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Alphabet Knowledge and Phonological Awareness
Why is this important?
Issues to address for students with disabilities
Tools and strategies
(Note: All downloadable activities were created in Boardmaker (Win 5.0) and Classroom Suite and use graphics from these two libraries.)
Why is this important? 
- Alphabet knowledge deals with letter names while phonological awareness involves an understanding of letter sounds and the manipulation of sounds (i.e. individual letters, onsets and rimes) that children are exposed to in rhyme, alliteration, etc.
- These skills have been correlated with success in reading and writing
- The small number of studies done with children who have disabilities suggests that they need the same type of experiences as all children, but may need more explicit instruction with adaptations to accommodate for lack of speech and/or fine motor ability.
Issues to address for students with disabilities may include:
- Physically manipulating magnetic letters, stamps and other alphabet materials
- Participating in songs and rhymes
- Participating in activities involving oral manipulation of sounds in words
- Clapping or chanting to participate in activities involving single and multisyllabic words
Tools and strategies to address these issues:
Principle |
Tools and Strategies |
Provide children with accessible materials (e.g. magnetic letters, stamps) for independent exploration of letters of the alphabet. |
Attach materials to handles of different shapes
Use materials that are large and can be easily grasped
Use Velcro gloves for picking up materials
Adapt the activity to one of pointing rather than grasping and pair the child with someone who is able to do the manipulating. Children can use fingers, fists and even eye gaze to point to materials
Create electronic materials such as alphabet books
View an example
Download a sample: (Classroom Suite File Downloads)
Letter Identification
CBAlphabetLetterNames.xsd
Upper and Lower Case Letters
CBUpperLowerCaseActivity.xst |
Provide children with access to the letters of the alphabet for participation in activities. |
Use low tech alphabet displays and/or magnetic letters.
View an example
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Awareness of letter sounds and the sounds of letter patterns |
Principle |
Tools and Strategies |
Model sounding out letters and words "in your head" to teach children who are nonverbal how to participate in this type of activity.
Children who do not have the fine motor skills to manipulate low tech letters (wooden or magnetic letters) may be able to independently explore letter combinations on the computer.
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Provide onscreen alphabet displays with the letters arranged in abc, qwerty or frequency of use layout, depending on the access needs of the child.
View examples:
Alphabet for direct access
Alphabet for scanners
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Provide access to computer based activities with sound to provide children with voice feedback so that they hear the letter combinations they create. Experimenting with spelling provides increased awareness about letter sounds. |
See the early writing activities to download sample writing activities based on the stories. These activities encourage spelling with onscreen keyboards and voice feedback. |
Use activities that provide practice with onsets and rimes. This provides awareness about individual letter sounds and about letter patterns. |
This can be done with low tech materials or with voice feedback on a computer.
Download a sample:
Rhyming words (Goodnight Moon)
Low Tech Activity (Boardmaker File Downloads)
rhymingwords1
rhymingwords2
Computer Activity (Classroom Suite File Download)
GMRhymingWords
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Integration throughout the day |
Principle |
Tools and Strategies |
Embed awareness of letter sounds and letter names into all reading and writing activities |
Children often begin to put letters together in their own names. Using signing-in activities provides daily opportunities to reinforce letters and letter combinations in children's own names
Point out familiar letter names and sounds or letter patterns during story reading activities. |
Other Early Literacy Project Resources
Story Reading
Interaction During Story Reading
Early Writing
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