Beginning reading and writing: introducing letters

A selection of tips and activities to help you introduce letters to young learners.

Before introducing letters, Consider how children learn their mother tongue.

Foundations - The sound system of English

Begin by teaching children to recognise, understand and produce the spoken word through games, songs and stories. Allow them to hear plenty of English from you, so try to maximise your English and minimise Mother Tongue in the classroom (you can also use videos, tapes, songs etc) so they become accustomed to the sounds of English. Encourage them to speak English by repeating you, joining in chants and songs and responding to simple questions. This foundation is vital to make meaningful links to the sound system of English. Learning sounds and letters without understanding any words is a purely mechanical and potentially off-putting experience for them. Young children will quickly learn English words if you introduce them with a picture that clearly shows the meaning or you can point to the object in the classroom e.g. chair, door, window.

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Introducing letters

It is possible to introduce letters after only a few hours of English classes as long as the children have already been introduced to English vocabulary – they understand the meaning of words and are able to recognise the word when it is spoken. Doing a little regularly and incorporating reading and writing into every lesson is a good idea. It gives the lesson variety and students are not overloaded.

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Some suggestions for introducing letters

• A TPR (Total Physical Response) action game. Call out action words like swim, jump and hop while doing the actions and get the children to copy the actions moving around the classroom as they are listening to the words. This type of activity ensures that children are learning/practising the words meaningfully and by being physically involved they are enjoying the game which makes the words more memorable. Getting children to move around in the lesson helps them to use up the energy they have or energise and focus them if they are sluggish or distracted.
• Revise new language from previous lesson e.g. children have to point at appropriate objects in the room as you call out the names. Children do pick up new words quickly, but they also forget quickly, so it’s a good idea to keep revising and recycling vocabulary. When they are able to remember the words, they will feel a sense of success and be motivated to learn more.
• Introduce 7 letters phonically (explained below).
• Practise the new letters along with others they have already learnt.
• Introduce a new song or chant and practise. Or introduce new vocabulary and practise.

It is possible to have a lot of input in every lesson. Don’t underestimate what children can learn and give them plenty of opportunities to pick up new language.

• Story: This is a great way to practise and/or introduce language meaningfully. See previous webpage on using stories with juniors for more ideas.
• A quiet game/task based on the story - drawing and colouring in. Allow for quiet activities to allow children to process the language, have a rest, and for you to monitor them and have one-to-one dialogues with them about what they are doing. For example if they are drawing a picture which includes target vocabulary of animals, you can say ‘that’s a lovely blue tiger or ‘what a funny dog’ etc: allowing them to hear the target language in a personalised context.

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Phonic approach

A phonic approach is far more useful initially than learning the names of the letters. ‘Knowing’ the alphabet, as in reciting the names of the letters in the correct order, is not useful if the children aren’t able to match the sound with the written letter.

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Phonics lesson

1. Prepare 26 flash cards, each one with a letter of the alphabet in lower case (it is also possible to buy ready-made letter flashcards, as well as cards that show common letter combinations such as ‘ow’, ‘ee’, ‘ea’ etc).
2. Show the letters one at a time (not all at once, introduce around 7 each time) and say the sound the letter makes. For the letter ‘c’ use the ‘k’ sound as this will be more useful initially.Let the children hear the sound and encourage them to repeat it.

Practise:

1. Hold up a letter and ask ‘Is this a /b/?’ or ‘What is this?'.
2. Pin the letters on the board and ask children to run up one at a time and ‘slap’ the letter you call out (phonically).
3. Ask the children if they know any words that begin with this sound. This is great for using what they already know and making the strong connection between words, letters and sounds.

Beginning reading and writing: recognition games

A selection of games to help young learners practise using letters and sounds.

Games are motivating and help make language memorable, so try to think of lots of fun ways to practise the new letters and sounds that you are introducing to the children. 

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Run and point

Pin up the letters that you have introduced to the class so far on the walls around the classroom at a height the children can reach. Nominate one student and say ‘Juan, run and point to /s/’. The child must look around and find the correct letter and run up to it and touch it or point to it. (Model the activity so that the children are clear about what they have to do).

You could then turn this into a race. Divide the class into two groups. They stand in two lines at the front of the class or down the centre of the room (it’s great if you can move furniture to the sides of the room). The children at the front of each line are the runners. You say the sound of the letter and the one to reach and touch it first is the winner. They then go to the back of the line and the next two children are the runners for the next letter. It is fine if other children in the team help the runner – it’s not a test but a means of helping children learn the sound-letter link.

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What begins with /b/?

