Letter-Words

This post is going to revolve around an activity I called Rylee's Letter-Words.  I know, I know it isn't a very creative name.  I also cannot take credit for the activity itself as it was introduced to me by a good friend, Erin Sheldon.  This was a great emergent literacy activity which gave Rylee power in constructing her own messages through print rather than just her AAC device.  

This activity is easy to set up and great for short attention spans/processing difficulties. Students with significant disabilities need an extensive amount of exposure to the alphabet for meaningful and authentic writing purposes.  This activity does just that!

We used this strategy for writing messages in birthday cards, but it can be used for lots of other things too.  I created a binder, but you don't have to do that.  I segmented that binder for each letter of the alphabet, but you don't have to do that either.  

What you do need:

Two different colors of sticky notes
Pen or marker 
1 Alternative Pencil (anything that gives the user access to the entire alphabet)
Birthday Card

I'll use the example we did for my sister's birthday card we did a couple of years ago.  I showed Rylee the birthday card and told her I thought it would be cool if we wrote Auntie a message for her birthday.  I asked her to think about what she would like to say to her Auntie and pick a letter from her letter board (her alternative pencil at the time).  She happen to pick the letter 'P'.  So then I wrote three different words beginning with the letter 'P', one word for three sticky notes of the same color.  Next, I wrote the words "Something Else" on a different colored sticky note.  

If your student or child does not pick a letter, it might be that the expectations aren't clear enough at first so you can just model it yourself until they do in fact choose their own letter. Also, please remember to give an abundance of time!  Wait expectantly; looking at the child and then the alternative pencil.  The emergent literacy activities I conducted were never forced upon her, but merely an invitation for her to participate in a meaningful and engaging way.

I can't remember the exact words I wrote, but an example is Perfect, Pretty, Precious.  Then I displayed them with "Something Else" in the top right hand corner.  I read the words to her while I pointed to each one.  She chose the word 'pretty'; so that was her message to her Auntie for the birthday card.  If she had chosen Something Else, I would have written three different words beginning with 'P'.  There you have it folks!  This is one simple emergent literacy activity you can easily do with very little time.