This year, my school district implemented DIBELS literacy assessments for primary grades. Part of these assessments include Letter Naming Fluency (LNF). Students are assessed on how quickly and accurately they can name letters. As a first-grade teacher, I believed my students would “ace” this part. However, many students struggled before naming a letter and often gave me the sound the letter makes and not its name. As educators, we know that letter-sound correspondence is highly important to reading words.
Why is it so important for students to learn the name of each letter?
First of all…What is letter naming fluency?
In Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), students are timed (1 minute) as they read from a list of random upper- and lowercase letters. While LNF is not a guarantee of future reading challenges, many school districts use it as an indicator of risk for future reading success.
Why is Letter Naming Fluency important for students?
Many letters have different sounds associated with them – think about the letter A or the letter C or G. Each one has multiple sounds. Learning the names of each letter provides a common symbol for the teacher and students to use in instruction, in writing, and in spelling. In addition, many letter names provide a clue as to the sound that letter will make.
It would be easy to spend hours gathering ideas from the internet, then preparing your letter naming activities…But I’ve taken all of that off your hands! Here are 5 engaging ways to teach letter naming fluency (bonus…3 of them are free)
How can I boost Letter Naming Fluency in my students?
It would be easy to spend hours gathering ideas from the internet, colleagues, or parents then preparing your letter naming activities…But I’ve taken all of that off your hands! Here are 5 engaging ways to teach letter naming fluency (bonus…3 of them are FREE!).
1. Alphabet Puzzles
Puzzles are a fun way for students to learn to recognize letters while extending their memorization and spatial awareness skills.
I love these bright ABC Puzzles because they strengthen memorization skills as well as help young learners recognize letters and their corresponding sounds, a two-for-one resource! Each letter comes in 4 versions: Colored with no lines (you design & cut the pieces), Colored with puzzle lines, Black and white with no lines (students color and design their own pieces to share with a friend), and Black & White with puzzle lines.
Grab this resource HERE!
Letter tracing
Tracing letters require students to concentrate, an important skill for learning and problem-solving. By forming the strokes of the letter, a child becomes familiar with it, supporting their ability to recognize it on paper.
This resource is a WONDERFUL way to teach students correct letter formation while boosting their letter memorization. The resource comes with 3 differentiated versions of each letter. Depending on your grade level, there is a version to help you with enrichment, independent, or intervention work.
Grab this resource HERE!
Sensory activities
When a child learns a concept with more than one sense, they are more likely to remember it. My favorite tactile activity is a sensory bottle. Use anything…rice, beans, confetti, or liquid (1/3 part baby oil to 2/3 parts water) Fill your bottle of choice with both letters and materials, and close. Don’t forget to glue or tape the lid shut)
Check out this tutorial (link below) about how to make an alphabet sensory bottle from Modern Preschool https://modernpreschool.com/rainbow-alphabet-sensory-bottle/
Letter sorting (FREEBIE)
Letter sorting not only supports letter recognition skills: it also supports the speed or fluency of letter naming.
Your kiddos will LOVE this FREE Letter Sorting game! Mine do! Check out the tutorial in this blog post.
Or download the FREEBIE HERE!
Letter Matching
Matching uppercase to lowercase letters supports future reading success as well as visual processing skills, important to all aspects of learning.
You’ll love this engaging FREE Letter Matching resource. Check out my blog post to find out more about this freebie.
Or download the FREEBIE HERE!
I hope the information and resources I’ve shared today will save you time and help your students achieve Letter Naming Fluency success!
Love and Peace,
