Graphophonic Strategies and Activities

Graphophonic Strategies and Activities

Keep your teaching of graphophonic strategies relevant to students' lives. More children will voluntarily engage in learning sound-symbol relationships when they see a need for them in order to read and write for real purposes.

In the Emerging Phase, it is important to support students' discovery of the alphabetic principle. The alphabetic principle is the concept that each letter of the alphabet has one or two sounds associated with it and that these letter-sound relationships are stable. This means that children become used to the idea that the B in the name Brent makes the same sound in the words ball, baby, and cab. As children progress with this understanding, they also:

recognize that letters like c have two sounds
notice that c and k can make the same sound

notice that certain letters combine to make one sound such as the digraphs ch and sh or ough and augh combinations in bought, taught, and caught.

These discoveries can be as exciting to children as that of other wonders of their world--especially if their teachers treat learning about letters and sounds as an adventure for word detectives. Be sure to appreciate each letter-sound discovery that children make.

All of the activities related to children's names can support discovery of the alphabetic principle. In the Emerging Phase, another excellent source for learning letter-sound relationships is the use of the alphabet song and all sorts of alphabet books. (Not all alphabet books are equally appropriate for supporting discovery of the alphabetic principle. Some books contain examples such as "S is for ship" which may confuse emerging literacy learners who are attempting to relate letters with their most common initial consonant sound. See page 103 for a few suggestions for appropriate alphabet books.) Children develop a sense for the alphabetic principle simply from the fact that letters include their sound (or one of their sounds) in their name.

During the Emerging Phase, it is appropriate to emphasize consonants. In the English language, consonants do not vary in sound and spelling combinations to the same extent as do vowel sounds. Researchers suggest that consonants are easier for children to learn and that they draw upon their knowledge of consonants more frequently when decoding or creating text. While vowel sound-letter combinations will form a natural part of the informal language instruction as well, children in the early stages of reading and writing development may gain the most from having a strong base of consonant sound-letter knowledge. One way to understand the usefulness of emphasizing consonants is to compare the process of decoding unfamiliar words when the consonant sounds are known and used, to decoding using vowel sound knowledge. Which of the following is easier for you to figure out?
The _______ was crossing the road.
The c-t-r-p-ll-r was crossing the road.
The -a-e--i-a- was crossing the road.
(caterpillar)

Objectives

Students will develop emerging abilities to:

associate words and letters with sounds in meaningful contexts.

The purpose of the alphabet-song activities is not to teach alphabetic order but to support letter recognition together with knowledge of letter names.

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

Sing the alphabet song with emerging learners on a regular basis but vary the ways that you do this. For example:
- point to the letters of the alphabet as children sing.
- vary the speed at which you sing.
- sing the alphabet backwards sometimes.
- tell the children to watch you and stop singing whenever you stop moving the pointer. Ask, "What letter did I stop on?"
- have child volunteers take your role and do the pointing, stopping, and asking.

Variations

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.
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.
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.

See Appendix J of Fountas and Pinnell's (1996) Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for all Children for instructions and templates for "Folded Letter Books" intended for photocopying as take-home books. These are 26 little books--one for each letter of the alphabet.
PM Alphabet Starters are a set of 26 one-letter books--one for each letter of the alphabet. They also feature a short, appealing poem making use of alliteration of the letter upon which each book focuses. Young children could read and use these as models to make their own class set of one-letter books complete with poems.

Procedures

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).
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.
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.
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.
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.

In their book Teaching Phonics, Phonemic Awareness and Word Recognition, Bishop and Bishop (1996) include a list of children's books classified according to the letter of the alphabet and the letter-sound pattern which is repeated in words throughout the book. The letter-sound pattern is repeated enough times to become a natural focus for graphophonic instruction. For example, under the letter Jj, they include:

No Jumping on the Bed (Arnold, 1987)
Hop Jump (Walsh, 1993).

Sensory Exploration of Letters

Materials

Individual chalkboards and chalk
Plasticene or clay
Sand and/or salt trays
Pencils, markers, and paper
Magnetic letters and magnetic board
Sandpaper letters
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

Collection of alphabet books including some in big book format
Word Wall
Materials for making alphabet charts and books
Variety of pictionaries in a labeled plastic bin.

Procedures

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.
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.
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.
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.

Examples of Alphabet Books
To order books on this list which are not available in your school division, contact the Learning Resources Distribution Centre, 1500 4th Avenue, REGINA SK S4P 3V7, telephone 787-5987, fax 787-9747, toll free fax in Saskatchewan 1-800-668-9747.
Books that come in a Big Book format are marked with an asterisk (*). Books with cross cultural content that are appropriate for older emerging literacy learners are marked with two asterisks (**).

Animalia (Base) A, My Name is Alice(Bayer) A is for Angry: An Animal and Adjective Alphabet (Boynton) Alphabet Out Loud (Bragg) *It Begins with an A (Calmenson) Alpha Bugs (Carter) The Handmade Alphabet(Dial Books) Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z (Ehlert) Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book (Feelings) *A First Alphabet Book (Giles, Smith, & Randell) **ABC's of our Spiritual Connection (Goodtrack) 26 Letters and 99 Cents (Hoban)

Antics (Hepworth) Something beginning with … (Keane) *From Acorn to Zoo (Kitamura) On Market Street (Lobel) Chicka Chicka Boom Boom(Martin & Archambault) Anno's Alphabet: An Adventure in Imagination (Mitsumaso) The Butterfly Alphabet (Sandved) *My Picture Dictionary (Snowball & Green) The Z was Zapped: A Play in 26 Acts (Van Allsburg) ABC (Wegman) An Alphabet of Animals (Wormell) All in the Woodland Early: An ABC Book (Yolen)

"Who has this Letter in their Name?"

Materials

Children's name tags
Large alphabet cards (optional)
Chalkboard and chalk.

Procedures

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.
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.
Discuss which letter was included in the most and least names, and whether there were any letters that did not appear in any names.