Letter Placement

I don't know about ya'll but I am so ready for some sunshine! Well guess what we had today?? SO much sunshine I had to close the blinds :) I love it!

Anywho...I wanted to share how I teach letter placement with my firsties. I use the giraffe, chicken, monkey method.

 A giraffe letter is one that goes all the way to the top of the line.

A chicken letter stays between the middle line and bottom line.

A monkey letter is one that starts at the middle line and swings down past the bottom line (like a tail).

I give each parent a copy of the guide at open house & explain how it works. I also have a big poster of the guide displayed in my classroom. Each Monday, I pick a new personal assistant to help run the class. (They get to run calendar, be the leader, sit in a special desk, pass out lunch cards & papers, help enforce good behavior, etc.)

I digress...this post is not about my personal assistant...it is about how I use the letter guide to reveal who is the personal assistant. Everyone stands up. I pull a stick from the Lucky Duck Bucket. I then have the students cover their last name and first initial up with their hands. Using the remaining letters in their first name, I give them clues using the different letter "animals". They love trying to figure out who gets to be the assistant and instead of just telling them (which is boring) this spices it up a bit.

Here's a picture of the big poster in my classroom:

I also uploaded the guide I send home w/ parents and the clip-art to put on the big poster! If you have any kiddos who need to work on handwriting and learning their letters this is just one of few methods that might help!