
Reading Love with
Mrs. Hernandez
Mastering alphabet letter names and sounds helps students develop automaticity. Although reading science has shown that letter identification is not essential for reading development, the ability to know letter shapes is a strong predictor of reading success. Therefore, the practice and automaticity knowledge of both letter names and sounds are essential reading foundation skills. In my class I use them in my daily fluency routine. They can also be used to help develop tracking skills. The boxes and dots serve as a scaffold for primary students and any student who may be struggling with this skill.
These pages can be used independently or be grouped together to create a fluency folder for letter identification and letter sound fluency for each child. Students can use these independently, with partners, in small groups and whole group. In my classroom, I introduce these folders in small group from the very beginning of the school year. Students are shown how to use them and are taught their purpose.
After about 3-4 weeks of using them in small group I will then use them in whole group as part of our whole class fluency routine while modeling and closely monitoring students. Once they are experts, I gradually allow students to work on these with partners. I have found that these folders to be a non-negotiable part of my school year and a key to my student’s letter ID and letter sound knowledge success.