Chapter 4: Letter Knowledge

Brittany McHargue

What?

Letter Names Letter Shapes Letter Sounds Letter Formation

(handwriting)“Children often begin by learning the name of the first letter of their own first name.” –

Treiman et al.,. 2006

What?Letter Name Iconicity - the names of the

letters contain the sound that the letter represents

For ex: the name of the letter b contains /b/Pronounced /b/ /ē/

- In English, there are only 2 totally noniconic letter names (h & w)

Pronounced /ā/ /ch/ & /d/ /ǝ/· /b/ /ǝ/ /l/ ·/yoo/Quiz: 1: What English consonant letter names begin

with the sound that the letter frequently stands for?

2: Which English consonant letter names end with the sound that the letter frequently stands for?

1: b,d,j,k,p,t,v,z 2: f,l,m,n,r,s,x

What?Letter ShapesVisually Similar (the more alike the

appearance of 2 letters is the more likely students will confuse them)

For ex:- Letter Shape (identical when rotated, flipped,

reversed) b d p q

- Letter Case (identical pairs) – Cc, Oo, Ss, XxA lowercase letter that is a smaller

version of the uppercase letter is easier to recognize than one that is different

What?Letter SoundsPhonologically Similar (the number of

phonemes that pairs of letter names share in the same position)

For ex: the letter name p shares a phoneme /ē/ with the letter b but does not share any phonemes with the letter name f

Letters that are both Phonologically & Visually Similar are especially likely to confuse students

For ex: (b d)

What?Use of Letter Names to Learn Letter

Sounds “Children appear to use letter names to help learn

and remember letter sounds..” – Treiman et al., 2006 - Studies have shown that students are better at identifying a letter’s sound when it was at the beginning of the letter name than at the end or not at all (like h & w)For ex: when spelling /win/ some Kindergartners spelled it with the letter y because they said the letter y makes the sound /w/

What?Letter Handwriting

- Introduces primary-grade students to the letter forms found in printed text- Is linked to the basic reading and spelling achievement

“Technological advances do not eliminate the need for explicit teaching of handwriting.” – Spear-Swerling, 2006

Why?Letter knowledge has a foundational role in

literacy- Learning letters fosters phonological awareness- Knowing the names of letters helps the mastery of sound/spelling correspondences for decoding.- Fluent letter naming leads to word-reading accuracy- Handwriting practice aids letter recognition development- Fluent handwriting leads to better composition skills.

“A child’s ability to identify the letters of the alphabet by name is one of the best predictors of how readily he or she will learn to read.” – Treiman, Kessler & Pollo, 2006

When?To Teach:

Through Informal Experience - Alphabet songs - Alphabet books - Manipulating alphabet lettersWhen Children start school - They need formal instruction that will help

them name, recognize, & write the letters - There’s no consensus on the best

sequence for teaching letters as some letters may take more time than others

When?To Assess:• Letter Naming Fluency

- Kindergarten: Fall, Winter, Spring & 1st grade: Fall Students are assessed on the speed and accuracy of their letter knowledge to show how thoroughly they were learned by identifying letters in & out of sequence with automaticity

• Handwriting Skills- Observation of execution, legibility, & speed of writing

Execution (pencil hold, posture, letter formation)

Legibility (readability of letters & spacing within & between words)

Speed (ability to complete tasks efficiently)

How?Uppercase (Teach 1st in Kindergarten

because it’s more distinguishable)• Letter Recognition (Names & Shapes)

- Sing Alphabet Song to different tunesFor ex: Mary Had a Little lamb

- Teach/Model- Activities for Cumulative Review

For ex: Alphabet Center

How?Uppercase (continued)• Handwriting

“Students should learn a highly consistent way to form a letter every time they write it.” – Spear-Swerling, 2006

- - Continuous stroke- - Teach/Model

Posture Paper Position Pencil Grip

- Guided Practice Trace with finger/pencil Copy with finger/pencil

Lowercase (Teach 1st for 1st grade as it’s more predominant in reading text)Letter Recognition (Names & Shapes)- Read an Alphabet Big Book- Letter matching– For ex: Alphabet Concentration

• Handwriting- Review habits- Teach/Model- Guided Practice

How?

Letter-Sound Strategy - Letter names & sounds can be taught together

• Review Letter Naming Automaticity Initial Sound in Letter Names

- Teach/Model- Guided Practice

Final Sound in Letter Names- Teach/Model- Guided Practice

How?

Conclusion!“Letters are the components for written words. They represent sounds systematically in the spelling of words. Learning letters requires becoming familiar with 26 uppercase and 26 lowercase shapes and associating these letter shapes to their letter names. Handwriting practice helps young students learn and recall letter shapes.”

– Ehri and Roberts 2006; Beringer 1999