- letter card “Ii”
- modeling clay
- pipe cleaners
- plastic straws cut into long and short pieces
- small stickers (dots, stars, etc.)
- dot
- letter
- lowercase
- straight line
- 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 (“Ii”)
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Skill Focus: Fine Motor Skills, Letter Formation, Letter Recognition, Vocabulary
Display the letter “Ii” card. Trace over both the lowercase “i” and the uppercase “I” with your fingers to show children how to form the letters. Show children how to use the materials to shape the letters. Encourage them to use the stickers to create the dot in the lowercase “i.” Tell children that the lowercase “i” has a dot, just like the lowercase “j.” Ask children to compare the shapes of the uppercase and lowercase letters “Ii.”
Adaptation: Adapt the materials used for shaping if younger children will be working individually. Use dough in place of modeling clay and large pieces of straws and popsicle sticks in place of pipe cleaners and short straws.
English Language Learners: If children are having trouble understanding what is meant by straight line and a dot, draw examples for children or guide their fingers as they draw them. Have children trace the drawn lines with their fingers as you have them say the words straight and dot.