I The Insect Itches...i...i...i!

It's I day for my preschoolers, and we are learning about insects and, of course, the letter I.  We crafted, discovered, learned, imagined, read, and discovered some more!  

Insects

First we learned about insects.  Hands on learning can be tricky in the cooler weather, but flip over a rock and you'll  be surprised at what you find!  

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I Day Craft

We crafted with the Amazing Action Alphabet Activities  book, and the kids had a lot of fun making wings with their painted hands.  Another fun idea is make sock puppets out of these insects.  Attach an old sock to the back of I the Insect and the kids LOVE flying around the house with their new insect friend.

Teaching Letter Name

When using the Amazing Action Alphabet Flip Chart children usually pick up the letter sounds quite easily.  Learning the letter names can take a little more effort.  Here is a quick idea of how I like to teach the letter name I.  

I make a lowercase i and then I draw an eyeball on the top.  (get it...an "eye" for the letter name I)  This helps children remember the name of letter I as well as remembering the form of the lowercase letter.

Here's a video to show you how I teach the letter I. 

Reading

When using the Amazing Action Alphabet Beginning Reader you will notice on lesson 8 the letter /i/ sound is added to their list of sounds taught.  An effective way to help the child read this story is by reminding them that the letter I, when standing alone, is a "stop word."  All stop words do not sound out and must be memorized.  I remind them that when they come to a red light they "stop" and don't sound out. He/She needs to remember the word just by the way it looks.  (Take the word "the" for example.   This word doesn't sound out and consequently is a "stop word.")  I tell the child that the I, when standing alone, is another "stop word."  When we come to the I we say the I's name not the letter I's sound.  To help the child with this concept have them color all the I's RED symbolizing to stop and not say the letter's sound.  (Just for fun, in this story below, we colored all the words "am" yellow and all the words "sit" we underlined in green.  I found that coloring the same words that are used repeatedly in the story further helps the child's reading fluency.)

Letter Review Game

I couldn't wait to use a PIN I had saved for today!  Thanks Hands On as We Grow, this letter review game is a favorite!  

{image credit here)