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CONTINUUM: LETTER KNOWLEDGE — PRODUCING LETTER NAMES

8Learning Letters Alphabet Soup GameConsider Your KidsUse this lesson sometime after the childrenhave worked with their name puzzles (LessonLK 4) and when they are very familiar with theletters in their own names, as well as with theorder of the letters. The task in this lessonrequires children to hold this knowledge intheir heads as they consider one letter afteranother, so the task is challenging.

Working with EnglishLanguage LearnersEnglish language learners may need to work insmall groups with you as they attemptAlphabet Soup for the first time. Provide manyopportunities for them to repeat the languagethey need to use. If the syntax is difficult,change it so that it is easier for children to say.

You NeedName puzzles (see Lesson LK 4).

Small paper or plastic bowls.

Stirring utensils.

Alphabet Soup, by Kate Banks.

Understand the PrincipleThe letters of the alphabet are criticallyimportant tools for young readers. Childrenneed to learn to distinguish the particular andspecific shapes of a letter so that they canconnect a name to it. Letter names provide anentry into understanding the alphabeticprinciple (that letters and sounds are related)because they help children understand thelanguage of the classroom. In this lesson,children give close attention to letter featuresand letter names as they work with their ownnames. They also explore the idea that in aword (in this case, a name) the letters arealways in the same order.

Explain the Principle“ You can look at the shape of a letter and say

its name. ”

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Explain thePrinciple

“ You can look at theshape of a letterand say its name. ”

Read the bookAlphabet Soup,by Kate Banks,and invitechildren toshare whetherthey have evereaten alphabetsoup. Explainthat the boy inthis story has some very strange things happen with his alphabet soup. Asan alternative you may choose to tell a short story about a little boy or girlwho doesn’t want to eat the soup but when he or she does, adventureshappen. The purpose of the story is to get children interested in letters andtheir associations.

Suggested language: “You know that we have letters in our names, andthere are letters in alphabet soup, too. Today we are going to make alphabetsoup with our names.” Ask for a pair of volunteers to come up to the frontof the group with their name puzzles.

Ask for two volunteers. Have a small bowl. Ask the two children to dumptheir names into the bowl. Then stir the letters and invite both children tohelp.

Suggested language: “Jamal is going to go first. Jamal, take one letter out ofour bowl of alphabet soup.” Child demonstrates. “Jamal, does that letterbelong in your name?” Jamal responds, “Yes.”

Suggested language: “Jamal is going to tell a food that begins with thisletter, which is in his name. Jamal, say this: ‘I have a lowercase a and it goesin my name, Jamal. A is for apple.’ ” Child demonstrates.

Suggested language: “This letter is in Jamal’s name, so he gets to keep it. Ifit doesn’t belong in his name—for example, if it is a y—he’ll put it back inthe soup bowl.”

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Continue demonstrating until the bowl is empty and the children have allthe letters in their names. Suggested language: “So Jamal and Tony have allthe letters in their names. They are going to put their names together, readthem, and then check each other’s names.” Children can check the nameswith the model.

Suggested language: “Today we learned that we can recognize the letters inour names even if they are mixed into our alphabet soup, and we also canthink of food that begins like the letters of our names.” Explain that thechildren will play the Alphabet Soup game.

Get plastic or paper bowls andutensils for stirring. Childrenpair up and play the AlphabetSoup game. They mix theletters, take one letter, say itsname, and give a food thatstarts with the letter. At theend of the game, they maketheir name puzzles and check each other.

Have children talk about what they learned about their names.Demonstrate and look for comments such as these:

“My name has two s’s.”

“My name starts with uppercase M.”

Have them share some of the foods they thought of in connection with theirnames.

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mix letterstake lettersay letter namesay foodmake puzzle

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LinkInteractive Read-Aloud: Read aloud booksthat connect children’s names with sounds ofletters, such as:

Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh

Imogene’s Antlers by David Small

Shared Reading: Use a variety of ABC songs(see Sing a Song of Poetry ) to learn andreinforce letter-name knowledge.

Guided Reading: During word work, do somequick letter sorting on the magnetic easel,asking the children to name each letter as theymove it from the left side of the board to theright.

Interactive Writing: Take the opportunity tohave children name letters within the contextof creating a text. Consider making anAlphabet Soup book or mural, with each childdrawing a picture of a food that begins like hisor her name and the group creating the labelwith a shared pen.

Independent Writing: Children have atemplate of a bowl. They draw food items thatstart like each of the letters in their names andlabel the foods. They can use approximatedspelling.

Notice whether the children can recognize theletters of their names and put them together.

Observe whether letter recognition is becomingquick and automatic.

During writing time, conduct a quick check byasking children to name the letters in theirnames.

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Expand the LearningTo make the task easier, children tell the letter,but not a food that begins with it.

Children can play the game again with adifferent partner.

Children can play the game with their last-name puzzles.

Children can make the soup with four players,increasing the challenge. Also, they can makeone another’s name puzzles.

Connect with HomeHave children take home their name puzzlesand some letter cards (in Teaching Resources )with which to make names of their familymembers. Have them teach a family memberhow to play the Alphabet Soup game and playit several times with different family members.

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