Reading skills provide the foundation for academic success. From the beginning of school, students should be taught different ways of using language to help them learn and communicate about academic content. This brief discusses two areas of literacy development that students must learn so that they can do well in school: "foundational…

The U.S. Navy and other services use the same 26-letter alphabet that people use every day, but they substitute a word for each letter. You might pronounce the letter "a" when spelling the word a-n-t. A sailor uses words in place of each letter, making a-n-t into "alpha-november-tango." This system prevents mix-ups between…

The history of the alphabet is briefly reviewed to provide background on the controversy about beginning handwriting instruction and the relative difficulty of major instructional methods (Roman capitals, ball-stick manuscript, and chancery cursive). The author suggests that a simplified version of chancery cursive can be used for beginners. (CL)

This article suggests 11 projects for prekindergarten and kindergarten children (1) to teach letter recognition; (2) to develop eye-hand coordination; and (3) to help children understand weather; and (4) to provide art and drama activities on Thanksgiving themes. (PP)

This paper examines the need for a transcription system that allows the symbolization of nonnormal articulations. The paper then describes transcription systems proposed by clinical phoneticians and speech pathologists, especially PRDS (phonetic representation of disordered speech) symbols and extensions of the International Phonetic Alphabet.…

Middle and secondary school students who continue to display reversal problems despite intervention should be taught to compensate. Compensation can be based on the student's common error problems. (CL)

A four-step instructional procedure to assist the learning disabled child to distinguish the distinctive features of letters is described. The procedure involves distinguishing the lower case "b" via a fading out technique from its upper case counterpart "B." The letter directionality can be cued so that the "b-d" distinction is readily apparent.…

This teaching resource presents a historical perspective of the alphabet which encompasses a study of major contributions by: (1) "Prehistoric People"; (2) "The Sumerians"; (3) "The Egyptians"; (4) "The Chinese"; (5) "The Greeks"; and (6) "The Romans." Background information, vocabulary study, student activities, a letter history, and a…

Describes two manual aids used in educating deaf children in Peking: the Chinese finger alphabet for teaching Chinese characters, and a new device being experimented with called the Chinese finger syllabary. Sample illustrations are given for both, as well as for the Pinyin finger alphabet. (PJM)

In this art activity elementary students are asked to design their own alphabet, not just by streamlining the letters they regularly use, but by inventing new letters. (RM)

"Alpha-Pets" are the focal point of an integrated, multidisciplinary curriculum. Each pet is featured for a week in a vocabulary-rich story and introduces related activities beginning with the featured letter, such as the four food groups during Freddie Fish's week or universe during Ulysses Unicorn's week. (MT)

In a whole-language kindergarten, children learn language skills in a social context. Suggestions on how to develop activities that focus on a different letter of the alphabet each week are offered. These activities tie together all areas of the curriculum. (DF)

Outlines a game which requires students to identify and use letters of the Latin alphabet. The game consists of three steps in that: (1) students must correctly identify letters; (2) after "winning" a letter, groups of students use them to build words; and (3) from the words, students add other words to construct complete sentences. (PJM)

Various worksheets to teach basic Hupa language--simple phrases and the vocabulary for animal names and family relationships--are presented in this guide. The introduction notes that materials have been used successfully with students in grades 4 through 8 and that the Hupa language is being taught within the context of traditional Hupa culture.…

Offers guidelines for helping children produce their own alphabet books. (FL)