Fine Motor Development (FM)
ELA Monthly Pacing Guide: November
Domain: Phonics and Word Recognition
Children will begin to learn letter names and sounds
Teachers will introduce Alphachants (Phonics curriculum) and letter of the week
Teachers will continue playing with letter sounds and letter connections
Children’s names are a great way to introduce children to letters. Their names are often the first printed word they recognize and are a great entry point to letter and sound recognition.
Your writing center should be equipped with children’s name cards, initially with pictures, so they can begin to identify their own and peers’ names in print. Children need many opportunities to manipulate the letters in their names, while teachers help them identify the sound each letter makes.
Write each child’s name on a sentence strip and cut it into individual letters. The letters can be all capital letters or the first letter capital and the rest lowercase. The child matches the letter to their name grid and says the name of each letter. A teacher can reinforce the letter name and letter sounds. Magnetic letters on a cookie sheet are fun and engaging, and the letters stay in place on the tray!
More fun name games include a selection of Name Kits in your writing center:
- Bags with children’s names with the letters in their names on unfix cubes or bottle caps
- For the child who loves cars (shoe box or other box lids) – a name parking lot!
