- Between the Lions alphabet chart
- letter card “Ff”
- word card farm
- farm
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.1.d Recognize and name some uppercase letters of the alphabet and the lowercase letters in one’s own name.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Alphabet Knowledge Recognizes that the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7 Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
Learn About Letters Together: Target Letter (“Ff”) and Word (farm)
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Letter Recognition, Word Recognition
Educator Prep: Print out the Between the Lions alphabet chart or create an alphabet chart on chart paper.
Tell children they are going to learn about the letter “Ff” and the word farm. Use the Target Letter and Word Routine to introduce children to the letter and word.
Target Letter and Word Routine
Introduce children to the target letter by showing them the letter in context of the target word farm.
- Hold up the target word card. Point to the letters as you say the word.
- Talk about the meanings of the word (a piece of land used to raise crops and animals (n.); to use land to raise crops (v.)).
- Point to the first letter of the word as you say the name of the letter. Highlight the letter in a different color.
- Cover all of the letters following the first letter on the word card. Focus children’s attention on the letter. Ask what they notice about the shape of the letter.
- Ask, Does it have straight lines? Curvy lines? Both straight and curvy lines?
- Hold up the letter card. Talk about the difference between the lowercase and uppercase letters. Have children find the letter on an alphabet chart.
- Introduce children to the sound the letter makes. Emphasize the /f/ sound at the beginning of the target word.
Adaptation: If young children have difficulty saying the /f/ sound, show them how to form the letter with teeth over the bottom lip. Say the following words slowly and have children repeat them after you: farm, fig, feed, farmhouse.
English Language Learners: Ask English language learners to say the name of something in their home language that begins with the same initial /f/ sound that they hear in the vocabulary word farm. (fútbol/soccer; fruta/fruit) Have other children repeat the words.
Educator Tip: Guided and independent Letter, Sound, and Word practice continues to take place in center activities. It is helpful to set up the literacy center immediately after the direct instruction and repeat instruction before children work in the literacy center identifying letters.