Alphabet Bootcamp
- Julia Lindsey
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
I’ve noticed a trend recently that assumes many kids come into kindergarten already knowing all their letter-sounds. For many children, this is not the case. There are not universal standards for alphabet learning before kindergarten begins! Let’s make sure to teach the alphabet to mastery if that’s what your kids need.
There is so much cool research about how to teach the alphabet as effectively and efficiently as possible — and I bet some of this research will surprise you.
Scope and sequence
Make it quick~ ideally, teach about 3 letters a week in the first semester of school (in the US, finish the alphabet before winter break) (e.g., Sunde et al., 2020).
Don't fret about a perfect scope and sequence~ there isn't one.
Give more time to hard letters ~ some letters are more challenging to learn, and it turns out we should give those letters more time. Plan to spend some extra time on letters that we know are going to be hard such as h, q, w, y (consonants with names that have no association to the sound; Piasta et al., 2022).Piasta et al., 2022)
What to include in a lesson
It turns out that the best alphabet lessons are very straightforward. We want to focus on the core elements:
Explicit instruction linking the letter to its sound and name
LOTS of opportunities for kids to practice via paired associated learning (Roberts, 2021):
See the letter, say the sound (or name)
Hear the sound (or name), select the letter
One extra add on that makes a difference is to use embedded mnemonic alphabet cards (Shmidman & Ehri, 2010). My favorite free ones are from OnLit.
A few research surprises
Current research does support doing both the name and the sound at the same time. In some cases, letter name might support letter sound learning.
Handwriting instruction is necessary, but it may not contribute to alphabet learning as much as we think (Roberts, 2021). If you need to move it to another time of day (after all, kindergarteners can only focus for so long), that’s okay.
Articulation instruction isn’t supported by as much research as it may seem. There are only a handful of very small studies, often linked to phonemic awareness outcomes (Boyer & Ehri, 2008). It isn’t bad to do, but it might not be giving a huge benefit — hopefully we get more research on this!
Alphabet movements aren’t necessary for alphabet learning. At least one study did find some benefit, but I don’t recommend putting a lot of energy into this!
If you want kids to learn the alphabet, just keep in mind this simple idea: Children need an enormous amount of practice pairing letters to sounds to gain alphabet knowledge. Practice really does make proficient!
Alphabet Bootcamp
Grab my alphabet bootcamp handout to get started teaching the alphabet in just a few targeted minutes a day. Use this as inspiration along with your high-quality curricular materials -- and, as always, monitor your students' data carefully to ensure instruction is working.
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