Summer Camp
How to teach the alphabet to preschoolers
1. Say words that begin with the target letter. Have your preschoolers identify the words’ beginning sound.
- Say each word after me. (Emphasize the /d/ at the beginning of each word as you say it.) Dinosaur. Duck. Dog. Dip. Door. What sound do you hear at the beginning of each word? The sound is /d/. (Make sure you don’t add “uh” to the end of the sound.)
2. Talk about how you form the sound.
- Look at what my mouth is doing as I say /d/. Now you try. What is your tongue doing when you say /d/? Put your hand on your throat as you say /d/. Is it a quiet or noisy sound? (noisy)
3. Introduce the letter. (Choose uppercase or lowercase.)
- (Hold up a letter d flash card.) This is the letter d. When we see this card, we say, “d spells /d/.” Your turn. (Students: “d spells /d/.”)
4. Teach students to form the letter using sky-writing and finger-tracing.
- To make the letter d, we start in the middle, pull back, around, go all the way up, and down.
- Watch me put my hand in the air and write a d in the sky. I start in the middle, pull back, around, go all the way up, and down. Now you try. Put your finger in the air. Start in the middle, pull back, around, go all the way up, and down.
- Make a d by moving your finger on the table. Start in the middle, pull back, around, go all the way up, and down. (Other options: sand or salt tray, shaving cream, etc.) Now do the same thing while saying “d spells /d/.” Remember to underline the d when you say /d/. (Practice multiple times.)
