The Alphabetic Principle

The Alphabetic Principle

What is the Alphabetic Principle? Alphabetic Principle alphabetic understanding phonological recoding The alphabetic principle is composed of two parts: 1) Alphabetic Understanding: Written words are composed of letters that represent spoken speech sounds; i.e. understanding that the letters from left to right in a printed word represent the sounds from beginning to end in the spoken word. 2) Phonological Recoding: Using systematic relationships between letters and sounds (letter-sound correspondences) to identify, pronounce, and spell words (decode written language). Phonological Recoding consists of: Regular Word Reading Irregular Word Reading Advanced Word Analysis Children who lack alphabetic understanding cannot: 1. Understand that words are composed of letters. 2. Associate an alphabetic character (i.e., letter) with its corresponding phoneme or sound. 3. Identify a word based on a sequence of letter-sound correspondences (e.g., that "mat" is made up of three letter-sound correspondences /m/ /a/ /t/).

4. Blend letter-sound correspondences to identify decodable words. 5. Use knowledge of letter-sound correspondences to identify words in which letters represent their most common sound. 6. Identify and manipulate letter-sound correspondences within words. 7. Read pseudowords (e.g., tup, with reasonable speed).

Assessment Tools Letter Identification Task Letter Production Task Alphabetic Awareness Test DIBELS: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) DIBELS: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) TerraNova CTBS Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II (Word Reading subtest) Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) Word Analysis subtest Basic Achievement Skills Individual Screener (BASIS) Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills Developmental Tasks for Kindergarten Readiness Metropolitan Readiness Tests 6 th Edition Reading Edge Signposts Early Literacy Battery Slosson Test of Reading Readiness Tests of Early Reading Ability 3 rd Edition Pre-Literacy Skills Screening (PLSS) Slingerland Pre-Reading Screening-Revised Texas Primary Reading Inventory Beginning Phonic Skills Test Interactive Reading Assessment System Revised (IRAS-R)

Informal Assessment Descriptions The DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) measure is a standardized, individually administered test of the alphabetic principle - including letter-sound correspondence and of the ability to blend letters into words in which letters represent their most common sounds (Kaminski & Good, 1996). The student is presented an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper with randomly ordered VC and CVC nonsense words (e.g., sig, rav, ov) and asked to produce verbally the individual letter sound of each letter or verbally produce, or read, the whole nonsense word. For example, if the stimulus word is "vaj" the student could say /v/ /a/ /j/ or say the word /vaj/ to obtain a total of three letter-sounds correct. The student is allowed 1 minute to produce as many letter-sounds as he/she can, and the final score is the number of letter-sounds produced correctly in one minute. Because the measure is fluency based, students receive a higher score if they are phonologically recoding the word and receive a lower score if they are providing letter sounds in isolation. The NWF measure also takes about 2 minutes to administer and has over 20 alternate forms for monitoring progress. A benchmark of 20 or more letter sounds per minute should be achieved by the end of kindergarten. A benchmark of 50 or more letter sounds per minute should be achieved by the middle of the first grade. Letter-Sound Assessment In this assessment teachers assess letter-sound recognition of students. Each child will be given a copy of the assessment sheet. The child will be asked to say the letter-sound and give an example of a word that begins with that sound. If the letter-sound is correct, the

teacher will circle that letter. If the word is correct, it will be recorded on the line beside the letter. If the word is incorrect, the line is left blank. Kindergarten curriculum stresses beginning consonant sounds. Short and long vowel sounds are also introduced. This assessment is administered when students recognize the letter names of the majority of the alphabet. This helps eliminate the frustration level in the student and assures some success. All children will complete this assessment at least once by the end of March. Children may begin with the letters they know. It is important that children internalize the skill. They are asked to give more than one sound when appropriate (c,g) and demonstrate long and short vowel sounds if they are able. Vowel sounds are introduced but are not a curriculum requirement. After the assessment is completed, the teacher reviews the results with the student. Together the student and teacher count the correct answers and record the number at the bottom of the sheet. The teacher then points out the number of correct answers in this and previous assessments. "Look - you knew 10 letters in September and now you know 13 letters. "This assessment determines individual strategies used during writing time and also provides information for students who might need additional services. The original assessment sheet is used for the entire year and added to each assessment. It is up to the teacher's discretion whether the child continues from the previous ending point or reviews the entire sheet. This assessment provides a picture of the student's growth over time and where the student is at the end of the kindergarten year.

