Teaching the Alphabet with the Letter of the week

Every teacher has a different way to teach the alphabet. In my class I teach a letter each week. This does not mean that we do not review other letters. The focus of my literacy centers will usually have something to do with the letter of the week. For example...

Letter of the week: Ee

In writing I had a special project for a writing center and the students made an ear of corn. In Spanish it is called an "elote". They write the letter E (Capital) & the e (lowercase). This has helped my students remember the sound of the letter and at least one word that starts with that letter.

You can also see my short rhyme with the letter Ee.

In my Literacy Centers I do "Mi libro de la letra ____" (Translates to "My book of the letter ___"). The students have pictures of things and they are to collect the ones that start with the letter of the week and glue into the book. This also serves as a very helpful tool to help them remember the letter and build their vocabulary.

My other center has another book which ties in with my word of the week (yes it starts with the letter of the week). Each week they get a small book that has their high frequency word of the week. I love these books! By the end of the week they can read the book and then have another book to add to their "I can Read" collection.

We also do a poem of the week & song of the week which I use as my shared reading component and we read that EVERY day!

Ok so now that I have written a huge post... (Huge for me). How do you teach the alphabet?

Beginning of the Year Bulletin Boards

When I start my school year I begin all my bulletin boards without decorations besides the word wall & calendar. I like the student's work to be displayed in our class on those bulletin boards throughout the school year so I try to leave them blank.

Here are a few pictures of what those look like so far. Oh yes, I also forgot to add that I love my wall space and that too begins to fill up rather quickly.




Outside Bulletin Board- Pinterest Bus Activity (Cutting practice)

 

Student Name Activity (Phonics Lesson to learn the letters of their name)



Calendar Area- Similar to what I had last year

My Word Wall- Has student's names on there (with pictures soon)

Classroom Tour Blog Hop!

I love to see all the pictures of all your classrooms so link up! We all need more projects! Lol. My husband says my to do list never ends... it's true once I scratch one off another two get put on! I love my job and all the cute decor make it more enjoyable :)

Classroom Day #3

I have been to my classroom three days so far. Only for maybe 2 hours max because I take the little one and he becomes the grouchy little lady bug after an 1 1/2. But I can't blame him. He'll learn to love it. :)

So here is another sneak peak of my classroom AS OF NOW... I am sure it will look totally different by the time the kids actually show up.

I'm not quite sure on a few things and I am thinking of making a little curtain for the math manipulatives. Any suggestions, comments or anything would be awesome!

BEFORE

 AFTER

My reading nook

My Kitchen... not sure yet on this little nook

Student tables with book cases on the side for their book boxes

Calendar area/Entrance to my classroom

View from the door

Oh yes! My hubby just worked on my signature! I love it! Thanks love!

A Glimpse into my 2nd home...

I have yet to post any pictures of my classroom but today I decided to let you get a "glimpse" of it. I am still on "summer" break so of course it's not set up yet but I wanted to show you what it looked liked before it had to all go in boxes.

Last year was my first year teaching Bilingual Kindergarten and I was not sure how that was going to go. I had taught first grade the year before and I wasn't sure how to go about the set up of my class with Kindergartners. These pictures were from the last month of school., but I changed it about 8 times during the school year... Please tell me I am not the only one who changes their classroom around that many times... Anyone?

I like change and this helps me keep it together the remainder of the year :) Oh and the kids love it! It's like a new classroom to them.

Okay so here are a few pictures. Please feel free to comment. I have no idea what it's going to look like this year but I hope much neater and organized. At least for the first week! :)

This is my calendar area... word wall, calendar, poems, alphabet chart

This is my "desk area". I actually don't have a desk because it was taking up too much room so I ditched it. I am now using all that counter space as my "desk" and it actually has worked way better. It limits my space for clutter. Although that's hard to see here. Ha ha.

This picture also shows my behavior chart (green, yellow, orange, red)... I think I need something new.

This shows my reading table which also works as my Teacher's Aid area. She pulls students who need extra help while I work with them at their desk or teach whole group. This also shows my little kitchen, puzzle box, coat hooks (drove me nuts! I need a system for this!), and their book boxes above the hooks.

I had to post this because I really liked this alphabet :) Made by the kiddos and stayed up all year!

Okay so there you go. Just a small glimpse. I plan to go to my classroom this week so I will take pictures of the before and post as I start fixing my room up for the new kiddos. Let me know what you think and share any ideas you may have for me.