Competency 003

Alphabetic Principle

The teacher understands the importance of the alphabetic principle for reading English and provides instruction that helps students understand the relationship between spoken language and printed words.

The Beginning Teacher:

• A. Understands the elements of the alphabetic principle (e.g., letter names, letter sequence, graphophonemic knowledge, the relationship of the letters in printed words to spoken language) and typical patterns of students’ alphabetic skills development, and recognizes that individual variations occur with students. 
  • What does this mean?
    • The Alphabetic Principle feeds into the development of the early elements of the STR as well as oral language development. Understanding of graphemes, or letters, is key here. Per the norm, students will potentially be at different stages of development, so it is important to meet them on their level and build up from there. 
  • How do you apply this?
    • Create lessons starting from the basics and understand that some students will have certain skills grasped quickly and others may need assistance. Remember to challenge students that are ahead of the curve to think critically while creating activities for the others that nourish alphabetic learning. 
• B. Understands that not all written languages are alphabetic, that many alphabetic languages are more phonetically regular than English and that students’ literacy development in English is affected by these two factors.
  • What does this mean?
    • Every language is different in the way the letters or symbols look, the sounds they make, the order of symbols, and phonetics of said language. A student from a non English speaking home may potentially struggle in English literacy development because of these factors. The goal is to help students see the elements of the English language and how it works, and maybe it’ll help ELLs think about the elements of their native language and draw connections.
  • How do you apply this?
    • Share elements of a few different languages. Ask students what they notice and think about the letters or symbols. And activity that can be done is Wingding Names-Have the student’s names printed in Wingdings font (which is known for being just symbols) along with their name under each corresponding symbol. Have the students partner up or get in groups and compare their Wingding names with each other. Encourage them to ask what’s the same and what’s different.
• C. Selects and uses a variety of instructional materials and strategies, including multisensory techniques, to promote students’ understanding of the elements of the alphabetic principle and the relationship between sounds and letters and between letters and words, in accordance with the STR.
  • What does this mean?
    • Students don’t learn with just being told; they have to be allowed to internalize what is being taught. The student should be allowed to play and experiment with what they are being taught. This is how students make connections with the look of the letters, the sounds of the letters, the look of words, and the sound of words.
  • How do you apply this?
    • Allow the student to practice finger writing letters or words in the air, in the sand, or in shaving cream while making the sounds of the letters. This is a combination of kinesthetic learning and vocalization.
• D. Uses formal and informal assessments to analyze individual students’ alphabetic skills, monitor learning and plan instruction, in accordance with the STR.
  • What does this mean?
    • Assessments are key in instruction; not to give out a grade, but to see student development. Informal assessments will be used daily to monitor where the students are with their skills and help fuel the next lesson. Formal assessments will be used to see the progress the students have made with their learning.
  • How do you apply this?
    • Use an informal assessment such as asking a student to write a letter and ask them the sound it makes. For a formal assessment, have a short assessment where the teacher asks a question such as “What letter makes the /z/ sound?” and have the student write the letter that they believe it is.  
• E. Understands how to foster collaboration with families and with other professionals to promote all students’ development of alphabetic knowledge.
  • What does this mean?
    • In its simplest terms, this is where teachers and parents work together to create and continue personalized learning outside the classroom for the student.This can be as quick as a small game at home practicing the alphabet sounds or a parent asking their child to come up with as many words as they know that begin with the /p/ sound. 
  • How do you apply this?
    • A picture sort can be used to help a student recognize beginning sounds of a word. E.g. A picture of a Ball, Bat, or Bird being sorted under a column with the letter B on top.

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Questions:

1. What are some other multi-sensory activities to help build letter knowledge?
2. How would one introduce other language letters in a lesson?
3. What are some letter activities besides letter sorts, that can be used at home?
4. How would one help a student who is struggling with letter knowledge? 
5. For ELLs, how would one teach letter to sound relations without it interfering with the student’s first language knowledge?
6. When would intervention for writing letters incorrectly be appropriate?
7. Would it be a point of concern if the student does not recognize the letters in their name? When would intervention be necessary?
8. What is a method of drawing connection between letters and letter sounds for ELLs?
9. Could word sorts and picture sorts be used in succession of each other?
10. When would a whole class reteach over alphabetic knowledge be necessary?