When teaching, I almost always had time to review an entire deck with an oral response. When including letter formation, you may want to select 7 to 10 letters for review. If your time is limited, you can review for reading and spelling on alternate days.

You will want to gradually fade out the use of letter/ picture sound cards to letter only cards. Students respond in the same way, including naming the picture which is not seen. Continuing to review letters and sounds employing the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile senses gives your students the opportunity to follow their strongest paths for learning. I can recall one student who would use his finger to write a letter on his desk to recall its name or sound and another who still needed to name the letter and picture to recall the sound in second grade.

1. Skywrite using the techniques in this post.
2. Write on the chalkboard with or without handwriting lines.
3. Write on individual whiteboards with or without handwriting lines.
4. Use Magic boards. I found mine at Lakeshore.
5. Write using appropriately lined paper or landscaped plain paper with a folded baseline. I love the Smart Start paper and Super Slate whiteboards.
6. Make and use gel bags. Thia at Capitals First wrote a wonderful post about durable gel bags.
7. Provide sensory trays and use fingertips for writing.

I love the idea of using sensory writing trays with individuals or small groups of students. I was inspired by the imagination tree‘s Gingerbread Sensory Writing Tray to create a set of printable gingerbread man letter (upper and lowercase) and number cards (0-20), in color and black/ white. When using them for practicing number or letter formation, be sure to have students name the number or letter/ picture/ sound while forming. I found the salt with spices to be a bit dusty, so I opted for the rice idea from Frogs Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, instead. I replaced the white rice with brown, omitted the food coloring, added a small amount of water, spread a thin layer on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, and baked at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. I used equal amounts of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Afterwards, I discovered you can actually buy gingerbread spice! The gingerbread man baking pan (found on sale at a grocery store) is cute as can be and perfect for one child. These holiday paper plates, practical for a small group, are both deep enough and sturdy enough to hold the rice. They could be carefully stacked for reuse. It was also easy to pour the rice into a baggie for storage.

Using a variety of seasonal number cards for counting, identification, and sequencing activities helped provide motivation for my students to complete repetitive tasks. So why not use seasonal letter cards too! The gingerbread man letter and number cards can be used as seasonal review cards (or in any way you can imagine). I added a page of fox cards to add a little excitement to your games!

One easy-to-prepare review game is to simply put your set of cards in a decorative seasonal bag. Just drawing from the bag increases engagement! Students take turns to draw a card and respond. If the response is correct, the student keeps the card. You can add a few fox cards and decide what happens when one is picked- lose a turn, put 1 or more or even all your cards back in the bag.

I’d love to hear how you use the gingerbread men review cards!

Additional Christmas-themed resources are available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Be sure to stop by The Bender Bunch to check out the SPED-tacular Sunday Freebies.

 

There is a variety of gingerbread-themed activities scattered throughout my ‘Tis the Season Pinterest board.

The University of Oregon’s Big Ideas in Reading lists an acceptable sequence for introducing letters. This sequence is geared towards introducing reading and spelling after a handful of letters are taught. They also provide criteria for evaluating a given sequence, which is helpful for developing your own or determining the suitability of a required sequence. For children primarily needing handwriting instruction, use a sequence based on groups of handwriting strokes.

Multi-Sensory Introduction of Letters and Sounds

These activities are most appropriate for individuals and small groups but can be adapted for large groups. Keep in mind that a letter’s name is its most stable property. Its form and sound may vary.

Introduce the letter/ sound picture card by naming the letter, naming the picture, and saying the sound (a- apple- /a/). Have your student repeat. Write the letter large, as large as your student’s arm reach, on the chalkboard (okay, whiteboard, if you must) stating orally how it’s formed. Have your student skywrite the letter by standing and facing the board, extending his/ her dominant writing arm with the elbow straight and stiff, pointing the index and middle fingers together, and grasping the upper arm muscles with the non-dominant hand. Skywriting should be a large muscle movement, as large as an individual’s arm swing from the shoulder allows.

Have your student write the letter in the air and name the letter while looking at it. Follow this by saying the keyword and the sound. Provide guidance, as needed, by modeling while you face the letter or by standing behind the student and providing light touch. Repeat several times. Remember that you are building connections between the letter name, its formation, and the sound it stands for while using the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic senses. Next, have your student trace your large letter model while saying its name, keyword, and sound. Repeat several times. Use all white or a variety of colored chalk.

Start by reviewing the recently introduced letter/ sound picture card. Name the letter, the key picture, and the sound the letter represents. Use 12 x 18-inch unlined newsprint in a hot dog/ horizontal position for this activity. Fold a baseline along the bottom. Allow more depth for “tail” letters. Write the letter large with a marker. You might want to use a chisel tip for bolder lines, giving a wider margin of error. Have your student trace the letter while naming it, the keyword, and it’s sound. Repeat this multiple times. Have your student write the letter next to your model (the number of times will depend on space).

Activity 3

Review the recently introduced letter/ sound picture card. Use a chalk liner (or marker liner) to make handwriting lines on the board. I use blue, red, and green lines. You can double the size, at this point, using the top and bottom slots of two chalk liners. I like the sky line, plane line, grass line and worm line terms from the Fundations Teachers Manual Levels K-1, along with their Letter Formation Guide. Click on the highlighted words to download these pictures cues for writing lines that I use on the chalkboard. Write the letter on the lines while verbalizing its formation. Repeat this 3 to 5 times. Your student traces the letter while (you guessed it) naming it, the keyword and the sound. He/ she writes the letter on the line using any remaining space.

I use one activity each day. The amount of repetition needed to learn a letter and its corresponding sound varies from child to child. These activities can be repeated. I also use 9 x 12-inch manila paper with a model letter written with a marker, as large as the paper. Your students can rainbow trace with crayons using the same procedures.

There are many ways to review and practice the links between the letter name, its formation, and the sound it stands for- too many to list here! Be sure to check out my other blog posts for teaching letters and sounds!

Click the highlighted words to download your free copy of the Letter Sound Picture Cards from my TpT store. While you’re there, check out my other resources for teaching letters and sounds!

Photo in title image by Speech-Language Pirates.