Description

Cover It Alphabet Mats are a great addition to your Alphabet/Letter Centers. You choose the manipulatives that correspond to your latest theme or just let students choose what they would like.

If you like these types of activities, look for the other Alphabet Mats available in my store or save big by checking out the Alphabet Mats Growing Bundle.

Recognizing letters and learning their formation is one of the first exposures to literacy that a child has. Without a strong understanding of the Alphabet, a student’s ability to read could be greatly impacted. That knowledge of the Alphabet is commonly considered one of the best predictors of later achievement in reading. So giving our students various materials and ways to manipulate letters is imperative.

But teaching letter recognition and formation doesn’t have to be boring. By offering various tools and objects to create meaningful instruction, students will remain focused and engaged on learning. Anytime students can work with different tools and manupalives, it’s definitely a favorite station. My students love having the choice to use materials that they enjoy and I like that they are working independently, building fine motor skills, visual perception and letter recognition and formation.

Included in this set:
•26 Colored Cover It Alphabet Mats
•26 Black and Cover It Alphabet Mats
•26 Black and White Cover It Alphabet Mats

Teacher instructions: Choose to print these in color or in black and white and then laminate. Students will use small manipulatives (erasers, buttons, rhinestones, or whatever manipulatives interest your students) to trace the capital and lowercase letters. There are pictures of corresponding beginning letter sound items on the mat to help build sound recognition as well. I have my students ready these. Then, using a dry erase marker, they trace the letters and then try them on their own.

If they are completing the printable, they can cover the letter with stickers or stamps. Students color the pictures with the matching beginning letter sounds. They can then trace and write the letter and circle the letters.

Tips: For students who have mastered very few letters so far, only place those letters and the letters you are currently working on in this center. Too many letters can be overwhelming. As they master more letters, you can increase the number of mats included and use these to reinforce letter/sound identification and formation.