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Rediscovering the Lost Art of Letter Writing
Writers engage with both past and present experiences to compose a letter during Write to a Friend Month.
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Parts of a Friendly Letter
The art of writing a letter has not been lost to email and texting! Teach kids how to format a friendly letter with a presentation about the parts of a letter, as well as prompting them to write a letter about their favorite holiday.
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Ordinary People: Unsent Letter
Invite your learners to take on the voice of a character from Ordinary People as they write a letter. Pupils use what they know about the given character to compose their letter, which must relate to the plot of the novel.
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Introduce First Sound Segmenting
Mico is back, and he's ready to test your scholars in initial sounds in single-syllable words. Using a puppet and the picture cards provided (these are great and in full-color), play a game with pre-readers. Hold up three picture cards...
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Kindergarten/First Grade Phonics
Get involved with phonics by recognizing one particular letter. Learners name a letter, know it by sound, decode basic CVC words and use the letter in writing. A variety of options are given to the your learners: making a letter collage,...
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Letter Writing Accuracy
Students develop letter writing fluency. In this letter writing instructional activity, students write alphabet letters. Students work individually to develop letter writing automaticity.
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Letter Sound Fluency
How fast can you go? Test scholars' letter sound recognition with a timed game. Using letter cards of all the letters you've learned so far, learners take turns flipping cards and correctly saying the letter sound. Model this first,...
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First Sound Segmenting Accuracy
What's the sound, Mico? Use your class' favorite puppet (in this example, Mico) to teach them about initial sounds in single-syllable words. Using the picture cards provided, choose three and lay them out in front of learners. When Mico...
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Adjectives in Letter Writing
Looking for ways for your young writers to practice using adjectives and composing letters? For this activity, learners use the adjectives in a word bank to fill in the 15 gaps in a business letter about Japanese cars. Scholars must...
Student Handouts
Letter from Christopher Columbus to Luis de Sant Angel Announcing His Discovery (1493)
When Christopher Columbus landed, he found many things to comment on. Have your class read this letter that he wrote to Luis de Sant Angel in 1493. The text is split up into sections. Each section is paired with two to three...
Novelinks
Walk Two Moons: Unsent Letter
Take a journey with your class as they explore the different settings from Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. Middle schoolers write postcards in first person as if they were the characters of the story.
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First and Last Recognition
In this first and last letter worksheet, students choose the correct letters, answer yes or no questions, and identify first or last for the letter given. Students complete 3 activities.
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Letter Sound Fluency
Students practice letter sounds. In this phonemic awareness lesson, students practice saying each letter sound by playing a game. Students use index cards that have letters printed on them and say the letter sound. Students go as fast as...
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First Sound: W
In this handwriting worksheet, students write and trace the sixteen given words which begin with the letter "w." Examples of words include "wig," "web," and "window."
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Printing Practice Letter F
In this printing worksheet, students trace 13 lowercase e's and print more within the lines provided. In the example, students are given arrows that guide them in writing the letter.
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Crossword: No Theme, First Letter Clues
In this vocabulary building crossword, students read 8 clues and place the answers in a crossword puzzle. The first letter is given as a hint; there is no word bank.
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Phoneme Identification with Sound-it-Out Chips
Looking for a tangible way to help emerging readers identify phonemes? You've found it! They use chips without letters to segment single-syllable words into first, middle, and last sounds. As you say each sound, scholars place a chip on...
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Introduce Reading Connected Text
Get your scholars ready to read their first story...with a little assistance, of course. Projecting the short story (included) for all readers to see, point to each word so they can sound it out together. The strategy here is not to have...
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Introduce /n/
What is this letter? Once your class is ready to explore the letter n, use these strategies to combine word examples, pronunciation, and letter recognition. First, can they identify the letter? Make the /n/ sound, explaining how you do...
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Sequence, Predict, Infer: Pink and Say
Practice sequencing with your 2nd graders via Patricia Polacco's Civil War book Pink and Say. Begin with a blindfold and a bag of mystery items. Connect their use of clues to identify what they can't see with the skill of making...
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Introduce /m/
Start by drawing a large letter m on the board for scholars to see. Do they know what letter this is? Once you've demonstrated the sound it makes, use these tips to help them make the same sound. There is even an audio pronunciation...
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Introduce /f/
Hook your scholars by drawing a large f on the board; do they know what letter this is? Once you've demonstrated the sound it makes, use these tips to help them make the same sound. Although the audio function is neat, it may not be...
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Introduce /o/
The best way to get your scholars familiar with the alphabet is to expose them to each letter in multiple contexts. This strategy incorporates letter recognition, sound, word examples, and pronunciation, and emerging readers will feel...
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Introduce /d/
Give youngsters a better grasp of the letter d by combining letter sounds, pronunciation, recognition, and word examples. Scholars examine the letter shape then listen to you make the /d/ sound and try it on their own. Kids brainstorm...