It has been said that “the first two years of formal schooling are critical in children’s literacy development”. This is where they really get a grasp on language, and learn that words are made up of sounds and that these sounds are represented by letters.
In Australia, teachers generally use the Carnine Order for teaching the alphabet.
Why do it in this order? Because the letters that are visually and auditorily similar are seperated. This is so there is little to no confusion. Upper case letters that do not look the same as their lower case letters are introduced after most lower case letters have been introduced. More useful and frequently used letters are introduced before less useful letters (Carnine, et al., 2006).
Based on checklists from the textbook Teaching Children with Reading Difficulties I have created some printable checklists that you can do at the beginning, and throughout the year to record your students’ knowledge of letters and sounds. There will also be checklists for important letter combinations, such as consonant diagraphs, double consonant diagraphs, initial consonant blends and silent letters. So check out my store to download your pack of letter sound checklists today!
