Children JOYFULLY Mastering Alphabet Knowledge and
Phonological Awareness in a Play Based Classroom
Ann George
Greater Victoria School District
(ageorge@sd61.bc.ca)
Teacher Resources
 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days – Bruce Goldstone
 Alphabet Action Songs – Denise Gagne
 An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (second edition)
– Marie M. Clay
 Comprehensive Literacy Resource for Kindergarten Teachers – Miriam P.
Trehearne
 Drawing With Letters and Numbers – Syd Hoff
 Letters and Sounds – Rosemary Wells
 Musicplay Kindergarten Music Program – Denise Gagne
 YogaKids – Marsha Wenig, founder
Children’s Stories
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ABCs of Yoga for Kids – Teresa Anne Power
alphabet adventure – Audrey Wood & Bruce Wood
Alphabet City – Stephen T. Johnson
alphabet mystery – Audrey Wood & Bruce Wood
alphabet rescue – Audrey Wood & Bruce Wood
Bad Kitty – Nick Bruel
Butterfly Alphabet – Kjell B. Sandved (www.butterflyalphabet.com) (free e-cards)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! – Mo Willems
Elephant and Piggie stories – Mo Willems
exclamation mark – Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld
Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him! – Theo. LeSieg
Hug – Jez Alborough
if rocks could sing – Leslie McGuirk (excerpt available on youtube)
It Looked Like Spilt Milk – Charles G. Shaw
L M N O peas – Keith Baker
Lettermen series – Roger Knights
Letters Are Lost, The – Lisa Campbell Ernst
Mixed-Up Alphabet, The – Steve Metzger
Mouse’s Hide-and-Seek Words – Kathryn Heling & Deborah Hembrook
Mouse Makes Magic – Kathryn Heling & Deborah Hembrook
Mouse Makes Words – Kathryn Heling & Deborah Hembrook
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Pigeon Wants A Puppy, The – Mo Willems
Ralph Tells A Story – Abby Hanlon
Reading Makes You Feel Good – Todd Parr
Santa’s Book of Names – David McPhail
Tedd & Huggly – Susan Canizares & Samantha Berger
We’re Going On a Nature Hunt – Steve Metzger
Why Write? – Daniel Moreton and Samantha Berger
Yo! Yes? – Chris Raschka
Levelled Series for Guided Reading and Home Reading
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alphakids series – multiple series and levels of difficulty
AlphaTales series
Brand New Readers series
Discovering My World series
Guided Science Readers series
High Frequency Readers
National Geographic Kids readers
Phonics Tales series
Reading Line series – multiple series and levels of difficulty
Ready to Read series
Sight Word Stories series
Sight Word Tales series
Step Into Reading readers
Word Family Tales series
Word Family Readers series
Computer Games and Activities
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A to Zap
Book Creator app from iTunes
EA Kids (Electronic Arts)
KidPix
LearnNow BC – Bailey’s Book House, Millie’s Math House, Sammy’s Science
House, Trudy’s Time and Place House
Photo Story for Windows
Tumblebooks
Tux Math – number typing games
Tux Paint
Tux Typing – Fish Cascade, Comet Zap
Websites
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www.butterflyalphabet.com
www.heartfeltstories.ca
www.learnnowbc.ca/learningcentre
www.learninginhand.com or www.ipaddocumentcamera.com
www.musicplay.ca
www.starfall.com
www.thedailycafe.com
Daily 5 (thedailycafe.com)
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Read to yourself
Read to someone else
Listen to reading
Work on writing
Letter and word work
Poems (to sneak in literacy)
I am glad
That
You’re my dad.
We’re Going on a Nature Hunt – Steve Metzger
We’re going on a classroom hunt,
We’ll search high and low.
We’re going to find lots of things,
Now it’s time to go!
 suggestions - find something that begins with a particular letter, words containing
a particular letter, words beginning with upper case letters, signs etc.
“Who is that tickling my back?” asked the wall.
“It’s me,” said a small caterpillar. “I’m learning to crawl.”
What’s like jelly
With lots of strings?
Ouch! Watch out!
It really stings.
Bear is Sleeping (tune - Frère Jacques)
Bear is sleeping,
Bear is sleeping,
Let it snow,
Let it snow,
Sleeping all the winter,
Sleeping all the winter,
Snug and warm,
Snug and warm.
 suggestions – have the first line of each pair already printed and insert the
matching line, or cut into 8 sentence strips and reassemble the whole song
“A student’s level of phonological awareness at the end of Kindergarten
is one of the strongest predictors of future reading success, in Grade One
and beyond.”
- Miriam P. Trehearne -
Daily Schedule
Block 1
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Family book time
Calendar and news
Story
Table job
Library (30 minutes, once per week), Computer lab (40 minutes, once per week)
Snack
 Recess - outdoor play time
Block 2
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Sharing
Story
Table job
Indoor play time
 Lunch – outdoor play time
 Lunch – eating time
Block 3
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Book time
Story
Table job
Gym, Music (30 minute blocks, 3 times per week)
Indoor play time
Review, reminders
Dismissal
I divide the day into 3 learning blocks, each incorporating a “table job” session, and
organize my instruction around themes (e.g. fall, apples, Halloween, Hanukkah, animals
in winter, 100 Day, chicks, butterflies, Father’s Day etc.).
“Table jobs” refers to all learning tasks incorporated into the current theme including
literacy, numeracy, social studies, science, and art. “Table jobs” are not limited to table
tasks, however, as they can take place on the carpet, in the hallway, outdoors or wherever
the learning activity dictates.
Ways To Help Children During The Summer Holidays
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with magnetic letters, match upper and lower case, name the letters
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sort the letters – by colour, by putting all the tail letters together, the short letters together, the
tall letters together, the tunnel letters together (h, m, n, r), the curved letters together, the
straight letters together, naming the letters after each sorting activity
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pour salt or rice in a tray or cookie sheet, practice printing letters and words in the salt or rice
(jiggle the tray to erase), can also be done in the sand at the beach
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make letter shapes out of driftwood or stones at the beach
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spread shaving cream on a washable surface, practice printing letters and words in the
shaving cream
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mix hair gel, food colouring and glitter in a Ziploc bag, close the bag tightly, practise printing
letters and words in the gel (on the outside of the bag)
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read license plates, have the child identify the numbers and letters, have the child give a
sound or word for each letter
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go on a number, letter or word walk through the house or neighbourhood, making a list of
everything you find
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using small objects (e.g. popsicle sticks), make sets of objects up to 10 and count and record
the numbers
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practise addition and subtraction up to 10
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make patterns using anything you can find (pennies, spoons, marbles, pebbles, pine needles,
letters, coloured papers etc.), keep the patterns simple at first (e.g. yellow, blue, yellow,
blue), then make more complex patterns when the child is ready (e.g. pink, red, red, pink)
(e.g. green, white, green, green, white, white, green, green, green, white, white, white)
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practise grouping objects by tens and counting them by tens
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review the child’s address and telephone number
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look for examples of symmetry in the child’s environment
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pop bubble wrap using fingers and thumbs
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practise tying shoelaces