Now that my son is in Kindergarten, his interest in reading, writing and numbers has increased tremendously. He likes to get started on “homework” as soon as he gets back from school. I keep running out of ink just in the activities that I make for him at home. So, I decided to create these bookmarks to focus on specific skills that we need to work on. They have been so useful and I am able to save on paper and printer ink too:)
Letter Identification Bookmarks: One of the things that we have been working on is letter formation and identification. This is what he is able to do with these bookmarks: First, he names the letter. Then, he follows this sequence to complete his work: Color it! Trace it! Write it! And at the bottom, he needs to find the uppercase letters in the left box and circle them. Then, he needs to find the lowercase letters in the box on the right side and circle (or color) those too.
Alphabet Fonts Bookmarks: I made these just for fun. I want to see if he is able to identify letters and their basic formation. He sees words written everywhere and sometimes does not recognize certain letters that are not written in a basic primary font. I call these “grown up” writing and are only meant to be used as exposure to other font types that are used on cereal boxes, toy boxes, store names, etc.
Alphabet Dictionary Bookmarks: These bookmarks serve as mini-word banks that can be used as a reference when reviewing letters and beginning sounds. These visual cues will help students become aware of letter-sound relationships. First, he colors the first letter in each word. Then, he says something like this: The letter “C” says /k/, /k/, /k/. Cat, Cat, /k/, /k/ /k/. We have a lot of work to do with beginning sounds, but he is eager to learn. I can’t wait to hear him read soon.
Beginning Sounds Bookmarks: This can serve as independent work or as a quick assessment. Students will identify the words that begin with the target letter. Then, they will circle the corresponding pictures. I also included two more options for early finishers who might be a little more advanced. They will name the remaining pictures that were not circled and identify the first letter in those words. Another option is to label the pictures.
Label the Picture Bookmarks: These are good for differentiating instruction. Students who have developed reading strategies will be able to read the 4 words in the word bank to determine how to label each picture. Some will be able to label without looking at the words provided 🙂 We are not at this stage yet, but I have them ready for him!
Kinder Dolch Sight Words Bookmarks: This is a color it. Circle it. Write it. activitity. Coloring the crayon background makes the sight word stand out. Students can trace the word with their finger as they sound out each letter.
Alphabet Playdough Mats Bookmarks: This includes uppercase and lowercase letters and a picture to represent the beginning sound of the letter. I did not get a chance to cut these bookmarks apart. I put them in a clear sleeve and my son used playdough to trace each letter. I asked him to name the letter and give the sound each time he traced a new letter. It was so cute to hear him say “R”, /rrrrrrrr/ each time he worked on the next letter on the mat.
Sight Word Playdough Mats Bookmarks: These include the Kindergarten Dolch Words. This will help students identify the sight word and sound out each letter as they trace the word with playdough. It looks like we will have to use the sight word activities a lot right now. This is one of the things that Angel really needs to work on.
Rainbow Writing for Sight Words Bookmarks: Each letter can be traced with different colors or color each letter in a different color as they read the word. Angel loves using watercolors to paint the words too. They can be decorated any way you want. Coloring the background just makes the sight word stand out. These can be saved to make a book of sight words.
Alphabet Sequence Bookmarks: I also included some very simple alphabet sequence activities. The student can trace each letter as he chants the alphabet and then write the missing letter in the sequence. I made two sets. One is in uppercase letters and the other is in lowercase letter. Right now, Angel looks at the alphabet line to see which letter is next. Later, I am going to put a copy of these in a sleeve to use as a quick assessment or staple of them together to make it into a book.
Alphabet Match Bookmarks: These are very simple like the alphabet sequence bookmarks above. I added all the uppercase letters with a space next to them. We will be working on writing the matching lowercase letters on the spaces. I also made a set with lowercase letters where the uppercase letter needs to be written on the space provided.
Oh, boy. We have a lot of work to do. The good thing is that learning does not stop at the end of the school day. It continues at home as well. Angel is eager to learn and I am loving it!
Is this something that you could use? Just click on this Phonics Fun link or on the first picture at the top of the post to see it listed in my TPT store.
Here are some bookmark freebies for you 🙂
Oh. We also use this alphabet chart. I point to random letters first. Then, if Angel is able to name the letter correctly, he can circle it. It’s so much fun to see his progress. Click on the title link to get your free copy. I also included the 100’s Chart that we are using right now.
Thanks for the post and your hard work. It is on my WANT list! Amber ~ Kindergarten Rocks Blog
Love it!
Jessica
Learn, Play & Have Fun
Thank you! I'm glad that you like these bookmarks 🙂
-Lidia
Just purchased this to use with my 3 year old daughter who is very interested in letters lately! Can't wait to use them with her this weekend! AND I can get double use out of it in my preschool classroom…some activities will be great center activities as well as my teacher guided small group activities– which I definitely plan to use ASAP
Awesome job!
Thanks
Sara
Teaching Munchkins