Mission: INTERVENTION ~ The Alphabet

Hello October.

September seemed to fly by. Really fast. Pretty sure I only blogged once during the last month and I really do apologize. Lots of things kept me from blogging… you know… work and teaching, being a mom, staying afloat in the back to school madness, still having to cook dinner every night (really wish I could hire a chef the first month back to school!), watching the Cowboys now that football is back on, and just being really busy. I’m sure you can relate…. right?!

It’s no secret that our students will all learn at different rates, by different teaching styles and strategies, and by different activities in the classroom. I’m sure you know by now that the students in your classroom are all over the place when it comes to what instructional level they are on. Some are above grade level, some are working right on grade level, and some are buckled in tight on the struggle bus! (and you could probably point each of these students out on DAY 1)

Wouldn’t it be just flippin’ fantastic if we would plan and teach a lesson and ALL of our students would show mastery on that skill and we could move on?! Well…. I hate to break the bad news to you… but THAT.WILL. N – E – V – E – R .HAPPEN.

We of course want ALL of our students to succeed, but often struggle with WHAT to do with these students, WHEN we should do it, etc….

Do you have a specific time in your daily schedule for intervention? If not…. you should! There HAS to be a time devoted to meet the need of all of our students, including our students who are behind and need that small group or even one-on-one instructional time with the teacher. IT IS CRUCIAL!

For me as a kindergarten teacher, we are flying daily through the alphabet trying to get our students to master letter identification, begin development on their letter sounds and fixing to set sail on the cruise ship called READING. If my students are still struggling and not mastering their letter identification, we can’t even begin to move to the next step.

I have a few students who definitely fall into the category of needing some intense intervention right now! I despise trying to come up with last minute activities for these students during my small groups and decided it was time to finish a product that had been on my to-do list for MONTHS!

My new mission is…. getting these students on grade level (or at least some significant progress!)

Mission:INTERVENTION ~ Alphabet Recognition and Identification was created so that I don’t have to dig or try and find new activities….. they are now all in one place for me (and YOU!)

This is just a sneak peek into what this will look like!

I wanted to pop in tonight and share with you what you will find in this JAM-PACKED pack of activities (over 170 pages!)

I created a binder to hold all of the assessments and printable activity pages.

The cover is included, but always feel free to use what works and matches with you!

Each activity in the packet includes directions and pictures… as well as the MISSION of the activity (the intended goal of the activity).

Each letter of the alphabet will have it’s very own page! I have included 4 rows on each page, which allows me to easily say during groups, ” ______ read line 3″ This will give me 4 different lines to show mastery.

Students can use their “eyes” to identify the letters, use a stick or pointer to find the letters, or even use a cube or manipulative to cover the correct letters.

A closer look at the alphabet pages:

My students absolutely LOVE this activity. I can use this when focusing on specific letters with my intervention groups!

And they LOVE using these eyes!

This activity is from the “Does it Match” activity.

Students will identify the letters on the card and determine they match (capital to lowercase). There are FOUR different assessment pages like these shown above that you can use.

Multiple ways to use it:

(1) Point and identify the pairs that match

(2) Use counters and cover the pairs that match

(3) Use TWO different colors – one color represents pairs that match, the other color is for pairs that do NOT match.

A closer look at the activity:

Use the cards and activity as a mini-lesson in your intervention group, then use the binder assessment pages to really focus on each student for mastery.

Another FAVORITE activity:

This activity “Sort it Out” has students sorting the capital and lowercase letters. Students do not necessarily need to identify the letters in this activity, but just recognize if the letter is a capital or lowercase letter and sort.

I have also included FOUR different assessment pages that you can put in your binder, also labeled by four rows on the page. Again, this easily allows me to say, “Read line 4” etc…. after doing the mini lesson activity.

It’s one thing to identify the letters, but I also think that writing the letters is equally important!

I have also included this activity in the pack, which is great to put into the binder!

There is a page for EACH letter in the alphabet, using the same format on each page.

The pages include:

(1) Trace the capital and lowercase letter with your finger

(2) Trace the capital and lowercase letters with your dry erase maker

(3) Write the capital and lowercase letters with your dry erase marker

This activity is a great step-by-step building activity for writing the letter!

This activity in the pack is a student favorite (and also great for literacy stations for ALL students!)

I have included a half page for each capital and lowercase letter that has the proper letter formation on the card. Students can use their “eyes” to trace with their finger, use a dry erase marker, use Play-Dough, a dry paint brush, etc….

So many ways to practice the formation of the alphabet!

I have also included a few games that you can do with your students including:

“Stack it Up” is a fun game AND a great visual for you!

All you need is the cards provided AND stacking cubes!

I turn the pile of letters upside down and one student will choose a card at a time. If they can read the letter correctly, they will get a cube. If not, no cube! The group will alternate turns and stack their cubes each time they identify the letter correctly. Once the stack is gone, the student with the highest stack… is the winner!

Concentration is fun and can be differentiated as needed! Use all of the letters or just the letters you have focused on in small groups. Lay the cards face down and students will select two cards at a time. The mission is to find the capital and lowercase match!

We can’t forget about putting the alphabet into order….

I usually separate the cards into the lowercase and capital piles, and give one stack at a time. The students will work together (or individually) to put the alphabet back into order!

GO FISH… alphabet style!

You can print 2 sets (complete matches will included 2 capital and 2 lowercase of the same letter) OR print four sets and only use the capital cards OR the lowercase cards.

Students will ask the other player if they have a specific letter to help them build a set. If so, the player will give it to the partner. If not, the player will say “GO FISH”.

A fun little twist on the traditional fun-loved game!

This activity is great if you are only focusing on 2 – 3 letters at a time!

The mat has a blank circle that will allow you to put in the specific letters you are working on.

I have included SIX letters (mixed fonts, capital and lowercase) for each letter. I keep them each stored in their own baggie so I can easily grab the letter I am working on!

Students will sort (either 2 or 3 letters). (Both mats included!)

Now the BIG question…. HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU ORGANIZE ALL OF THIS?

This is where the binder comes into play! I simply print all of the printables and place them into sheet protectors (which also are dry-erase friendly!)

I print all of the alphabet card activities and label into their own baggies for easy identification of what I need.

I keep ONE container that holds each of the baggies:

Now… when I meet with my intervention groups, I just grab my box and my binder!

I got these boxes at Wal Mart and it’s how I store ALL of my literacy stations and math stations as well!

The BEST part…. YOU can have ALL of this for your students too! (It’s on SALE!)

Just click HERE or on the picture below 🙂

Now… my next MISSION…. is:

Mission INTERVENTION: Number Recognition and Identification

Coming SOON!

Have an AWESOME weekend teacher warriors!

Mission: INTERVENTION ~ The Alphabet

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