Ask the question with all the letters the children have been introduced to. They can tell you any words they know that begin with that sound. This is great for them to make their own connections between the letter and the sound. You may be surprised at how many words they know – even ones you haven’t introduced in class.

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Hold up the letter

Get the children to make cards with the letters they know. Call out a sound and the children have to hold up the corresponding letter. This game allows all the children to join in and to focus on processing the sound-letter link without having to produce any language.

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Recognising the letters

Produce handouts like this:

n	h n m
o	a o d g

Children have to recognise which is the same letter and simply circle it or maybe colour over it. The letters are actually very similar in shape, so it’s important that children can differentiate between them.

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Copying

There are many good books that allow children to practise writing letters and words. They simply copy by following the arrows that show them which way their pen/pencil must move. After having done the air, body, plasticine activities it is good to move onto paper and allow the children lots of practice with holding a pencil and making the shapes. It is not easy to begin with and they need lots of practice to control their hand and follow the shape of the letter. In my experience children enjoy the task and concentrate hard on producing their letters.

Beginning reading and writing: learning words

A selection of tips and activities to help you introduce words to children.

It is a short journey from letters to words. In order to introduce words, show pictures and words together and sound out the phonics.

E.G. /c/ /a/ /t/ = cat

Move you finger under each letter as you sound it. Remember not all languages are written in the same direction. Encourage the children to read with you.

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Word building

Word tiles – get the children to make 26 letter tiles out of cardboard (old cereal boxes will do) by simply cutting out small squares and writing each letter on them. a

Each child has their letters spread out in front of them. Call out a word they have learnt e.g. cat and the first one to find the right tiles and put them in order must put their hand up. This encourages quick eye movement over the letters, recognition and letter combining.

Races – for fun you could challenge the children working in pairs or threes (to encourage cooperation and peer teaching) to make as many words as possible in a specified time.

As each child has their own letters, they can play with them at home or if they finish an activity early and see how many words they can make. Later they can move into building short sentences.

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Worksheets

You can produce easy worksheets like this:

What animal?
c_t
d_g
a_t

Children fill in the gaps. If you can add a picture of the word too: it will make it all the more meaningful.

atc =

gdo =

npe =

Children unjumble the letters to make the word. You could also do this on the board with children coming up and doing the activity one at a time.

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Word searches

These are good for children to recognise words within a jumble of other words. It makes them concentrate and ‘see’ words on the page. Children have to circle or colour the ten key words in the grid.

Animals

Children have to find the ten animal words in the box. You can either give them the ten words at the bottom to help them look. Or attach the pictures of the animals to the wordsearch.

BIRD, CAT, COW, DOG, ELEPHANT, FISH, LION, MOUSE, SNAKE, TIGER

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Crosswords

Children look at the picture, have to remember the English word and then have to write the word – spelling correctly – to fit it into the crossword. This worksheet is also a good record of vocabulary for them to keep and refer to.

Beginning reading and writing: internalizing letters

A selection of holistic activities to help give children a strong imprint of the shape of letters in their mind's eye.

Especially if the children’s own language has a different alphabet it is important that they become familiar with the shapes of letters and can begin manipulating them. The following holistic (they require using the body and space rather than pencil and paper) activities help to give children a strong imprint of the shape of letters in their mind’s eye.

Body letters

Ask children to make themselves into the shape of given letters ‘make yourself an ‘s’ etc’. Children contort their bodies into what they think the letter looks like.

You can model this easily by showing them an ‘x’ by standing with your feet apart and your arms in the air and wide apart. Or you can show a ‘T’ by standing with your feet together and your arms stretched out to the sides. Or ask children to make a letter and the whole class has to try to recognize what the letter is.

Tracing letters

Ask students to shut their eyes and with your finger trace a letter on their hand or back. They must tell you what this is. They can play the game in pairs. There may be giggles from the ticklish in the class, but the activity requires them to ‘see’ the letter in their mind’s eye and it’s great fun, too.

Air writing

Before writing letters on paper, get all the students to stand up and you stand at the front of the class with your back to them. Using your writing hand draw a big letter in the air saying its sound at the same time. Get the students to copy you, moving their arms to form the letter in the air.

Letter sculptures

Give out plasticine (soft modelling clay) to all the children (half-cooked spaghetti works too, but is messier). Ask the children to make certain letters (or words). They have to concentrate on the shape of the letter and its proportions.

The children can choose their own letter and make a big one out of plasticine or card, then stick it on a large piece of card. Give out magazines and newspapers and let the children look and find either words or pictures of things that begin with the same letter. They cut these out and create a collage with their big letter. Decorate the classroom with these posters.

