- Between the Lions alphabet chart
- letter card “Ss”
- modeling clay
- pipe cleaners
- ribbon
- yarn
- writing materials
- curved
- lowercase
- straight
- uppercase
MA Standards:
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.
Letter Shaping (“Ss”)
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Skill Focus: Letter Formation, Letter Recognition
Display the letter card “Ss." Trace over both the lowercase "s" and the uppercase "S" starting at the top, to demonstrate how to form the letters. As you trace the letter model aloud. For example you might say, Start at the top. Then follow the line around the first curve. Then follow the line as the letter curves the opposite way.
Allow children time to trace the letter a number of times before introducing the materials.
Then ask one or two volunteers to choose one of the materials.
- Have him or her help you shape uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Allow time for children to explore shaping the letter with different materials.
Adaptation: if you have children in the group who quickly become comfortable shaping the letter "Ss," you may want to challenge them to shape other letters they have learned as well.
English Language Learners: If children are having trouble understanding what is a straight line and a curved line, draw examples for them, or guide their fingers as they draw the lines themselves. Have children trace the drawn lines with their fingers and have them repeate the words straight and curved.