Sample Lessons
Sandpaper Letters
To help a child identify the sounds represented
in graphic form.
To teach a child the correct writing direction of the
letter shapes.
Age: 3 – 4 years old.
Prerequisites
Introducing the Objects.
“I Spy” With Sound Pouches.
Preschool children continue to explore and learn about
their environment by using all of their senses.
Particular senses are more sensitive
during different developmental stages. Understanding this developmental
predisposition and
incorporating a rich, sensory-specific environment during
critical learning periods are
core Montessori foundations. Accordingly, while children
are still in their tactile stage
of development, Sandpaper Letters are an integral multi-sensory
learning tool.
Sandpaper Letters were designed to integrate letter and
phonetic recognition by
touch, sight, and sound.
Sandpaper Letters are usually the first didactic material
introduced to children that require them to associate
a phonetic sound with its written symbol. It is an important
stepping stone that lays the groundwork for reading and
writing efficiency.
A Possible Order
So that children can start using the letters they learn
as soon as possible, organize
your program so that most of the vowels are learned
within the first 15 – 17 letters/sounds.
Introduce letters/sounds in an order that emphasizes
the difference in their physical
construction, as well as sound. For example, “b”
should not follow “d” because of
their physical similarity, and “a” should
not follow “e” because of their sound
similarity. Below is a possible order which works well:
| a |
s |
m |
e |
t |
c |
o |
p |
u |
d |
f |
j |
| g |
l |
b |
i |
n |
w |
r |
h |
y |
q |
z |
k |
| v |
x |
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Material
Sandpaper Letters.
Presentation
 Invite
one child to a table.
- Select three distinct letters that are
easy to sound out, e.g., “m”,
“a” and “s”.
- Place one letter in front of yourself;
slowly and lightly trace it three times
with your two primary fingers.
- Say the sound at the end of each tracing.
- Ask the child to repeat your demonstration.
- Encourage the child to repeat the process
several times.
Note: Remind the child to trace
very lightly, if necessary.
- Repeat the procedure with the second
and third letters.
- Arrange all three letters in front of
the child. Conduct a Three Period Name
Lesson which includes the child tracing
the letters.
Note: Trace the
letters only once for each lesson in the Three
Period Name Lesson.
Note: It is important
that the teacher maintains a written record
of each child’s
progress with the Sandpaper Letters. For
example, print the alphabet on an index
card for each child and label it with the
child’s name. Underline each letter
after the
child has been introduced to the sound it
represents. Review these letters/sounds
with the child every few days. After he
knows a letter/sound, circle it on his
index card. |
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Extension 1 |
- Choose a few letters that a child has been
previously introduced to.
- Position the letters on a table beside the
cornmeal tray (a shallow tray
with cornmeal).
- Demonstrate to the child how he can trace
the letter in the cornmeal by using
the primary finger of his dominant hand.
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Extension 2
- After a child has been introduced to several
Sandpaper Letters, carry all of
them to a floor mat and ask him to review them
with you.
- Repeat the Three Period Name Lesson with any
letters that he cannot
recall correctly.
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Extension 3
- Invite a small group of children to
the mat who have been introduced to some
Sandpaper Letters.
- Arrange the letters face-down on the
mat.
- Explain to the children how to play
the “Knock-Knock Game”. Knock
on one letter as you would knock on a
door.
- Select a child to say, “Who is
there?”
- Turn the letter over and allow the child
to trace the letter and say the
corresponding sound.
- Repeat for all of the face-down letters.
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Extension 4
- Make playdough for the Practical Life
area and show a child how to roll out
long, narrow strips.
- The strips can be shaped into the letters
with which the child is familiar.
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Extension 5
- Take three letters at a time to a table
along with a small whiteboard. The child
can practice forming the letters on the
board.
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Extension 6
- Show the children how they can take turns
tracing letters on each others’backs and guessing
which letter was formed.
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