My team is having a discusion about how much we should teach the alphabet in the first grade. We use the Treasures Reading series. It suggests a review of three weeks. We felt that was too much so we went down to two weeks. Our 4K and Kdg programs have increased the students knowledge of the alphabet. We are incorporating an intervention program next year for everyone in the school. So. . . we were thinkng what if the 1-2 students who really need reteaching of the alphabet do it during intervention rather than the whole class. What do you think of this idea and what do you do to teach the alphabet and for how long?
Kindergarten Teachers we could use your input too! Are your students secure in the alphabet? Will they need a review?
So join my ABC Linky Party!!
This upcoming school year we are going to teach SRA (some K some 1st) to struggling 1st graders, with some Michael Heggerty thrown in during RTI(intervention)...both I have used and love...We also use treasures, and being in the Title department it is hard for our kids, so we hope by doing SRA we can be ahead. Alphabet maybe not but phonemic awareness is really what we are using it for, but we do have a trend of some not knowing letters or sounds in first. Let me know if you need more info, as been doing them for years!
ReplyDeleteStorytown tells us to go for 4 weeks reviewing the alphabet! Yeah right!! :-) we are jumping right in with short vowels the 2nd week of school and letting our intervention and Title time handle the strugglers. The majority of our kids would be bored to tears! Good luck!
ReplyDelete~Laura
www.firstgradeFUNdamentals.blogspot.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am a first grade teacher and I review the alphabet the first few weeks of school. I tie it more in with my handwriting though. We have an alphabet handwriting book that we use with each letter of the alphabet. I have a song that goes with each one. Sometimes I do a couple letters per day. I start teaching literacy centers right away, so that we can jump into guided reading by October. So...in the first month of school we are reviewing letters, talking about short vowels and word families.
ReplyDeleteSara
http://firstgradefuntastic.blogspot.com/
I am a kindergarten ELL teacher and I would say my kids going into first do not need an alphabet review. Maybe a review of the sounds, short vowels, word families, etc. but we hit the alphabet so hard all year in kinder that all my kids knew every letter and sound very, very well by the end of the year!!! They were also writing full pages.
ReplyDeleteThey say Kdg is the new first, so a lot of time is being spent in Kdg. Teaching the alphabet! With that said, I still went over letter identification and phonics in first grade but used my ABC strip to point, say the letter name and sound(s) prior to working on any phonics or word work activity. This was a great review daily for kiddos who were still having difficulty grasping their ABCs.
ReplyDeleteI do review the alphabet/sounds the first couple of weeks, but it's primarily for two reasons. First, I use it as part of my penmanship practice. Second, we use HM Reading and they put a huge emphasis on it in the beginning of the year. However, I don't do nearly what they want, as the K teachers do a great job! :)
ReplyDeletehttp://firstclasswithmrsmac.blogspot.com/
I do review the alphabet/sounds the first couple of weeks, but I have found it is the same letters and sounds the children miss over and over. Y W, and U. Some will call d b and b d.
ReplyDelete