- cutout of a ramp (large)
- pictures or stickers of objects that children have sent down ramps
- word card down
- down
- ramp
- slant
- up
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.
Word Play: Target Word (down)
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Alphabet Awareness, Letter Recognition, Word Recognition
Tell children you are going to help them understand the meaning of the word down. Crouch down to the floor and tell children you are crouched down to the floor. Then stand up and tell them you got up from the floor. Have them repeat the actions with you.
- Then hold up the target word card. Point to the letters as you say the word.
- Direct attention to the large ramp cutout. Trace the downward slant with your finger to help children recognize it as a ramp. Ask children to talk about explorations they have done rolling objects down ramps.
- Now direct attention to the pictures of objects and tell children they are going to pretend they are sending the objects down the ramp.
- Hold up a picture of an object and say, The spool is at the top of ramp. Slide it to the bottom of the ramp and as you do say, The spool is going down the ramp.
- Have each child slide his or picture from the top of the ramp down to the bottom and as they do, have them say, The (button) is going down the ramp.
English Language Learners: Ask children to give a word in their home language that begins with the same initial /d/ sound they hear in the vocabulary word down
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.