When I was a first-grade teacher, I started each day, from Day One, with a song about the letters and the sounds they make. It went like this:
I would point (with my handy-dandy long pointer) to the letter A and sing, “The ‘A’ says ā-ā-ā or ă-ă-ă.” Then I would point to the letter B and sing, “The ‘B’ says b-b-b.”
I would continue through the entire alphabet with this little song. The children picked up the little song very quickly and it started out each day in a fun and easy way.
Even after my kids knew all of the letters and the sounds they made, they did not want to give up “their” song. It only took a few minutes each day and it really helped the kids who were struggling with phonics. So we kept up our letter song every day while the tardy kids were coming in and the class was settling in for the day.
To hear a recording, please go to the Favorite First-Grade Letter Chant page (listed under ABCs).
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02 September 2008, 3:13 pm
It sounds good! Does it have the tune from a familiar song, so I can sing it?
03 September 2008, 10:55 am
Thanks for your comment, emptynester! I should have written that this was a chant rather than a song, so there’s not a familiar tune for it.
I recorded my son and me chanting it and posted it on a newly-created Favorite First-Grade Letter Chant page (listed under ABCs).
Good thing it’s a chant and not a song; you REALLY don’t want to hear me singing it! ;)