Hands-On Alphabet Activities for Young Children: A Whole Language Plus Phonics Approach to Reading

I resisted using this book at first, but now I find it very helpful. I like the mini books and use them in my class as I introduce letters and words. I like that the students have easy to read books and it's a nice way to reinforce the words I teach in class. I don't use much from the book, but what I do use is great. It's a nice addition to my Word Study curriculum. I recommend it.

I am currently using this book with my 2nd preschooler & thought I should add a review since I've been so happy with the curriculum. This satisfies the needs of those siblings who beg to do schoolwork with their older brothers & sisters. Even my kindergartener who has moved on to bigger and better things, still enjoys looking through her poems and pictures, and reading her mini-books. I did not do every thing reccommended in the book, but used the mini-books, along with the craft and poem to introduce the letters & sounds of the alphabet. My son looks forward to reading his completed books to his Daddy. I highly reccommend it!

This book looks impressive at over 500 pages, but unfortunately much of the page count is taken up with repetitive information. Each letter has an art activity to go with a poem that focuses on an object beginning with the letter. There is a reproducible half page book with objects beginning with the letter followed by full page sized pictures of the same object which you are to make into a "big book" to read with a group. The activities for each letter are identical:

* read and act out poem
* identify letter on a card
* name object held up that start with the letter
* complete art project (mostly cutting and pasting with some painting and stamping)
* read big book for letter to child
* the child reads a little book of the same text.

Each step is described in detail for each letter although the format is exactly the same, which makes the book unnecessarily long. The little books are the best part of this curriculum, with repetitive text suitable for young readers and plenty of words that start with the letter being studied. The drawings seem a little crude, but they are friendly.

I modified ideas from the book for my preschool class with great results. We did a poem and a little book a week. We read the poem and book every day; it only took a few minutes. At the end of the week, I let the students make their own little book to take home. We would all read it together, and they had to touch each word as we read. Then we would play a game where I would have them touch different words at random to see if they could recognize the words and they did!
This is a wonderful resource for older preschoolers and kindergarteners!

Supports learning letters and sounds while doing it in the context of reading little books. The self-esteem of the children grows rapidly as they have success "reading" the little books. A must for anyone who teaches children all about letters and sounds!