When I worked at a K - 2 school, I and a couple colleagues worked regularly with a small group of kindergarteners who were behind their peers in the categories or letter ID and letter sounds. So, we explicitly taught them the shapes, names, and sounds of the letters of the alphabet - particularly the ones with which they struggled. Though at times, the work we did could be monotonous and felt like drill, we did try to make the activities as entertaining as we could. We created games, watched videos, created coloring sheets, and more.
A podcast I just listened to, from the Voice of Literacy featuring Dr. Shayne Piasta, discussed alphabet learning and early literacy. She suggested that in addition to explicit instruction, alphabet learning can take place as a part of other literacy learning, like phonological awareness. If I could go back, I would have liked to have tried to take some of the drill out of our instruction.
Another aspect that was touched upon was the instruction parents can incorporate as a part of their time reading to their children. Parents don't usually include instruction on letters and print features when they read a story, but it is suggested they could without diminishing too greatly the enjoyment of the book. As a soon-to-be parent and teacher, I excited to learn so much about early literacy!
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