Letter Of The Week?

M

MissCocoPugs

Rookie
Okay... I have been teaching a 3 year old full-day class for several years and now I am teaching a half day Preschool class in a week or so. I've been reading that LOTW is not developmentally appropriate because letters should be integrated all the time and not just focusing on one... Any thoughts on this?
 
Our district does not allow letter of the week. At first it was a difficult change for me to understand, but now that I've read more research on it and seen how my students have progressed not using it, I totally agree. We begin with letters that are most important to the students, like their first names. We use environmental print, environmental word walls, and studying friends names to begin learning letters and sounds. I do use Heidj Songs to teach and I do 1 song per week, only because its easier for them to learn one letter at a time. Looking back, I don't believe there is any academic advantage to placing cotton balls on a 'C' or buttons on a 'B'.
 
I have to admit to doing both.

I integrate learning letters into everything we do, and I do a lot more writing than I did in the past. We start with names and environmental print like the previous poster. However, I still highlight a letter a week - maybe stuck in old traditions of doing al alphabet book, cooking projects, etc. but I also think it doesn't hurt as long as you don't teach letters completely in isolation.
 
I loved zoophonics, but I do not like the letter of the week idea. We thought about the letters as part of a system, so we learned names and stop signs and stuff. We didn't do "putting cotton balls on the letter C" because it was very teacher directed and busy work. We did focus on learning the signal that went with a letter a week....but the character was chosen based on the animals ability to fit into our "lesson" not in order or based on number of curves.
 
I used to do LOTW when I worked with 4-5 year olds and it was honestly fun. I loved coming up with books and activities for it but then I stopped doing it because I was working with toddlers more.

I think I'm going to stay away from LOTW. I want to make sure I'm teaching what I need to to get them K-Ready but they are still children and need the developmentally appropriate practices.

I saw on another website about using word walls (I was told I wasn't allowed to do them with 3 year olds because they were too "young" and then I got written up for not doing it...) and I plan on taking their pictures the first day (which will be a Wednesday) and having them ready by Monday. That way they'll have them up for "who's here" and for the word wall.

Thanks for the advice! :)
 
I think the reasoning behind LOTW being inappropriate is because learning letters by rote is something more suited to an older mindset that is learning to recognize the "code" of the alphabet. At the preschool level, we are trying to help children understand that literacy exists. It is all around them. It means something. This sense of learning is deeper and more about understanding it's meaning. Basically it is the reverse of the learning the alphabet first and literacy/language later. It's like learning to cook by experimenting and then as you progress, you learn the importance and meaning of measurement, in terms of quantity and time.
 
I have always done LOTW, but to tell you the truth, I'm tired of it. I choose my own curriculum.
LOTW has been very successful for me because it creates a nice rounded lesson plan.
For example, Letter Aa...sounds like...is shaped like...write it, decorate it, feel it, smell it (apples) cooking, seeds, planting.
Aa for animals...nature studies of animals that begin with letter Aa.
Doing this type of thing with every letter of the alphabet makes for a super, well rounded lesson.
I'm o.k. with it.
 
LOTW was never DAP. I know many will disagree. Take a look at Piaget and you will learn why. (I am a theory based teacher.)
 
Grammy, that is why I left LOTW....it was dictating the lesson plan. I couldn't do deeper units or topics the kids were interested in because of the letter that had to get covered. I do let seasons take a bit to much of a front seat....but perhaps that will be the next thing I rework.

I do slide the letters in, it isn't that we don't cover them....I just don't hold one up a week.
 
For me, it takes more effort or maybe just more preparation to teach without lotw. I find that I am much more conscious of making sure I have a print rich environment and I do many more games and activities with letters than I used to. I think when I did lotw, I relied heavily on that curriculum specifically. Holding up the letter, singing a song about that letter, doing a letter craft, etc... I think now that I don't have that to fall back on, I take a lot more time talking about real world literacy and learning letters in context.
 
Yep, me too Preschool0929....and I noticed as soon as I gave up the LOTW plan...they kids took to the letters so much more avidly.
 
WaProvider said:
Grammy, that is why I left LOTW....it was dictating the lesson plan. I couldn't do deeper units or topics the kids were interested in because of the letter that had to get covered. I do let seasons take a bit to much of a front seat....but perhaps that will be the next thing I rework.

I do slide the letters in, it isn't that we don't cover them....I just don't hold one up a week.
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying, but realize that I don't let the letter of the week dictate what I teach. I do a few "Aa" activities, but we cover lots of other things, too. Just because our letter is Aa, doesn't mean that we can't do anything else that is fun. My teaching is mostly impromptu.
One thing I like is our alphabet tree. I have large foam letters hanging from the tree. I ask the kids to find any particular letter they want to, thus covering more than the letter A.
We look and talk about how the letters are all different shapes, find the letters in their name, etc/
I like the individual letters to get a bit more focus because kids soak it up if they can associate the letter with an object, such as an apple, or pumpkin, etc. That leads to more discussion beyond what the main letter of the week might be. We branch out into many other areas all the time.
I have a large book of all the animals of the world. They love to hear what animals names begin with each letter. At the same time, we discuss any animal that they find interesting or have questions about.
Really, there is no right or wrong way to teach the alphabet, as long as we do it.
 
Sure, Grammy I didn't mean you were doing it wrong. I just meant I needed the topic (usually child chosen) to be lead and I, myself had to walk away when I went more emergent because the letter and the children were not in agreement about the tasks that needed to be done.

If folks here use LOTW....how do you decide the letter? I have heard Order, Childrens' names, Number of curves and Straight lines and Frequency of the letter in the language as reasons for specific letter orders.....what do you all chose?

I chose to do the zoophonic animal that fit into what ever the topic of discussion was...it was a stretch sometimes...but I got there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top