Welcome to my blog post!
Does the Letter Have Straight or Curvy Lines?
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| Which type of lines does that letter have? |
Years ago when I first started teaching kindergarten, the number of students who couldn’t automatically describe or visualize letters of the alphabet surprised me. They could robotically say the letter names but couldn’t mentally see whether it had straight or curvy lines.
Interestingly, the same thing occurred with some students when I taught first grade and also observed, as the math specialist, similar things in our geometry activities.
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| Straight Lines |
That started me thinking about incorporating easy activities appropriate for even preschoolers who are ready to start sorting and classifying items. This posting is concerning one of the simplistic activities that I found fun and useful. I have used this even with a few 2nd graders who have had difficulty visualizing and memorizing spelling words.
At first, I used only capital letters since they are usually the letters first learned. I have used small foam letters and magnetic letters from The Dollar Tree and 99¢ store as well as teacher-made small letter cards. Use whatever works best and is the least costly. You probably already have what you need in your classroom or at home.
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| Curvy Letters |
Place the letters you are going to use in a container so students can easily take them out and spread the letters to be used out on a flat surface. I prefer smaller letters so students can get more on the page. However, this could be determined by the age and prior exposure your students have had in this area.
You decide which type of letters you wish the students to sort-- straight, curvy, straight and curvy. Then the students sort and classify the letters into whichever of those categories you have selected. Have them place their letters either under Yes or No, if it meets that criteria. Also, consider the number of letters you wish to have available so not initially overwhelming.
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| Straight and curvy |
Another way I have found the letter sorting activity useful is after introducing a particular letter of the day or week, enlarge the specific straight or curvy graph and place it on the board. Ask students to write their name under Yes or No depending upon what category that letter happens to be. Do they believe that letter is straight, curvy or straight and curvy?
If you have electrical devices such as a Smartboard or Elmo type camera available for your use, they are great for this type of activity.
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| Straight and curvy lines |
If you have only introduced a few letters, this is a good review, so only use those letters to sort. Another use of this simple activity is for reinforcement for students needing additional visual discrimination work.
Check out the product on my teacherspayteachers website. Hope you can use with your students.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Make-Math-Magic
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
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