Each year to kick off summer break, I take my three little girls to the beach. They can spend hours playing in the waves and running along the sandy shores. This year they have tackled boogie-boarding, and I foresee some surf lessons in the future! 

As a mom and teacher, I am always looking to weave playful learning into our day. Our beach week is no exception! My girls love to play little reading games in the sand. I keep them short and sweet, which keeps them engaged and playful. We played so many different games that I may need to break it up into a 2-part blog post! 

Here are just a few of our favorites to play to review and practice some of our reading skills. 

1. Letter writing in the sand. I have found that students of all ages love to play with sand. Sand provides kinesthetic practice for pre-writing letter formation and letter practice. The drag, or pull, in the sand helps build connections for the learner through what we refer to as multisensory practice...

Today's blog is part 1 of a 3 part series on alphabet tasks you can incorporate into your lessons to build sequence knowledge and other literacy skills.

Hi friends. When we hear about letter knowledge, the first thing that may come to mind is the ability to say the alphabet letters, sing the ABCs, and recognize letters in print. However, there is so much more that we can do to promote letter knowledge in connection to reading and spelling using an alphabet arc.

What is an Alphabet Arc?

An alphabet arc is a tool used to build student knowledge of letter sequence and promote the learning of the many skills surrounding letter identification, reading, and spelling. These are easy to scaffold as students gain automaticity in their letter recognition and ordering skills. There are several ways to scaffold instruction and provide a gradual release of responsibility with alphabet arcs. Tools you will need for instruction with the alphabet arc: alphabet arc, plastic letters or...