Be sure to continue to use language play and the reading of many alphabet books and books that feature rhyme and alliteration, with older students experiencing delays in development of phonemic awareness and graphophonic knowledge.

Letter Recognition, Letter Formation, and Letter-sound Knowledge

1. Make multiple copies of a one-page form such as the sample on the following page. It should incorporate all the letters of the alphabet in both their upper and lower case forms and have space for children to copy each letter beside the ones on the form.
2. Use as a quick assessment at the beginning of the year or with new students in grades one to three.
3. The form can be used three ways:
   • to assess children's ability to recognize letters that you name.
   • to assess children's ability to name letters.
   • to assess children's ability to form letters.
   If you ask children to name all the letters that they know, you may also get a sense of their abilities to track print (i.e., read from left to right and top to bottom).
4. Ordinarily, you would limit your assessment to one of these foci each time. With older children, you might do an assessment of all of their abilities. In this case, you would need three copies of the form.
5. Date the form each time you use it and record the type of assessment undertaken (e.g., letter naming). Store it in each child's assessment portfolio. This will give you a record of progress to share with parents and information for making instructional decisions to support children's further development.

The list of strategies that follow are appropriate for use with children from mid-kindergarten to grade three who need support in developing letter-sound knowledge. With younger students, these strategies and activities would be used as whole class activities. Older students may require the additional support offered by one-on-one practice provided by a teacher, teacher associate, or trained adult volunteer. In all cases, continue to involve students in reading and writing for real purposes.
 Language Experience Approach
 Exploring Sound Patterns
 "What's in a Name?"
 Guess my Letter
 Ways to Use the "Alphabet Song"
 One-letter Books
 Using Alphabet Books
 Making Words
 Morning Message
 Interactive Writing

Sample Multi-use Diagnostic Assessment Form for Letter-sound Knowledge