbrella /u/ it’s a vowel and it opens your throat
(down, curve up, and straight down)
V vase /v/ (down, up)
W wagon /w/ (down, up, down, up)
X box /x/ (criss-cross)
Y yellow /y/ (make an “u,” and hook below the line/or in
the basement)
Z zebra /z/ (over, diagonal down, over)