Preschool is the ideal time to develop and enhance students' understanding of written and spoken language. The letters of the alphabet are the basic building blocks that lie at the heart of communication, both spoken and written.

Preschool students should be encouraged to develop concepts of print, alphabetical awareness and phonological awareness - these concepts are the cornerstones on which to build reading skills.

Preschoolers should be encouraged to love reading and feel happy and confident about the reading process. For this to occur, you must ensure that all students grasp the basic concepts, regardless of individual ability level.

As a class, your students will begin to associate words with pictures and understand that letters have very special shapes, sounds and names. They will learn that these letters form words and that these words have meaning. Reading is the next vital step.

The following activities can be used to interactively teach the ABC's.

1. POWERPOINT ABC's

PowerPoint presentations can be used to encourage visual learning skills and to help students begin to make the connection between letters, sounds, words and pictures.

Create a PowerPoint presentation. Each slide should contain a letter of the alphabet. After each slide include five words beginning with the letter, and five corresponding pictures of the words that you have chosen. Students read the letter together, the teacher sounds out each of the five words phonetically and the class reads out the letter that each of the words begins with. Students are then shown a picture of each word.

2. HUMAN ALPHABET

In this activity students learn the shape of each letter by creating the shape with their body.

Divide students in to groups of three or four.

Students will need a large clear space for this activity so move desks and chairs out of the way.

Have a fun version of the ABC song playing. Stop the music and call out a letter.

Each group must quickly lie on the floor and form the shape of the letter. If a student is not needed they can help by calling out the letter when asked.

3. THE NAME GAME

Children write their name on a piece of paper. The teacher shows the class a large flashcard with a particular letter of the alphabet written on the flashcard. When the letter is shown, students must cross that letter of their name from their card.

When all possible letters of the first, middle and last name are crossed out, students call out 'THE NAME GAME'. As each student finishes they earn a reward point or a sticker. As students become more confident, familiar sight words can be used to play the game.

4. Big A, Little A

On large pieces of Cardboard, laminate Uppercase and Lowercase letters. Divide students in to groups and have each group match the big A with the little a, the big B with the little b and so on.

5. A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS

Show students a range of images and have the students call out the letter that the word connected to the image begins with.

Useful Computer Lessons...

Teacher tube has many video files containing teachers and students rapping the ABC's. Download these files on to PowerPoint, if you have access in your classroom, or, play on a laptop or computer to your class.