Add some fun into the mix by creating personalized letter posters, name cards or graphics using Canva (www.Canva. com). Creating opportunities to write their name for a variety of purposes (attendance, volunteer choices, lunch orders and more) increases embedded instruction. Standard writing tools or alternative pencils can be used. To learn more about alterna- tive pencils, visit the Center of Literacy and Disability Studies, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (https://www.med. unc.edu/ahs/clds/alternative-pencils/).
to plan for scavenger hunts during therapy. Use fun tools such as clipboards, sticky notes, stickers or occluders. Scavenger hunts also create collaborative learning opportunities.
Learner using stickers during a letter scavenger hunt within a Dynamic Learning Maps familiar text.
Volunteer sign-up board using alternative pencils.
ENVIRONMENTAL PRINT Letters are everywhere! So much variety of print can be found within our educational environments and community settings. Environmental print appears on signs, labels and logos. When our learners bring their attention to environmental print, we model that letters have a purpose in our world. We are actively involving our learners in these experiences, rather than rote instruction in isolation to simply match a picture to picture. We draw attention to the letters we see, to the sounds letters represent and to the context in which we read print. Draw attention to the letters in the EXIT sign when you walk in the hallway, point to letters on the logo of a pretzel snack at lunch or read student created posters advertising the Home- coming dance. SCAVENGER HUNTS Allow students to actively explore and seek letters. Scavenger hunts provide a similar approach as environmental print, but instead, target individual letters, groups of letters, letter-sound representations or uppercase and lowercase letters. Scavenger hunts can be used to provide movement breaks during the day. Consider working with your Occupational or Physical Therapist
Leaners reads a Readtopia (Building Wings) graphic novel, from Working Together/ The Gold Bug unit, while identifying uppercase letters (LessonPix bookmark) within a text.
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