- chalk (or tape)
- zigzag
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.
Literacy Knowledge/Early Writing: Copies, traces, or independently writes letters or words.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7: Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
Word Play: Zigzag Dance
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Gross Motor Skills, Letter Formation, Phonological Awareness, Vocabulary
Draw or tape a large letter “Z” on the ground or floor. Ask children to name the letter. Then ask them to say the letter sound /z/.
Have children stand and line up in a row. Tell them they will be zigzagging as they move around the “Z.”
- First demonstrate the meaning of the word zigzag as you say the word while tracing the letter “Z” with your finger.
- Say, I want you to zigzag like the “Z”! Can you show me?
- First have children, one by one, zigzag along the “Z,” beginning at the top, going down the slant, and then going across the bottom.
- Then have them zigzag outside the letter.
Encourage children to chant “zoom-zoom-zoom” or “zip-zip-zip” as they move in a zigzag.
Adaptation: Pair children who have difficulty with more skillful partners. Have them hold hands and zigzag together along the letter “Z.”