- Between the Lions alphabet chart
- letter card “Hh,” modeling clay
- pipe cleaners
- plastic straws cut into long and short pieces
- lowercase
- up
- 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 (“Hh”)
© 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 “Hh” card. Trace over both the lowercase and uppercase “Hh.” Model how to shape pipe cleaners or roll “snakes” of clay with the palms of your hands to form the letter “Hh.” Ask children if the uppercase “H” has straight lines or curved lines. After they respond, acknowledge that the uppercase letter “H” is made of only straight lines. Then ask, What about the lowercase “h”? Have children form their own letters “Hh.”
English Language Learners: If children are having trouble understanding what is meant by straight and curved lines, draw examples for them or guide their fingers as they draw the lines themselves. Have children trace the drawn lines with their fingers as you have them say the words straight and curved.
Adaptation: Adapt the materials used if younger children will be working individually. Use dough in place of modeling clay and large pieces of straws and craft sticks in place of pipe cleaners and short straws.