Letter Warm-Up with Flash Cards: Kindergarten

Carla Miller: So, we're just going to say the name of the letter and the sound. Are you ready?

Student(s): Yes.

Carla Miller: 'Z' ... /zz/

Narrator: Today instructional coach Carla Miller is beginning her lesson with a warmup using letter flashcards. (She shows one for the letter 'a'.)

Student(s): 'A' ... /ă/

Narrator: She asks her students to give the letter name and the sound it makes. This helps them become automatic in sound-letter correspondences, which is necessary for fluent reading.

Student(s): 'D', 'duh', 'h', /ha/, 'o', /ŏ/, 'b' /bah/

Carla Miller: Oh. Let's look again. It's a straight back. Big belly 'b'. Let's do it together.

Narrator: Now they're ready to work on blending these sounds into words.

Carla Miller: So good!

Narrator: Enjoyed this video? Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel at RUTeaching. For more information, please visit reading universe.org. Special thanks to Burgess-Peterson Academy and Atlanta Public Schools. Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale, the American Federation of Teachers, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and three anonymous donors. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington, DC, the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.

Carla Miller: This is Reading Universe.