Tools and Materials September - green November - red March - blue June - orange Assessment sheets and colored markers are needed. Each time the assessment is given the answers are recorded in a different color. This clearly shows skills attained by each child. **Example of Assessment Sheet: DIBELS Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) is a standardized, individually administered test that provides a measure of risk. Students are presented with a page of upper- and lower-case letters arranged in a random order and are asked to name as many letters as they can. Students are told if they do not know a letter they will be told the letter. The student is allowed 1 minute to produce as many letter names as he/she can, and the score is the number of letters named correctly in 1 minute. Students are considered at risk for difficulty achieving early literacy benchmark goals if they perform in

the lowest 20% of students in their district. The 20th percentile is calculated using local district norms. Students are considered at some risk if they perform between the 20th and 40th percentile using local norms. Students are considered at low risk if they perform above the 40th percentile using local norms. This assessment ideally should be given at the beginning, middle, and end of kindergarten. A benchmark of 50 letter names is an ideal goal to achieve by the end of kindergarten.

Alphabetic Principle Instructional Strategies Alphabet Word Books It's great fun to create alphabet and word books. Start by stapling paper together (around 14 pages) to form a book. Add the child's name to the front of the book and ask your child to draw a picture to illustrate the cover. Write or help the child to print the upper- and lowercase forms of each letter, one letter on each page. Find pictures of words that begin with each letter of the alphabet. Use magazines, catalogs, old calendars, and greeting cards to locate pictures. Paste the pictures on the appropriate lettered pages. Label each of the pictures in the book by writing the word next to the picture, or finding the letters in the magazines and pasting them together to spell the word. Older children can write down the words they know how to spell for each letter, before looking for pictures to illustrate the words. Then have your child add his or her own artwork to each page. Older children can also choose more complicated words. Lotto Alphabet Game This fun game that you and your child can make will help your child to recognize letters and match upper- and lowercase letters. To make a lotto board, use a ruler to divide an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper into 16 two-inch squares (four squares across and four squares down). Write a capital letter, at random, in each square of the lotto board. You can make multiple lotto boards so all the letters of the alphabet will be used.

To make playing cards, use a ruler to divide an index card into two-inch squares. Write a lowercase letter from the alphabet in each square. You will need to make one card for each of the 26 letters. Cut the index cards into individual lotto alphabet cards. Work with your child to cover each lotto board capital letter with the corresponding lowercase letter card. For younger children, use capital letters on both the board and the cards, or use lowercase letters for both pieces. You can also play this game by drawing pictures on each of the game cards. Work together to match the first letter of the word reflected in the picture with the letter on the game board. Alphabet Scavenger Hunt Here is a fun activity you and your class can play to discover more objects that begin with specific letters Write each letter individually on index cards. Have your child pull out one card. Ask your child to name the letter on the card. Suggest an object that begins with that letter; for example, "Ball starts with B. Let's find a ball." Go on the hunt with your child to find the object. When your child finds the object, write the word on the card and tape it to the object. For older children, write several instructions for hunting objects on a piece of paper. For example: Find an object that starts with T. Find an object in the kitchen that starts with C. Encourage your child to make suggestions and add them to the list. After the list is complete, go along with your child to help him or her find objects that start with these letters. Determine what letter each object begins with and write down the words on the "hunting" list.

When your child has located all the objects on the list, help him or her to make a list of objects for you to find. Decoding Using some common word ending sounds, brainstorm as many words as possible that can be formed by changing only the first letter. Emphasize the link between letter sounds and the written word by magnetic letters or word cards. Focus first on words containing short vowel sounds. Short vowels are used more frequently in early reading passages. Long vowel sounds are easier to decode since they say their letter names. When your child sees a new word that interests her or him, help your child sound out the word by pointing to the letters or letter combinations. Reinforce your child's understanding that letters represent sounds and can help decode new words. Letter Recognition 3-D Letters: Use a variety of materials to make 3-D letters. Draw a letter on black construction paper, and then have your child glue cotton balls or oat ring cereal to cover the letter. This can also be done with popcorn kernels, pasta or seeds. Encourage your child to practice making the letter sounds. Matching Game: Cut out a variety of small pictures from magazines and put them in a paper bag. Write three letters across the top of a piece of construction paper. Ask your child to find all the pictures that begin with those letters. You can glue or tape the magazine cutouts below each letter.

