- chalk
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1a Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (e.g., taking turns in talking, listening to peers, waiting to speak until another person is finished talking, asking questions and waiting for an answer, gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
Head Start Outcomes:
Social Emotional Development/Self-Regulation Follows simple rules, routines, and directions.
Language Development/Receptive Language Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 1 Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (taking turns in talking; listening to peers; waiting until someone is finished; asking questions and waiting for an answer; gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 12 Listen to, recite, sing, and dramatize a variety of age-appropriate literature.
EEC Infant and Toddler Guidelines:
PW50. The older toddler engages in a variety of physical activities.
Sing Together: “Here We Go Round the Alphabet”
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Alphabet Awareness, Gross Motor Skills, Letter Recognition, Phonological Awareness (Rhythm and Repetition)
Take children outdoors or into a gym area. Use chalk to write the uppercase alphabet letters on the ground. Make a large circle, writing the letters clockwise. Say each letter aloud as you write it.
- Sing “Here We Go Round the Alphabet” and have children, one by one, walk around the circle.
- Stop the child at random on a letter and ask him or her to name the letter.
- Ask volunteers to find, stand on, and identify the first letter in their names or other specific letters, such as the target letter “T.”
Here We Go Round the Alphabet
(sung to the tune of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”)
Here we go round the alphabet,
The alphabet,
The alphabet,
Here we go round the alphabet,
From A to Z we go.
Adaptation: If you have children comfortable with recognizing and naming all the letters, you might want to challenge them to find and stand on all the letters in their first name, in proper order, spelling their names as they go.
Adaptation: Add more physical exercise by inviting children to take turns hopping from letter to letter around the circle, identifying each letter as they hop on it.