For the first few weeks of school, we always focus on the basics such as how to be a friend, sharing, walking in a line, sitting on the carpet, writing our name, how to use our materials, and of course… LETTERS! Many students do not enter Kindergarten with a strong foundation in letter knowledge. So before we can even start learning how to read or sound out words, we need a deep dive into letter and sound recognition. If you’re in need of a fun and engaging way to do this in your room, I know you’ll love digital letter of the week activities!
Letter of the Week Prepares Students for the Year
As I mentioned, the first week of school, we’re focused on all things introduction! Aside from the basic behaviors and expectations at school, a key part of this in kindergarten is learning the alphabet and beginning sounds. During those first two weeks, I am definitely most tuned into routines and expectations. I teach kindergarten after all… If you know, you know!
We also do a quick introduction of letters such as signing the alphabet and talking about the letter at the beginning of everyone’s name. But after that, we always move into Letter of the Week activities to give students a better understanding of each letter and its beginning sound. This also helps set up a great foundation for reading and writing!
Letter of the Week gets a bad rap for being boring, but I promise it doesn’t have to be. And in fact, the Digital Letter of the Week Activities I use in my room are a huge hit! They make introducing and learning new letters a breeze and can be used in a variety of ways. Whether you’re looking for whole group lessons, small group slides, or activities students can complete independently, Letter of the Week has got your back!
What’s Inside the Letter of the Week Resources?
I have a separate resource in my Digital Letter of the Week Bundle for each letter. These digital activities are accessible using Google Slides. Inside each letter resource is a file filled with tons of great activities for teaching that letter specifically. You’ll find a daily lesson for each day along with a different activity to practice a specific skill.
We usually start each lesson as a whole group. There is a letter song for each day of the week in each letter resource, so this is a great activity to complete together. Then we will practice searching the room for that letter and making a list of words (or names) that start with that letter. Finally, students will complete the other daily activities in small groups, centers, or independently. This routine has become my go-to over the years since students enjoy it so much, and it ensures we touch on every letter in the alphabet!
Take a Closer Look at Daily Lessons
Day 1: Letter of the Week
On day one, we introduce the name of the letter and what it looks like. We also discuss that there is a capital and a lowercase form of the letter and compare how they are similar and different. I also like to identify which children in my class have a name that starts with that letter. We might also do a quick search in the classroom for that letter anywhere we can find it.
After our introduction and song, we build the letter with digital building bricks and then sort the letter using a slide that asks children to identify uppercase and lowercase letters. These activities are great because you can do them with your work group as an introduction, and then reuse them again during centers. It’s the perfect way to integrate some technology practice with your teaching methods.
Day 2: Letter of the Week
Day two starts out like day one with another letter song video. The videos that I included in this resource are super kid-friendly and fun, so everyone is always eager to participate! After the students watch the letter video they will get to build the letter with digital pattern blocks. We use real pattern blocks a lot in my room so my students love getting to test out the digital version of these tools as well!
After they build the letter with pattern blocks, they will complete an activity that asks them to find the uppercase letter in the slide and cover them with buttons. This is another activity we often use more than once. I model it up on the screen for students and then make this slide available for them to try on their own.
Day 3: Letter of the Week
Students will again begin the lesson with the letter of the day video and then build the letter with digital snap cubes. Today, we will focus on recognizing the lowercase letter of the week. Students will find all of the lowercase letters and cover them up with a fun button counter. By this part of the week, my students are usually getting the hang of the new letter and having a lot of fun answering the questions. I always look forward to the moment when those lightbulbs start going off left and right!
Day 4: Letter of the Week
Day four is when things start getting trickier! This is when we practice discriminating between capital and lowercase letters. We start off with a letter of the day song as a whole group. Then for the student activity of the day, they will find the capital and lowercase letters and cover up the uppercase and lowercase letters based on the code on the slide. They’ll have to look carefully to complete this one! Then the students will practice typing the letter of the week, both capital and lowercase. This is great keyboarding skill practice!
Day 5: Letter of the Week
We made it! Today is the final day of our letter of the week. After we watch our letter video students will begin their activities for the day. Today’s activities are an introduction to words that begin with the letter of the week. Students will practice reading words that begin with the letters by using picture clues. Then students will look at a variety of pictures and sort them to show which ones begin with the letter of the week.
Letter of the Week Activities at Your Fingertips
Now that’ve had a peek at each of the daily lessons, I’m sure you can see how these activities make introducing and working with new letters fun and easy! I love using these digital Letter of the Week activities first thing in the day, right before we break up into small groups. My students have come to expect this routine and I love watching them jump right in with our daily lesson!
Another great feature about these activities is that they can be assigned digitally as homework. If you’re trying to do away with paper in your classroom as much as possible, try assigning these as homework for your students! They can work on each slide throughout the week at home with their parents. Personally, these were a total lifesaver in my room when we had to implement distance learning for a while! If you’d like to try these out in your room, grab the FREE sample by entering your email below.
Inside you get a full week of activities for the letter M, so you can see how they work in your classroom. Whether you choose to use them for whole groups, small groups, centers, independent stations, or homework – you really can’t go wrong! No matter how you choose to use them, these activities make it fun and easy to learn new letters. Find them all here!
More Letter Activities
While I absolutely adore Digital Letter of the Week Activities, these are just the beginning in my room! I actually use hands-on learning versions of all of these lessons in my small groups and centers. These are great activities to help students build confidence in letter recognition at the beginning of the school year. Not to mention, they’ll help to set students up for success in their reading and writing lessons throughout the school year. You can learn more about the hands-on learning versions of these activities in these posts:
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