Kindergarten Activities for the Letters W & G
Learning to recognize and write letters is an essential component of kindergarten lesson plans, and is the building block for future literacy skills in the classroom. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education states that "it is unreasonable to believe that children will be able to read until they can recognize and name a number of letters." Consequently, it is critical to reinforce the study of letters through fun activities, projects and games for kindergartners.
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Pretzel Letters
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Bake soft pretzels, but instead of shaping them into the traditional pretzel shape, children shape them in the form of a letter W or a letter G. While forming the pretzels, focus on the differences between the shapes and the unique features of each shape. W has four straight lines and sharp pointy corners; G is rounded like a circle.
Mini Books
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Create miniature books about the letter W or letter G. Each book contains pictures and words of common items starting with the letter. To make a longer project from this activity, task students with creating their own story using words and central characters beginning with the letter. Kindergarten students will need help writing out their story. Before beginning the books, discuss words beginning with the letter W or G, or play a game of I Spy for inspiration.
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Worksheet Activities
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Children connect the dots to reveal a picture that starts with the letter W (whale, watermelon, witch, water) or G (giraffe, goose, gate, gift, girl). In other worksheet activities, students trace or color words that begin and end with the letters W and G. Provide activity sheets to students and ask children to draw a line between pictures of words beginning with W or G (watch, wheel, window, guitar, gorilla, grapes) and the words themselves.
Individual Letter Lesson Plans
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Create a theme based around an individual letter and an item beginning with that letter. For the letter W, children could study a watermelon. Students will make watermelon crafts (stick a pink semicircle onto a larger green semicircle, then glue on dried black beans for seeds), practice their kitchen skills making watermelon lemonade and have fun with puzzles featuring watermelons. For the letter G, students can study the Gingerbread Man. Children can bake gingerbread cookies to eat, make Gingerbread Man puppets and decorate Gingerbread Man shapes with buttons and craft materials. Children can also read and discuss the Gingerbread Man fairy tale with their classmates.
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References
- A to Z Teacher Stuff: Chewy Pretzel Letters
- KidZone Preschool and Kindergarten: Itsy Bitsy Book: Beginning Sounds - Letter W
- KidZone Preschool and Kindergarten: Itsy Bitsy Book: Beginning Sounds - Letter G
- KidZone Learning Letters: Letter W Activities
- KidZone Learning Letters: Letter G Activities
- First School: Alphabet Letter W - Preschool Activities and Crafts
Resources
- Photo Credit Young girl with letters image by pershing from Fotolia.com
