Jumbo Fun with the Alphabet

Help early learners develop essential reading readiness skills while they learn their ABCs.

Each letter of the alphabet includes the following activities:

• Hear It!
  Students practice identifying letters and hearing them in spoken words. After a short discussion, a reproducible worksheet is provided that asks students to recognize and identify the sounds of the new letters.
• Draw It!
  Students are given step-by-step directions to draw objects or animals that start with the letters they’re practicing. Drawings use simple shapes to create the images and give students opportunities to add their own creative details
• Write It!
  Students practice tracing and printing uppercase and lowercase letters. Worksheets are provided for both traditional and modern script and model the correct way to write each letter. There’s also a fun dot-to-do activity to reinforce coordination and number skills.
• Read It!
  Each letter has a four-page fold-up book that provides students with short stories they can read on their own in class or at home. Stories help students practice a variety of readiness skills, such as:
  • Distinguishing letters from words.
  • Locating a printed word on a page.
  • Matching print to speech.
  • Moving from top to bottom and left to right on a printed page.

• Make It!
  A fun art project complete with pictorial directions engages students as they put together their own alphabet-inspired creation.

Jumbo Fun with the Alphabet lessons provide strong literacy foundations:

1. Alphabetic Awareness
   To become of a successful reader, students must know the names, shapes, and forms of all 26 letters of the alphabet. Jumbo Fun with the Alphabet helps students achieve this goal by introducing them to the letters of the alphabet using engaging, illustrated animals whose names start with the featured letter such, as ant, bear, cat, and so on. The animal becomes a common thread throughout the activities for that letter, facilitating both sight and sound recognition.
2. Phonemic Awareness
   Realizing that words are made up of sounds and hearing those sounds in spoken language are important steps in reading readiness development. ＂Hear It!＂ and ＂Draw It!＂ lessons provide this essential practice by asking students to recognize and identify beginning sounds through reproducible art and matching activities.
3. Print Awareness
   Beginning readers need practice distinguishing the difference between a single letter, a word, a sentence, and a story. The simple story inside each ＂Read It!＂ mini storybook introduces important concepts-of-print skills while further reinforcing letter and sound recognition.
4. Visual Discrimination
   Students are given multiple opportunities to view the letters of the alphabet and to practice making them. The ＂Draw It!,＂ ＂Write It!,＂ and ＂Make It!＂ activities engage students in visual discrimination practice while they practice drawing and following directions.

Engage your students in the important alphabet and reading readiness practice they need for success--use Jumbo Fun with the Alphabet in your classroom today!

This resource contains teacher support pages, reproducible student pages, and an answer key.