Routine · Letters
Meet the letter: name and shape
Introduce a letter by its name and the look of its capital and small forms.
- Time
- 3 to 5 minutes
- Skill
- Letters
- In a session plan
- New lesson
When to use it
When a letter is new, or when a student mixes up letters that look alike, such as b and d.
Materials
- A letter card with capital and small forms
- A few printed words with the letter in them
Steps
Shown with example words: spelling m.
Get ready
Show the letter card with the small letter on top and the capital below.
I do
Point to each form and name it. Describe the shape with simple words: tall, short, round, a line, a tail.
Say: This letter is called m. Here is the small one. Here is the big one. Look at its shape.
We do
Point to each form and name it together. Ask the student to trace it in the air as you describe the shape.
You do
Mix the card with three letters already known. Point at random; the student names each one.
Student: Names the new letter and the known letters.
Check
Show a printed word. The student finds and points to the new letter wherever it appears.
If the student...
Calls the letter by the name of a look-alike.
Put the two cards side by side and say what is different about the new one. Name it, have the student name it, then mix the cards and ask again.
Say: This is m. See how it is not the same as this one? Which one is m?
Tips
- Do not teach two look-alike letters in the same week if you can help it.
- One to one, let the student hold the card. In a group, hold it up high and wait for every voice.
Example words
- Spelling
- m
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- Letter sound with a picture keywordLink a letter to its sound through a picture word that begins with that sound.4 to 7 minutes · New lesson
- Handwriting: talk it, trace it, write itTeach the strokes of a letter with spoken directions, tracing, copying and writing from memory.3 to 6 minutes · New lesson
- Introduce a new sound-spellingTeach a new spelling for a sound: hear it, see it, say it, write it, then read words with it.6 to 10 minutes · New lesson
- Quick letter-sound drillFlash known letters for their sounds at a brisk pace, with fast fixes.2 to 3 minutes · Review
Have this routine filled in for every lesson
In Literacy Trail, the session plan picks a routine for each block and fills it with the words, sounds and sentence from your student's lesson. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.