Lotion Letters: Lotion letters are a fun way to reinforce letter recognition. Dip a thin paintbrush into a bowl of lotion and paint the letter on a blindfolded child's arm or palm. Ask your child to guess what the letter is and ask him or her to make that letter sound. Object Hunt: Write each letter of the alphabet on separate blank index cards. Depending on your child's age, find four to six containers. Have your child randomly choose four to six cards. Paper-clip or tape a letter to each container. Ask your child to find at least one object to put in each container that corresponds with the letter. If the object is too big for the container, simply write the object's name on the letter card. Letter-Sound Tubs For each letter of the alphabet the teacher assembles a plastic container of miniature objects that begin with that Letter-Sound. A new tub is introduced each week. A variety of Letter-Sound activities are played with the objects in the tubs. One game that may be played with these tubs is the Sound Matching Game below. Sound Matching Game Children sit in a circle on the rug. Teacher empties a letter container out on the floor and adds some objects that do not start with that Letter-Sound. Teacher leads students in the following song sung to the tune of "Jimmy Cracked Corn." Who has a /d/ word to share with us? Who has a /d/ word to share with us? Who has a /d/ word to share with us? It must start with the /d/ sound. Teacher calls on a child to name an object from the pile that starts with that letter. The class votes on whether the selected object begins with that sound using "thumbs up or thumbs down". Teacher leads class in the second verse of the song.

DOG is a word that starts with /d/ DOG is a word that starts with /d/ DOG is a word that starts with /d/ DOG starts with the /d/ sound. Word Wall A Word Wall is an effective strategy for teaching beginning Letter-Sounds and high frequency words. One child's name is added to the word wall each day under the appropriate letter. High frequency words from the 100 word list are added as the year progresses. These words are chanted and spelled regularly during circle time.

A Different Kind of Word Wall: Children are instructed to print this page, or copy the words onto paper, and cut the pieces out, with one word per piece. Put the pieces in a pile with the words facing down. One player picks up a word and begins telling a story,

making sure to use the selected word. Once that word has been used, the next player picks up a word and continues telling the story, making sure to use the new selected word. Play continues with each player taking turns picking up a word and continuing the story. The person with the last word finishes the story.

Ways to Use the "Alphabet Song" Using the alphabet song in activities such as the ones that follow provides informal and enjoyable ways to become familiar with the names and appearance of letters. While some educators may feel that early literacy experiences should concentrate on sounds only, when children recognize and know the names for letters of the alphabet they: have more tools for participation in graphophonic activities can more readily understand teachers' and other adults' instructions and comments that make use of the names for letters can help peers spell unfamiliar words. Adults use letter names frequently when supporting children's reading and writing. For example, "The word 'terrible' is on our Word Wall under the 'T'". Materials Alphabet chart (mounted close to children's eye level) Chalkboard and chalk Pointer Set of laminated alphabet cards. Procedures 1. Sing the alphabet song with emerging learners on a regular basis but vary the ways that you do this. For example: o point to the letters of the alphabet as children sing. o vary the speed at which you sing. o sing the alphabet backwards sometimes. o tell the children to watch you and stop singing whenever

Variations you stop moving the pointer. Ask, "What letter did I stop on?" o have child volunteers take your role and do the pointing, stopping, and asking. 1. Print the letters of the alphabet across the chalkboard while children are observing. Demonstrate singing the sounds that the letters make instead of singing the names of the letters. Stop on letters with more than one sound and sing both or all sounds of that letter. Write the number of sounds associated with each letter under the letter. On another occasion, write words related to each sound under the letter as well. For example, under a you might write at, ate, ball, and sing and point to each word as you sing the "a sound" it contains. Another variation would be to sing a short vowel with each consonant, asking children to not sing the other vowels when they come to them. For example when using the 'short a' sound, sing "A, ba, ca, da,, fa, " and so on. 2. Pass out your laminated alphabet cards--one per child. Display any that are left over on the chalkboard ledge. Sing the alphabet song slowly as the children line up for dismissal, etc. Each child can join the line when her/his letter is sung. Distribute the cards randomly whenever you repeat this activity so that no child is always A or always Z. 3. Choose a simple tune that most children know and make up a new version of the alphabet song to sing to it.

