Talk About the Alphabet and Letters

Try to link a letter to the child’s life if you can. This helps children notice the letters that make up the words so they can sound out a word they don’t know later on.

Say things like:

• This is the letter A. Your name starts with the letter A!
• Here is the letter C. We see that letter a lot because it starts the word “Crest” on our toothpaste.
• This is a capital “T”, but this is a small “t”. They are the same letter but we can write them two different ways.

Suggested Book: Dr. Suess, ABC
Reason for Book Choice: Talks about the entire alphabet and shows kids what words start with that letter.

*Excerpted from Development of Emergent Literacy in English Language Learning Children Through Parent Shared Reading by Tanya L. Wren, Pathways Children Centre, Windsor, Ontario and Genese Warr-Leeper , University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario.

*Warr-Leeper, G., Wren, T., & K. Washington (2006). Facilitating emergent literacy skills in English language learners: The value of team work and collaboration. OSLA Connection Journal, 2(2), 12-16.