Teaching phonics and letter sounds can inspire learning through art, play, science, and more!
The Waldorf method of introducing letters encourages children to make connections to the shape of each letter. This creates a fun way of alphabet learning for each letter and a establishes a cue to help children remember how to write each one.
For instance, if a child goes to write the letter T and can't remember how, you can prompt them to remember their Rapunzel Tower or their Tomten from this lesson! The child now has deeper connections to the form of the letter built from storytelling and art -- this builds a solid foundation for letter writing.
Learning the Letter T
To begin: Tell a story
The key is to begin with a story that will feature your letter in some way. To complement your story, create an illustration or picture of your letter. This can be a simple sketch or a fully developed illustration.
In previous posts, I've discussed the importance of focusing on the capital and lowercase letters at the same time.
For the letter "T," I had an idea for illustrating a capital T for Rapunzel's tower, but I couldn't figure out how to make it work for the lowercase T. Luckily, I also had an idea for illustrating a lowercase T that wouldn't work for a capital! The solution: I told two stories. (Don't worry -- I didn't do both on the same day.)
For my capital T story, we taped my illustration to our puppet theater and acted out the story as a puppet show (me first, my little one after).
For my lowercase T story, I read The Tomten. This time, I simply read the story to my child without an illustration displayed. Then, we had fun creating our picture after the story.
My story add-on: Choose a sound motif to feature your letter's sound within your story. For The Tomten, I repeated "tick-tock" as the night passed by and "tip-toe" as the Tomten moved about the farm.
Illustrate the letter
After your story, have your child create his or her letter picture. You can keep a blank notebook just for your child's letter drawings. I like to create mine next to my child so he can model what I'm doing. Since he already knew the Rapunzel story, he really enjoyed working on his picture and filled the whole page with color!
For The Tomten, we had fun drawing our own Tomten character by using the lowercase "t" for the body.
What else?
For additional activities to promote sound awareness and build letter writing skills, take a look at my post on how to introduce the letters. This post includes more specific activities on building sound awareness for your letter, practice writing the letter, and using the letter to start building words.
Step 4: Cross-Curricular Connections
From here, I have added on my own ideas to enhance a curriculum around each letter.
Math
Time: Make a clock out of card stock and combine with a fastener (available at Staples). Depending on the child's age, you can focus mainly on the hour hand and how it goes around twice to form a whole day, or introduce the minutes as well.
Tangrams: Introduce children to tangram puzzles to explore geometric shapes and spatial reasoning.
Tally Charts: Introduce tally charts as a way to organize and represent data for counting.
Counting by 10's: Use beads and thread to create 10 strings of 10 beads. Then help children learn to count by 10's, starting from 10 and continuing until 100.
Triangles: (Advanced) Teach the properties of triangles, such as their sides, angles, and/or classifications.
Science
Tides: Teach children about the gravitational forces that cause ocean tides and the different types of tides.
Temperature: Explore the concept of temperature, its measurement, and its effects on the environment.
Tornadoes: Explore the factors needed for tornadoes to form, how people prepare for them, and their impact.
Tectonic Plates: Introduce the theory of plate tectonics and the movement of the Earth's plates.
Topography: Teach about the physical features of the Earth's surface, including mountains, valleys, and plains.
Tropics: Discuss the regions near the Equator known as the tropics and their unique climate and ecosystems.
Tundra: Study the tundra biome, characterized by cold temperatures, permafrost, and unique flora and fauna.
Terrariums: Create a small terrarium as a hands-on lesson about ecosystems and plants.
Tree Lesson:
Introduce the importance of trees in our environment (providing oxygen, providing shade, habitat for animals, etc.).
Show pictures of different types of trees and ask children to describe what they see.
Explain the terms roots, trunk, branches, and leaves, and their role in the tree's structure. For example, roots anchor the tree and absorb water, the trunk supports the tree and transports nutrients, branches hold the leaves and provide places for birds to perch, and leaves are where photosynthesis occurs.
Provide 3-D materials for children to create their own tree model. Children can collect scraps of bark, twigs, and leaves from outside and use them to create their own tree by gluing them to paper. Teachers can supplement materials as needed.
