If you're deep in the alphabet trenches like I am right now, this episode is for you. I'm joined (again!) by Heidi from Droppin’ Knowledge with Heidi to talk all about how to teach letter sounds and letter names using research-backed best practices in ways that are practical and doable for real classrooms.

Heidi is a national LETRS Early Childhood trainer and a former K–1 teacher, and she’s here to help us rethink some of the most common teaching habits around phonics instruction… like whether to teach letter names and sounds, why you should clip the sounds, how to avoid confusing keywords like “elephant” or “giraffe,” and what to do instead.

*Make sure to stay to the end because we have a very important P.S. for you!!!

In this episode we share:

• What the science of reading says about teaching letter names and letter sounds
• The six components to include every time you teach a new letter
• Why "B is for ba" might actually hurt blending and decoding later on
• Whether to teach letters in ABC order, or a different research-supported sequence
• What embedded mnemonics are and why they help kids learn faster
• Small tweaks to your language (like switching "says" to "represents") that make a big difference
• Why repeated alphabet cycles work better than “letter of the week”

Previous Episode with Heidi:

• Science of Reading 101 With Heidi from Droppin’ Knowledge ~ Ep. 81

Resources:

• Tips for Teaching the Alphabet & Research

Connect with Heidi:

• Instagram - droppinknowledgewithheidi
• Website - droppinknowledge.com

Connect with Zeba:

• Instagram - @kindergartencafe
• Facebook - @kindergartencafe
• Website - www.kindergartencafe.org
• Tik Tok - @kindergartencafe

Mentioned in this episode:

Caring Critters Books

Felipe the Feeling Frog: https://www.kindergartencafe.org/felipe/
Trixie the Thoughtful Turtle: https://www.kindergartencafe.org/trixie/