Alphabet Quest
Alphabet Quest
Episode #43 Show Notes
The Birth of Alphabet Quest
During the pandemic, I was asked to leave my literacy coaching role and teach kindergarten. When I went back to the classroom, I discovered that we were in desperate need of speeding up and enriching how we learned our alphabet.
My time in the classroom was what birthed a really fun and effective idea I had: Alphabet Quest! Alphabet Quest is the idea of teaching the alphabet in an intense, systematic (and faster) way.
I returned to my literacy coaching role and introduced Alphabet Quest to my co-workers.
Instead of teaching one letter a week and spending 26 weeks inside the alphabet, Alphabet Quest was designed for children to learn their alphabet and letter sounds in only 5 weeks’ time.
The Benefits of Alphabet Quest
Alphabet Quest…
…is a 5-week program that allows students to intensely and successfully learn the entire alphabet and letter sounds.
...is founded on learning letters in a systematic and structured way.
…levels the playing field within the classroom. This allows more advanced children to become more automatic in their sounds and students who are just learning the alphabet to become much more familiar with it and learn their letter sounds.
…gives your students a firm academic foundation that will influence them to become successful readers and later on at your small group table.
…establishes routines and rhythms within your classroom that will allow your students to learn to their full potential and allow for optimal learning.
…is fun and engaging, and therefore makes it easy for letter sounds to stick.
…will give students the foundation they need in order to blend and segment sounds.
How To Prep for Alphabet Quest
All you need to start Alphabet Quest are phonics toolkits (made out of pencil boxes) for each of your students. Inside these toolkits, you should include:
A vowel strip with the short vowels and picture representations
Small white board
Dry erase marker and an eraser
Cut out microphones for speaking practice (think of cardboard on a popsicle stick!)
Small mirrors - these are perfect and you can buy them in bulk!
Small chips for segmenting and blending activities and sound searching.
You’re welcome to add more to the toolkit, but my advice is to stick to these items because the simpler, the better for kindergarteners!
How Alphabet Quest Works
Here is an example of one week of Alphabet Quest as it looked like in our classrooms at my school. For the first week, we study letters b, m, r, s, and a.
Visual Drill
In the slides we use, we drop a letter in from the previous day and ask students to give us the sound of that letter.
Morning Message
This includes a fun and engaging phonemic awareness warm-up such as rhyming, segmenting, and syllables.
Simple activities like rhyming words, giving a thumbs up or down, pushing up chips for segmenting, or clapping/hopping out syllables.
Introduce Letter
This is done first by showing pictures that represent the sound that we’re studying.
We use the mirrors from their toolkit and have students see the shape of their mouth and notice what their tongue does when they make the letter sound.
On the next slide, we show different scenes and settings (beaches, barns, parks, forests, etc.) Inside these are hidden pictures that start with the letter sound we’re focusing on. Students come up and circle the images within that scene that start with the letter of that day.
Finally, we create an anchor chart of pictures that start with that letter. These are very simple pictures that just allow for student input and interaction.
Letter Formation
Consistency is key here. We use the same letter-sound chant across kindergarten, first and second grades. Students will do these chants as they are writing the letter.
For example, as they write lowercase letter b, students would say, “Straight stick down, bounce up and around.”
Students trace it in the air, then the carpet, then the table, and then finally move onto paper and a pencil. We always start out with them tracing the letter in other ways before picking up a pencil.
If you’re looking for a great way to work on pencil grip with your students, check out this video and song by Mrs. Linda Laporte Torres!
We do the same routine with every letter: write it in the air, carpet, table, then give them the marker and sing the song and begin writing while saying the chant.
Extras
No matter which letter you’re working on, you need to ensure that it is a part of your every day. Make it a part of your transitions and other activities throughout the week.
Ensure that these routines are a part of every letter. Consistency is key at this stage!
It’s always a good idea to send home information that helps the parents. These send-home sheets can include definitions of rhyming and segmenting, letters you’re learning, fluency sheets or practice writing pages, and more.
Kindergarten Kickstart
If you’re wondering what Alphabet Quest looks like in action, check out my course, Kindergarten Kickstart!
This course will help you immensely as you all embark on the reading journey together.
Alphabet Quest Data
After implementing Alphabet Quest for several years at our school, we’ve observed 90-95% of students reaching mastery in letter sounds by the end of this 26-day period. How?
We pulled in cumulative review. We consistently took previously-taught letters and sounds and made sure they were a part of our everyday routines. You must keep letters in the rotation that they’ve already learned. This daily review solidifies their understanding.
The Alphabet Quest Parade
Yay! You’ve made it to the end of your 26 days! Now, it’s time to celebrate.
Grab some paper grocery bags from your local store.
Cut each one of them into a vest for each child. The children can do this, too.
Each student is assigned a letter.
Have students decorate their letter with pictures from magazines that begin with their letter. Students can also draw pictures.
Invite parents and ask students to line the hallways to support them!
In Case You Missed It:
Amazon mirrors for students to check out their mouths while saying letters
My awesome Kindergarten Kickstart course where you get to see Alphabet Quest in action!
Literacy Edventures Resources:
Check out these awesome resources at Literacy Edventures that can help you with your own Alphabet Quest!
