Each week, the teachers at our school continue to focus on a letter of the week. This isn’t the only time that the children will explore a given letter but it is an opportunity to give a letter some special attention. This week the focus was on the letter P!
I noticed that focusing on the letter of the week is also a time when children whose name starts with that letter get a little extra recognition. When I go into a classroom and ask the children to tell me what letter they are talking about the children immediately begin to tell me if their name starts with that letter…
As we explore the letter of the week, we want to make sure the sound of the letter is somehow concretely emphasized. For example, while the children are painting their letter P’s  I can say, “You are painting pink polk-a-dots with a pencil on your letter P!”  This simple activity gives lots of opportunity for physically engaging children in an activity that connects the sound of the letter with the shape of the letter.
Playing with a polk-a-dotted paper cup also gives opportunities to emphasize the sound of the letter P…
How about we paint the paper cup too!
And make some paper cup piggy puppets!
And don’t forget that P is for Pepperoni Pizza too!
The letter P is actually a fun letter because there are so many concrete and tangible ways to explore the sound of the letter.
Now when we get to a letter like “X” or “Q”, it is always a bit more challenging…