One-Letter Books Materials Collection of trade books or teacher-constructed books that focus on a single letter of the alphabet One-letter "take home" books Paper, pencils, markers, crayons, catalogues, magazines, scissors, and other materials for bookmaking. Procedures 1. Show children an example of a one-letter book and talk about its features: focuses on one letter only shows the printed version of that letter in both upper and lower case forms each page contains a picture of something that starts with (or contains) that letter and the word for the picture (for example, a book about the letter t might contain 8 pages with one of the following words and its accompanying picture on each page: table, tree, totem pole, tent, tub, ticket, turtle, t-shirt) is predictable in that when the picture is correctly identified, the word can be read. Your idea of what the word says can be partially verified by seeing if it starts with the right letter (beginning use of graphophonic cueing system). 2. Read the book a few times. Turn more of the reading over to the children each time--pausing from time to time to draw attention to letter-sound relationships or spelling patterns with which students are familiar. 3. Invite each child to make a one-letter book. Initial books could focus on beginning consonants that most children know or the first letter in their name.

4. Remind children of the many sources for ideas of words to use in their books (alphabet chart, Word Wall, alphabet books, pictionaries, etc.). Encourage students to say the words they are thinking of using aloud, to check for the letter sound that they want it to start with and to consult classmates when in doubt. 5. When books are completed, they can be signed by their authors and put in the alphabet center or class library, used for independent reading and reading with a buddy, and taken home to read to family members. Variations Make a class set of one-letter books around a theme such as foods. Make a list of foods that start with each letter of the alphabet as a class and post these on an experience chart. Let children choose which letter their class book will be about. Sensory Exploration of Letters Materials o Individual chalkboards and chalk o Plasticene or clay o Sand and/or salt trays o Pencils, markers, and paper o Magnetic letters and magnetic board o Sandpaper letters o Felt letters and felt boards.

Procedures Throughout your focus on the alphabet, encourage children to experiment with forming and/or tracing letters using a variety of materials. Encourage children to draw letters in the air, write letters on another child's back for them to identify, and form letters with their bodies--either alone or with a partner. Using Alphabet Books Materials o Collection of alphabet books including some in big book format o Word Wall o Materials for making alphabet charts and books o Variety of pictionaries in a labeled plastic bin. Procedures 1. Collect a variety of alphabet books to read to children, and read and reread one or two each day for a week. Encourage children to read the books with you as they recognize the text pattern and or picture clues. Place the books in your class library for children to choose during independent reading times. Encourage children to work with a buddy and read together. Draw attention to the appearance of, and sounds associated with, each letter. 2. Talk about the topic or category used to focus a particular book such as "the names of animals", "the names of places, towns, cities", etc. Ask children for their ideas about what else could be the focus for an alphabet book. a. Invite children to make a class alphabet book related to a current topic. Show them how to use pictionaries or other books related to the topic to find things that

start with the letter they have chosen or been assigned. Class alphabet books can be either Big Books for Shared Reading or smaller ones that could be photocopied so that each child can have a copy to read independently and to take home. b. Make a new alphabet chart as a class. The chart could have an open focus or be organized around a topic such as "Winter Words". The chart could be created with all children using a particular media or craft such as, stitchery or painting. "Who has this Letter in their Name?" Materials o Children's name tags o Large alphabet cards (optional) o Chalkboard and chalk. Procedures c. Write the letters of the alphabet across the board, or place a set of alphabet cards in order on the chalkboard ledge. Give children their name tags by holding the tags up one at a time and having them identify their own. d. Point to each letter of the alphabet in turn and ask "Who has this letter in their name?" If necessary, draw attention to both upper and lower case versions. Count the number of children who have each letter included in their names and write the numeral or the appropriate number of tallies above each letter.

