The first acquaintance of children and adults who begin to learn the language occurs with a cheerful song about the alphabet. Usually, those who quit classes many years ago only remember her from the school curriculum.
Why is it important to know letters? Firstly, it gives an understanding of the difference between vowels and consonants, because the articles "a" and "an" will soon be used. Secondly, the first dialogue and acquaintance, as a rule, helps us to use the knowledge of letters and spelling for a detailed explanation of the name and surname, for example, in a hotel.
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Knowing the letters will help children realize that the Russian language is not at all like English. Gradually, the pronunciation of seemingly the same letters will be different. However, it won't do much if you don't focus on the sounds. As you can see, everything is interconnected, and one topic leads to another. There are already a lot of rules and exceptions here, so we have prepared interesting activities for children that will help avoid banal cramming. Let's start with exercises that are relevant for elementary school children.
Tasks for the English alphabet for grade 1
Usually first-graders cannot boast of discipline and perseverance, so this fact significantly complicates the task of teachers. You have to not only explain the task, but also get the students interested in its implementation. The game form at the age of 6-8 helps to develop a keen interest in learning and clearly demonstrate that it is not so boring.
A few simple yet effective things can make a big difference in your lesson:
- emotions;
- praise;
- gestures;
- intonation;
- small prizes as an incentive;
- competitions and competitions.
Since few begin to learn the language from kindergarten, as a rule, the first acquaintance begins only in the first grade. Consider several options for how to present the alphabet to children and how to repeat it for better memorization.
Song
On the Internet, a large number of songs on this topic have been collected. However, we recommend using only the simplest ones in the first lesson. Since children do not yet have a vocabulary, there is no need to overload them with unnecessary information. Let it be just a cheerful and perky melody where you will sing abcd... together with the students. It has been proven that rhyming or even melodic repetition of phrases at some familiar pace has a positive effect on memory. Learning goes easier with music!
On this channel you will be able to find a lot of nice videos to sing along in class. Use a fun song with gestures to add some physical activity and laughter to the lesson. Children will show the learned letters with their hands and do it faster and faster to the music.
Missing letter
Once the children remember everything in a certain order, it's time to complicate the task a bit and teach them to distinguish between letters, even if the usual order is broken. Instead of a space, the student needs to name the loss. You can start the task like this: “Children, some letters have escaped from the alphabet, help me catch them.”
A ___ C D E F__ __ H I K L M
O P __ R S ___ U V W X Y __
Flashcards
Use bright pictures to give examples. In this case, children replenish their vocabulary and name the letter with which the given word begins. Distribute the cards in their usual order. However, next time we recommend to complicate and pull them out randomly. So they get used to the fact that the letters do not always follow each other as in the song.
Words for flashcards:
- apple;
- bus;
- cake;
- dog;
- elephant;
- fish;
- guitar;
- house;
- insect;
- jacket;
- key;
- lamp;
- mouse;
- nose;
- orange;
- pencil;
- queen;
- ruler;
- scarf;
- umbrella;
- van;
- window;
- excursion;
- xylophone;
- you;
- zebra.
English alphabet exercises for grade 2
In the second grade, children are already used to the load, so the tasks become a little more difficult. They focus on spelling and reading. Students need attention and diligence. But in order for them not to get bored, set a timer and limit them in time. Some tasks are best done together, calling students one by one to answer so that no one is left behind.
Find b and d
Young students often confuse b and d, however, this is mainly due to inattention. Everyone can complete such a task on their own at a desk, and you will only warm up the excitement by mentioning the limited time. Prepare a sticker or sticker for someone to count the number of b and d in the sequence.
b b d b b d d d b d b d d d b d b b d b d b b b d b
b=
d=
Find p and q
In continuation of the previous task, you can continue the round up to 3 wins. This way, the kids can have some fun in class while still being attentive.
How many p and q you see here?
q p q q p p q q q p q q p q q p q p q p q q p p q q
p=
q=
Find m and n
Circle the letter m, and underline the letter n. How many m and n in the sequence?
m n m n n m n n m m m n m n m m n n m m n n m n m
n=
m=
Lowercase and uppercase
Before the guys begin to write beautifully and clearly in their copybook, it is important to give them a good example. Explain what small and large letters are for. Call everyone to the board to connect lowercase and uppercase.
| A | f |
| E | b |
| H | d |
| J | g |
| I | c |
| F | l |
| C | h |
| K | a |
| G | e |
| B | i |
| L | K |
| D | j |
| M | n |
| P | o |
| Q | s |
| R | t |
| S | q |
| U | r |
| V | w |
| W | x |
| Y | z |
| Z | y |
| X | v |
| N | m |
| T | u |
| O | p |
Before and after
Ask the class to help you remember the letters that come before or after the ones presented. Such a chaotic order will significantly complicate the task.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| C | F |
| I | J |
| L | S |
| Q | V |
| Y | D |
| T | H |
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Find vowels and consonants
Ask the children what vowels and consonants they remember. Let the vowels be underlined with colored markers first, and then, in a different color, the consonants.
| V | H | J |
| A | E | O |
| G | I | B |
| U | M | Z |
| L | N | Q |
| K | D | R |
| Y | C | W |
Write the words in alphabetical order
And in order to consolidate and repeat the vocabulary, place the definitions in a mess or write them out on the board. It is necessary to change the position of the words so that the first letters with which they begin are in alphabetical order.