Taxonomy: (Advanced) Teach about the classification of living organisms into different taxonomic categories.
Animals - Learn about animals that begin with the letter T:
Tiger
Turtle
Toucan
Tarantula
Tasmanian Devil
Tarsier
Tiger Salamander
Turkey
Literature/Language
Read Fancy Nancy: Tea Parties and throw a terrific tea party!
Tall Tales: Introduce the genre of tall tales, characterized by exaggerated and fantastical storytelling.
Tongue Twisters: Have fun with tongue twisters to improve pronunciation, enunciation, and phonics skills.
Social Studies
Timelines: Show children how to create timelines to represent historical events in chronological order. The child can create a timeline of his or her own life.
Trade Routes: Teach about historical trade routes like the Silk Road and their impact on cultural exchange.
Trade and Barter: Introduce the concept of trade, barter, and the exchange of goods and services.
Transportation: Introduce various modes of transportation and their functions.
Travel: Discuss traveling to different places in the world. Plan a trip to a nearby city.
Technology Basics: Teach children about using technology responsibly.
Music
Tempo: Teach children about different tempos in music, such as fast (allegro) and slow (adagio).
Timbre: Explore the concept of timbre, the unique sound quality of different musical instruments and voices.
Time Signature: Explain how time signatures indicate the rhythm and beats in a musical piece.
Transposition: (Advanced) Introduce the idea of transposing music from one key to another.
Tuning: Teach children how to tune their instruments or recognize when an instrument is out of tune.
Triads: Introduce basic triads, which are three-note chords, and their importance in music.
Tchaikovsky: Introduce the composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky and his famous compositions.
Holidays
Teng Chieh (Lantern Festival): Learn about this traditional Chinese holiday marking the end of the Chinese New Year celebration, featuring lantern displays and festivities.
Traditions: Discuss family traditions that you hold and celebrate together. Explain how traditions pass from generation to generation.
Sports
Tennis: Teach backhand, forehand, and volley techniques.
Taekwondo: Explore the art of this Korean martial art, which involves kicking and punching.
Track: Race on a traditional track field and keep time.
Tai Chi: Explore the basics of Tai Chi, a gentle form of exercise that combines movement and meditation.
Tumbling: Teach basic tumbling movements and skills in gymnastics, such as rolls and cartwheels.
Target Practice: Introduce accuracy and precision in activities like archery or target-based games.
Play tug of war or jump on a trampoline!
Teamwork: Teach children about the importance of working together effectively in various activities and sports.
Cooking
Meals - Make a special effort to eat foods beginning with the letter T. (And make them together, when possible!)
Tomato
Toast
Tofu
Tangerine
Turkey
Tuna
Taco
Truffles
Tortillas
Tempura
Game Ideas
Engage the child in some interactive activities that help them associate the sound with the letter.
Make various sounds of different letters, and see if the child can identify your letter's sound.
Give the child pictures of objects/animals, and see if they can identify the ones beginning with your letter. As the child becomes more comfortable with the letter "T" sound, start to introduce words that have the "T" sound in the middle or at the end of the word.
Create a word search with simple words beginning with "T."
Play bingo or hangman with your letter.
Have the child act out a story related to the letter T/create a letter T puppet show.
Once you've studied a few letters: Play hopscotch! Tape pieces of paper with different letters into a hopscotch arrangement. Make the sound of each letter while the child jumps to it. (Or have them make the sound of each letter they jump to.)
Once you've studied a few letters: Play the floor is lava. Instead of placing traditional color swatches on the ground, place swatches with different letters. Have students jump to each letter when you make its sound.
Writing Ideas
Have students practice writing the capital and lowercase letter on traditional lined paper.
Practice drawing the shapes in the air.
Have students walk the shape by taping the letter onto the floor.
Practice forming the letter using playdough, sand, shaving cream, or using any other materials.
Most importantly, create an environment where your child can explore and have fun learning! The list above is intended to spark ideas and help you pick activities that align with your child's own interests.
Happy letter learning!
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