Letter of the Day Calendar Companion~Large Group Alphabet Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

Do you ever feel that you are always doing the same activities during calendar time?  Don't get me wrong, repetition is good, but I sometimes felt that the choices were limited.  We worked on, the days of the week, how many days we had been in school and weather.  The kids had just arrived to school, they were refreshed and tuned in, and although we were teaching valuable skills, there was room for more.  That is when I came up with Interactive Skill of the Day Calendar Companions:  Letter of the Day.

Letter of the day was such a great addition to our calendar time.  The boys and girls were already getting a great dose of math in the morning-it was nice to add important literacy concepts to the mix.  I loved that they were learning and having fun at the same time.  

Set up is easy.

   

First choose the sign that works best with the designs of your classroom.  It comes in two different sizes to fit small and larger spaces.  It fits perfectly next to your calendar.

Step 2:  Choose the uppercase, lowercase or both uppercase and lowercase letter for the day or week.  Letters are also available in large and small sizes and several styles are black and white/colored.

Step 3 is Trace It.  The boys and girls will use the car to trace over the letter.  This activity is available in uppercase and lowercase letters.

Step 4:  The boys and girls will use a dry erase marker to circle the letter of the day.  This activity is available in uppercase, lowercase, uppercase and lowercase.  It is also available in large and small sizes as well as black and white.

Step 5:  The boys and girls will work on letter order and letter identification and matching with "Match It."  Place laminated squares over library pockets and write letters that you would like the boys and girls to match.  

Step 6:  The boys and girls will identify the letter of the day and trace it.  This activity is available in uppercase and lowercase, as well as small and large mats.

 Step 7:  The boys and girls will work on sorting numbers, letters and words.  To start out the year letters and numbers are a great place to start.  

 Step 8:  Once the boys and girls can identify what a letter is, they can start listening to the sounds each letter makes.  A great place to start is with objects that make the matching beginning sound.  Start with true examples in the beginning of the year and mix in non-examples as the year progresses.  They will have to really listen to the initial sound.

Step 9:  The boys and girls will write the letter of the day.  This can be tricky at first, so allow them to build it using clay or wikki stix.  

This unit also comes with a "Follow Along" page so the entire class can participate, as well as letter assessment, step by step and curricular and suggested use guide and standards page.   

The boys and girls will look forward to this each day! 

If you like this you may LOVE the growing bundle! Click on the picture below!