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1aasinfatgasingoatvmlethu-easinusesupiasinsitcasincatwwooasinwellfbja-easincakeni-easinpipedkyyeeasinyukro-easinpolezchasinchipouasincloudknasinknoweaasinbeatoytoyoaboateeneedphphoneoiboilerfernququickaimaidayhayshshoparcarighhighththankauhaulewshrewdirfirstawlawn2Uponenteringkindergarten,childrenfromhighlyliteratehomesmayalreadybeabletoidentifyandwritesomeorallofthelettersofthealphabet,andmayknowsomeofthesoundsindividuallettersorlettercombinationsrepresent.Childrenfromless-literatehomesmayhaveasensethatreadinginvolvesinterpretingstringsofsymbols,buttheymaynotknowanyletternames,shapes,orsounds.Aspartofacomprehensivebeginningreadingprogramforbothtypesofstudents,teachersneedtomergephonologicalawarenessactivitieswithexplicitinstructioninletter-soundassociations.Inordertodevelopstrongletter-soundassociations,studentsmustlearnthreethings:letternames,lettersymbols,andthedifferentlettersorlettercombinationsthatcanrepresentindividualphonemes.Thismeansthatchildrenneedtolearntorecognizeandbeabletonameall26lower-caseandupper-caseprintedlettersforatotalof52differentsymbols,notincludingdifferenttypesoffontsorcursiveletters.Inaddition,studentsneedtolearnthemostcommonsoundforeachletteraswellasthelesscommonsoundsthatletterscanrepresent.Althoughthereare26lettersand39-44phonemes,studentsneedtolearnabout70letter-soundrelationshipstobecomesuccessfulreadersandspellers.Learningtheletternames,lettersymbols,andletter-soundassociationscanbeadauntingtaskforanychildbutespeciallyforthosewhohavelittleearlyliteracyexposureorforthosestudentswhomaybeat-riskforreadingdisabilities.Thepurposeofthisarticleistoprovideyouwithresearch-basedinformationregardinginstructionalconsiderationsthatshouldbemadeforteachingletter-soundassociationsandtohelpyoudevelopanunderstandingofhowletter-soundknowledgerelatestostudents'abilitiestodecodewords.InitialInstructionofLetterNamesBythetimeEnglishspeakingchildrenenterkindergarten,mostcansingtheAlphabetSongandareabletoidentifyalargepercentageofletters(Adams,1990).Thisfamiliaritywithletterssymbolsandtheirnameshelpspreparestudentsforfurtherdevelopingtheirphonologicalawareness,learningsound-symbolrelationships,andlearninghowtosoundoutwords.Forthosechildrenwhodonothavethisknowledge,teachingtheAlphabetSonginpreschooloratthebeginningofkindergartenisagoodplacetostart(Adams,1990).TherhythmandpatternoftheAlphabetSong(sungtoTwinkle,TwinkleLittleStar)enableschildrentolearnthenamesofthelettersfairlyeasily,andalsoteacheschildrenthealphabetic3sequenceoralphabeticorderthattheywillusefortherestoftheirlives.Oncestudentscangiveafairlyaccuraterenditionofthesong,teacherscanthenbegintoteachletter-nameassociations.Atthesametimethatteachersareworkingwithstudentstodeveloptheirphonologicalawareness,teacherscanbeginintroducingletter-symbols,letternames,andlettersounds.Whilesomecurriculumguidessuggestteachingletter-soundassociationspriortoteachingletter-nameassociations,instructionallyitiseasiertobeabletorefertospecificlettersbytheirnamesratherthanbytheirsounds.Theresearchdoesindicatethatyoungstudentscanbeeasilyconfusedifthelettersymbol,theletternameandthelettersoundareintroducedatthesametime.Onceastudentisaccurateinbeingabletoidentifyandnamealetterortogiveitssound,thentheotherrelationshipcanbeintroduced.Teacherscanalsoreduceconfusionbymakingsuretheyandtheirstudentsusethecorrecttermswhenreferringtoeithertheletternameorthelettersound.TeachingLetter-NameAssociationsConceptually,lettersaredifficultforyoungchildrentounderstand.Unlikeotherobjectsintheirlivesthatremainthesameregardlessoftheirspatialorientation,lettersdonotremainthesame.Acupremainsacupifitisupsideright,upsidedown,oratanyangle.Letterschangetheiridentitiesdependingupontheirspatialorientation.Althoughtheletters'p,''b,''d,'and'q'arebasicallythesameshape,bychangingtheirspatialorientation,theybecomedifferentletters.Uponenteringkindergarten,mostchildrenaregenerallymorefamiliarwithupper-caselettersthanlower-caseletters.Upper-caselettersaremoredistinctiveandthereforesomewhateasiertolearntoidentifythanlower-caseletters.However,asmostwordsinbeginningreadingbooksareprintedinlower-caseletters;startingwithlowercaselettersenablesstudentstoreadwordsmorequickly.Oncetheylearnlower-caseletters,upper-caseletterscanbeintroduced.Teachersneedtobeexplicitinteachingletter-nameassociationsbyshowingthelettersymbolsandtellingstudentsthelettername.Thenameofthisletteris'a'.Whatisthenameofthisletter?Oncestudentsareaccurateinbeingabletoidentifyandnameseveralletters,youcanhelpthemdeveloptheirfluencyinbeingabletonamelettersquicklybyusingtheAlternatingDrillthatyou'llbelearningaboutinthislesson.Bybeingfamiliarwithletternames,studentscanthenbegantoassociatedifferentstylesofthesameletterwithonelettername.Forinstance,althoughtheletter's'looksdifferentinthissentencethanitlooksona'Stop'signoronaPepsi(tm)can,bybeingablelabeleachofthese4symbolsastheletter's'enablesstudentstobegintobecomefamiliarwithallofthedifferentwaysalettercanbewritten.Inadditiontobeingabletodistinguishbetweenandidentifythedifferentletters,studentsals