e. Discuss which letter was included in the most and least names, and whether there were any letters that did not appear in any names. Other Alphabet Activities: Take an alphabet walk around the school or neighborhood. Look for letters that you have been studying in environmental print. You can also have children identify objects that start with specific letters that the children have recently learned. Play "I Spy" by having children try to identify what you spy that begins with a certain letter. You can give added hints if needed. For example, "I spy something that begins with B. You can read it." (book) Have the child who correctly identifies the object go to the board and write the letter. Have everyone practice saying the word with emphasis on the first letter. Play letter card scramble by having children use letter cards to spell a CVC word that you write on the board. Then have them scramble the cards and put them back together by sounding out the word. Another twist is to have children write their names using the cards and then scrambling and putting them back together. They can also work with one or two classmates. They can make their own name with the cards, show them to a classmate, and then scramble the cards. A classmate then puts the cards back together to spell the name. Be sure that children sound out letters carefully, as the purpose of the activity is to practice recognition of letters and their sound correspondence. Place children into groups of four to five, and have them use their bodies to form letters. If it takes only one or two bodies to form a letter, have the group form more than one of the letters.

Write the name of a common and familiar CVC word on the board. Say one of the letters in the word, and have a volunteer come to the board and circle the letter. Have children identify the letter s position beginning, middle, or end. Repeat by saying the other letters and having volunteers circle them. Then segment and blend the word. Write word family pairs on the board, such as hog and dog, mat and rat, and pin and tin. Ask children to identify the letters that are different in each pair. Ask if they can name an initial letter that makes yet another word. Play alphabet concentration using letter cards. Use no more than 16 cards (8 pairs). If 16 are too many, adjust the number of cards so as to not frustrate children. You can also use picture cards and letter cards. Each letter card is matched with its corresponding picture card. Hand out a letter card or picture card to each child. Write a letter on the board. The child whose picture begins with the letter or who has a matching letter card stands up. That child says the letter and the word of the picture (if they have picture cards). You should reinforce the answer and have all the children repeat the sound. Write a large letter on the chalkboard. It can be upper- or lowercase. Write a number of smaller letters around the larger letter. Many of the smaller letters should be the same as the larger letter. You can either put them in the same case or mixed cases. Have volunteers come up, one at a time, and circle a letter that matches the bigger letter. As they do, they say the letter out loud and name a word that starts with the letter. A sample might be: M m m N n w s m M m W m U

Label objects in the classroom that begin with a letter you have just taught. Or you can give children cards with the letter on them and have them attach the letter card to anything in the classroom that begins with that letter. A more difficult task would be to have them place the letter card on an object that ends with the letter. This can only be done with certain letters that appear at the end of words and make the common sound you have taught. Give children a clipping from a newspaper or magazine and have them circle or highlight all the examples they can find of a specified letter. You can challenge them to find a certain number of occurrences, such as seven. The number should vary with how common the letter is. Give children letter cards. Call out four to five letters. As you do, those who have the card come to the front of the room. When four to five children have come forward, direct them to arrange themselves in alphabetical order. Provide experiences for tactile activities related to letter formation. Use pipe cleaners, wax sticks, or salt or sand in trays. Children also enjoy using hair gel with food coloring in Ziploc bags. Have children perform an action that represents a letter. If you say H, they hop. If you say W, they walk. If you say J, they jump. If you say Y, they yawn. You can give them a prop such as a ball and have them do things with it depending on the letter called out. For example, say B, and they bounce the ball. Say T, and they toss the ball. Say C, and they catch the ball. Divide the class in half. Give one half of the class lowercase letter cards. Give the other half matching uppercase letter cards. Have children search for their match. You can play a similar game with letter and picture cards.

Write letters on paper plates. Mix them up. Have children make chains or a caterpillar using the paper plates. However, they have to put the plates in alphabetical order. Give them pipe cleaner "antennae" to put at the head of the caterpillar. Reproduce connect-the-dot pictures that use letters for each dot. Have children draw the picture by connecting the dots in alphabetical order.

Filename: the_alphabetic_principle Directory: C:\Documents and Settings\helpdesk\My Documents\Cook Template: C:\Documents and Settings\helpdesk\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\Normal.dot Title: The Alphabetic Principle Subject: Author: Administrator Keywords: Comments: Creation Date: 3/23/2003 3:26 PM Change Number: 2 Last Saved On: 3/23/2003 3:37 PM Last Saved By: Administrator Total Editing Time: 3 Minutes Last Printed On: 4/6/2003 10:03 AM As of Last Complete Printing Number of Pages: 26 Number of Words: 4,121 (approx.) Number of Characters: 23,494 (approx.)