Letters, Sounds, and Words
The learning of letter names, letter sounds, and words is the main academic focus of our kindergarten year. We will learn all 26 letters of the alphabet, and talk about both the "long" and "short" sounds of each of the five vowels. In addition, we will learn 40 sight words (also called "red heart" words). One of the biggest skills we will learn this year is how to take our knowledge of letters and sounds, and apply that knowledge to read and write simple (and, sometimes, not so simple) words. In this section, I will link you to the order of letters and sounds we will learn, the sight words (red heart words) we will learn, and some great videos, songs, and resources to help your child become proficient with these letters and sounds.
Letters We Will Learn
This year, we will learn the letters Mm, Tt, Aa, Ss, Pp, Cc (hard sound, as in "cactus"), Ii, Bb, Nn, Rr, Dd, Kk, Ff, Oo, Hh, Ll, Gg (hard sound, as in "goat"), Ee, Ww, Jj, Xx, Uu, Vv, Zz, Yy, Qq (qu). Please note that we will take a week after learning letter Ll to work on "consonant blends" such as "fl", "tr", "pl", etc. I will TRY to remember to come highlight each letter as we learn it. Also, please note that I call letters we have learned our "Lightbulb Letters", the letters we should know as quickly as turning on a lightbulb!
Our Sight Words (Red Heart Words)
As with the letters, I will try to remember to come highlight letters as we learn them in class. Sometimes we will speed ahead, and sometimes we will slow down; we typically spend two weeks learning a group of letters, but some weeks we have two words, and some weeks we may have as many as five. I try to spread them out more so that students do not get overwhelmed :) Also, please note that, with the exception of "am", these are words that your child cannot read accurately by saying the letter sounds we learn. This is why these are "sight" words, words your child needs to know how to read without sounding out. It is also why words like 'red' are not on the list when yellow and blue are. "Red" can be figured out by saying the appropriate letter sounds when "decoding" the word.
That said, here are our kindergarten "red heart words"
I, am, the, little, to, a, have, is, we, my, like, he, for, me, with, she, see, look, they, you, of, are, that, do, one, two, three, four, five, here, go, from, yellow, green, blue, what, said, was, where, come
And, since they give them to us in our teachers manual, here are words your child should be able to "decode" (sound out) at this point in the year. We have used all of these words in text, classroom review, etc. I will try to remember to update these words weekly. These are great words to review with your child to practice word blending.
am, at, mat, Tam, sat, Sam, pat, map, sap, tap, Pam, Pat, cap, cat, Cam, Mac, it, pip, sip, tip, pit, sit, Tim, Pip, Tip, bam, bat, bib, bin, bit, cab, nab, tab, ban, Bim, Bin, Tab, Tib, nap, nip, an, ban, can, man, pan, tan, in, pin, tin, Nat, Nan, ram, ran, rap, rat, rib, rim, rip, Ric, Rin, Rip, Rap, dab, did, dim, dip, ad, bad, dad, mad, pad, sad, bid, rid, Dan, Tad, Sid, kid, kin, kiss, kit, Kim, Kip, Kit, fad, fan, fat, fib, fin, fit, if, Fab, Fif, Tif, on, mob, rob, sob, nod, pod, rod, sod, mom, bop, mop, pop, top, cot, dot, not, pot, rot, tot, Bob, Rob, Rod, Mom, Tom, Don, Ron, Dot
That said, here are our kindergarten "red heart words"
I, am, the, little, to, a, have, is, we, my, like, he, for, me, with, she, see, look, they, you, of, are, that, do, one, two, three, four, five, here, go, from, yellow, green, blue, what, said, was, where, come
And, since they give them to us in our teachers manual, here are words your child should be able to "decode" (sound out) at this point in the year. We have used all of these words in text, classroom review, etc. I will try to remember to update these words weekly. These are great words to review with your child to practice word blending.
am, at, mat, Tam, sat, Sam, pat, map, sap, tap, Pam, Pat, cap, cat, Cam, Mac, it, pip, sip, tip, pit, sit, Tim, Pip, Tip, bam, bat, bib, bin, bit, cab, nab, tab, ban, Bim, Bin, Tab, Tib, nap, nip, an, ban, can, man, pan, tan, in, pin, tin, Nat, Nan, ram, ran, rap, rat, rib, rim, rip, Ric, Rin, Rip, Rap, dab, did, dim, dip, ad, bad, dad, mad, pad, sad, bid, rid, Dan, Tad, Sid, kid, kin, kiss, kit, Kim, Kip, Kit, fad, fan, fat, fib, fin, fit, if, Fab, Fif, Tif, on, mob, rob, sob, nod, pod, rod, sod, mom, bop, mop, pop, top, cot, dot, not, pot, rot, tot, Bob, Rob, Rod, Mom, Tom, Don, Ron, Dot
Letter Sound Songs
Some of our favorite tools for review in the classroom are letter and sound songs/videos. We have a great time singing and moving along to these great songs! Follow the links to practice at home. Each of the links will take you to a "symbaloo" page, with links to each individual letter or activity. These have been curated by some amazing kindergarten teachers, and the videos are broadcast in "safe tube", without ads or anything inappropriate popping up.
Letter Songs from HaveFunTeaching: These model the letter name, letter sound, words using the letter, and how to print the letter. The video of the entire alphabet is great review and practice!
Letter Songs from StoryBots (These are good for working on words that begin with a certain letter, and for building vocabulary. The students LOVE them).
We do not use all of these, but here are some great alphabet games which may help your child improve his or her letter/sound knowledge.
Letter Songs from HaveFunTeaching: These model the letter name, letter sound, words using the letter, and how to print the letter. The video of the entire alphabet is great review and practice!
Letter Songs from StoryBots (These are good for working on words that begin with a certain letter, and for building vocabulary. The students LOVE them).
We do not use all of these, but here are some great alphabet games which may help your child improve his or her letter/sound knowledge.