- Ball, doll, cat, fox, elephant, tiger, hare.
- Apple, lemon, banana, kiwi, orange, grapes, tomato.
- Green, yellow, purple, pink, blue, black, white.
- Happy, silly, upset, angry, mad, unhappy.
- Big, small, short, thin, tall, high.
Alphabet exercises for grade 3
Schoolchildren 9-10 years old are already able to solve riddles and listen carefully to the teacher in the lesson. Here, learning involves a combination of alphabet and vocabulary. Choose depending on the topic, or arrange a test lesson at the end of the term to make sure the class remembers everything well.
Missing letter
This task is not much different from the one we considered for first graders. However, here you can add an additional focus on knowing basic nouns on topics such as animals, colors, numbers, rooms, or things.
Task: write the first letters.
_us, _rain, _ar;
_pple, _range, _ineapple;
_at, _lephant, _ebra, _hino;
_uler, _cissors, _raser, _en;
_bale, _upboard, _ardrob, _ink, _indow.
Secret code
The younger school will be delighted with the riddles. Say that they left you a secret message, but you cannot make out what is written there. Each letter is assigned a number. And the message contains only a combination of numbers, which must be decrypted according to the table. Each word is encrypted with a separate code, after the guys understand everything, they will be able to read and guess the riddle.
| A=1 | L=13 | P=3 | S=25 | X=5 | J=18 | R=7 |
| I=9 | B=2 | M=12 | Y=4 | G=26 | Q=6 | W=14 |
| E=20 | H=8 | C=17 | F=21 | O=23 | T=11 | |
| K=16 | N=19 | V=24 | D=10 | U=15 | Z=22 |
14 8 1 11
8 1 25
1
19 20 17 16
2 15 11
19 23
8 20 1 10
Riddle: What has a neck but no head? Answer: bottle.
Ladder
Check each student's vocabulary. Choose a letter and ask them to come up with words for this letter, but you need to arrange them from the minimum number of letters to the maximum.
C
Car
Circus
Cupboard
Ask the children to write words that begin with: a, h, b, d, r.
Alphabet assignments for kids
For preschoolers, English letter memorization exercises should be more original and creative. And a large number of repetitions aloud will make the memorization process easy and unpretentious. Activities for first graders are also applicable here. It all depends on ability.
- Show me
After the little students have memorized the arrangement of the letters, it's time to get creative. In this task, students will be able to use their imagination to silently show what the teacher has told them. They must make what they heard with gestures or hands in order to explain to classmates what the teacher told them. - Throw the letter
Prepare the ball and tell the kids you forgot the alphabet. Students need to throw the ball to each other by calling the letters in the correct order. For advanced preschoolers, you can complicate the rules of the game. Ask the name of the letter to say the word that begins with it. - Stop
abcd... is melodiously sung Periodically stop the song and ask the children to show the card with the letter they hear. If the guys have a small vocabulary, they can name the word by letter.
Online exercises for adults and children
Now all people are so accustomed to "gadgets" that they cannot tear themselves away from them even during training. It's really convenient. In any free time, you can practice spelling. We have selected for you some online puzzles that are simple and intuitive to use, and also give excellent results with repeated repetition.
- Vowels and consonants
Convenient online task in different formats for understanding vowels and consonants. It is necessary to correctly distribute the letters into 2 columns. - Put words in the right order
As we have already mentioned, alphabet is a great addition to the vocabulary revision. Repeat the basic names for topics where you need to put the letters in such order to make a word. - Word search
Find hidden definitions to practice spelling and memorize new ones. In such an online service, you can first add the learned words, and then print and search for them in the text yourself.
English alphabet games
Children's interests change with age. However, the love for games remains almost until the end of school. Children have to focus on difficult things like grammar for a long time. So games add a share of excitement and adventure to the learning process.
For example, to check how the student remembered the topic covered, play "Yes / No". Use any flashcards with letters and words he already knows. The teacher's task is to name another word and look at the student's reaction, whether he agrees or not. For example, you show a card with a cat, but name the animal dog. Accordingly, the student disagrees, names C on the card and says the appropriate cat.
Or ask the kids in kindergarten to mold the letters of their names from plasticine. So everyone will have a personal and interesting task. We have prepared for you a variety of English games for use in the classroom. Check out and choose your favorite in our article.
Conclusion
Activities for memorizing the English alphabet can be different and depend on the age and logical thinking of children. The main goal of an English teacher is to interest the student and instill in him a love and desire to learn. Then you can be sure that no one in the class is going to skip your lesson.
Experienced teachers do not spend much time selecting materials and exercises. By understanding the basic principles of teaching and the objectives of the lesson, you will begin to prepare for lessons faster and explain complex topics in simple language. Online TEFL/TESOL courses are designed for both experienced teachers and beginners. Whether you have work experience or not, after these courses you will be able to easily find an approach to students and bring them to impressive results. Get the course program and 50% discount at the link.
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We hope that this article has expanded your understanding of tasks for practicing the alphabet. If you have any questions, be sure to ask them in the comments below. We are always happy to help!