The Moveable Alphabet
Published on: June 30, 2007
Age 4 and onwards (some children will do this earlier) Use after children know most of the short letter sounds.
Purpose: To prepare for spelling, writing and reading.
Material: A large box with spaces for letters of the alphabet plus a few extra boxes for the vowel "y." The boxes contain several copies of the lower case letters. You can make them by cutting them out from stiff, thin, cardboard or plastic reinforced paper. Consonants are red and vowels are blue. You can use this free printout of Montessori D"Nelian or cursive-type letters. Montessori Materials has several different font downloads for free too. Montessori Materials relies on donations, so if you can, give a little to keep them open.
Presentation:
Floor activity- spread a large rug for the work area. You open the moveable alphabet box and show the letters to the child. You make sure that the child knows where the letters are in the box. Ask to find various letters, such as, "Can you show me "b"? and so on. After the child has a grasp of where the letters are you begin by saying, now we will make _______. For example, the word "bat."
Ask, "What letters do you hear when I say "bat"? Usually, it will be "b".The child finds it and puts it on the mat.
Ask, "what other sounds do you hear?" Usually, it will be "t".
The child finds it and puts it next to the b
Next say, "There is a sound between the b and t.
" S-l-o-w-l-y and clearly enunciate the word phonetically, b-a-t for the child.
The child will hear the vowel if he or she listens carefully.
Continue to make words with your child until the exercise is mastered.
Eventually, your child will be able to work alone.
Note: Make sure you use letters that your child knows. Also, continue to work on the phonetic sounds of the alphabet.
Use any of these 3 lettered phonetic words.
How to pronounce letters phonetically.
Alphabet learning the Montessori way teaches the sounds of the alphabet first.
Montessori English Word List for Moveable Alphabet, Reading And Writing Program More Exercises and Lessons
2 and 3 letter phonetic words a-e-i-o-u
| -a-(short sound) pan bag cat man bat hat pat van tap fan rat mat jam map can fat ham mad had bad pad lad rag sat ran tax has lad gap wag gap gag lap rap yap gas lag dad cab an as at | -e-(short sound) hen ten bed net pen peg men leg red web beg fed led wet let pet set bet get yes hem yet met vet wed vex den keg jet | -i-(short sound) tin pig kid lid nib pin pip bib wig ink vim win dig hid hit sit it gig bit big hit bin din jig nip sip lit rid tip rim if in rip is did dim fit him his kin wit dip fin lip | -o-(short sound) pot top mop rot dog log rod pog tog cot dot hod cod rod bog hog lot not nod sob hot rob hop don on got pop sod sop jog jot job | -u-(short sound) jug gun hut nut mug tub bud sun cup rug bus sum bug pup tug cub nun hug rut sup pun mutt bun fun dug run gum but up us rub mud hum |
| Challenge Words | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| add and am act ant | egg elk elm end | six mix fix | fox box ox odd off of | |
Here are some more exercises for the moveable alphabet .