10 Habits for successful English language learning

10 Habits for successful English language learning

Learning any language can be a challenge and we have to accept that making progress takes time and effort. To be a really successful language learner though you need to make the new language part of your life and part of what you do each day.

Here are some tips to help you build good learning habits and make your lessons more productive and to make English language learning part of your life.

1. Plan your learning

Learning any language doesn’t just happen. You need to make time for it and plan how and when you fit it into your life. Small regular chunks of study tend to work better than less frequent long chunks, so it’s not necessary to have lot of time, just try to spend five to ten minutes each day to review your vocabulary or do an exercise. This along with a regular lesson with a teacher should soon help to improve your level.

2. Use the language for something you enjoy

You will be able to learn more quickly if you actually use the language as you learn it. There are lots of ways you can do this, but one of the best is to use it to do something you enjoy. Whether your hobby is travel, sport, music, fashion, art or even reading the news, try to do it in English. Find an online English magazine or website where you can find out more about your hobby or interest and choose a specific time each week when you combine developing your interest with improving your English. You can find lots of free online magazines at: http://issuu.com/

3. Listen to songs

One of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to improve your listening skills is by listening to songs in the language you are studying. You can find lots of music videos in English on YouTube or use services such as Spotify https://www.spotify.com on your computer or mobile phone. Listen on your phone or audio player while you commute, while doing household chores or even while you are at work and soon you’ll start identifying new words and expressions as your listening skills improve.

4. Watch films and TV

Watching films and shows in English is a great way to improve your level. When you watch films you get exposure to a wide range and variety of accents and vocabulary. If you watch contemporary films and TV shows you also hear the kinds of authentic English expressions that are used in everyday conversation. Film can also show you a lot about the culture of the language you are studying and how people interact within that culture. This is particularly important if you are thinking of visiting an English speaking country where some cultural aspects of communication and life may be very different from your own. You can find lots of English films and TV clips on YouTube just by search ‘English movies’ or ‘English TV shows’.

5. Don’t worry about mistakes

Everyone tells us that mistakes are part of learning and that is especially true when learning a language. The best learners take risks with the language and try to express themselves even when they don’t know the exact words or grammar. A good teacher will be able to understand what you are trying to say and then they can help you express yourself more accurately. If you don’t make those mistakes then they can’t help you improve.

6. Record and listen to yourself

Good language learners are self-critical and try to assess their own level of improvement. You can do this by regularly recording yourself and listening back to your recordings. There are lots of ways you can do this. You can use the webcam on your computer, or the video camera on your mobile phone. Record yourself saying a short text or talking about a topic. Once you have made your recording, watch it immediately and think about how you can improve it. Record it again and then watch and compare to your first recording to see if it is better. Save the best of the two recordings and then watch them again a week or a month later and record yourself again and see if you can improve your recording. Keep doing this and save all your old recordings and after a few months you should be able to see some clear improvement.

7. Try to imitate

Everyone has an accent, even in their first language and only a tiny minority of people are able to eradicate this in the language they are learning. However, it’s good to try to train your ear to hear different accents and to try to imitate them. You can do this by listening to very short extracts from audio or video and then trying to copy them. Try to copy the expression of the voice too, if the speaker is angry, sad or happy. You don’t have to do this perfectly, but listening carefully and trying to hear how the different accents sound can really help to train your ear to hear more accurately.

8. Take notes

Most students go to class with a notebook and when they finish the class the notebook is still empty. Make sure that you use your notebook during your lesson. Organize the way you take notes. Have a specific part of the page where you add new words you have learned during the class and use another part of the page for grammar notes. When you add new words to the vocabulary part of the notebook be sure to add information about the word such as a translation, the part of speech (whether it is a noun or verb, etc.), make a note of any specific pronunciation features such as silent letters or sounds that you find difficult and remember to add an example sentence that contains the word.

9. Revise your vocabulary

Increasing your vocabulary is one of the fastest ways to improve the level of your English. In order to remember the new words you learn during the your English lessons, you must review them regularly. Research shows that you will remember more if you review the words you learn at regular intervals after the lesson. Start by checking through new words 10 minutes after each lesson, then 1 hour, than 1 day and then 1 week. This will help you to remember more of your vocabulary.

10. Share your goals

People learn languages for many reasons, whether it’s to study abroad, for work or to travel, and the purpose for learning can impact on how you approach learning and what you study. If you tell your teacher why you are learning they should be able to help you and adapt their lessons to make sure you reach your goals more quickly.

I hope you find these tips useful and soon start to develop some rewarding study habits.