Today I am excited to tell you about these "Sky Grass Dirt" Alphabet formation practice sheets and cards! It is only the best resources that come out every single week in my classroom- and this is one of them! I can't BELIEVE what a difference this made to my students in learning to write their letters correctly. I've used it for two years now, and in both years, my students made OUTSTANDING progress on printing, even though they are only in TK (Transitional Kindergarten!) So they are in the first year of a two year Kindergarten program, and turn five sometime between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2.
I use these Sky Grass Dirt Alphabet Formation Practice Sheets and Rhyme Cards to introduce a letter, and then practice writing it correctly when teaching letter writing and printing in both large and small groups! Using the Sky-Grass-Dirt format to explain where the letters go on the lines really helps many children understand where the letters should be placed, and what size they should be.
The practice sheets are perfect for use with dry erase markers! Just sneak a peek at the rhyme printed on the back of the card, while showing the letter printed in large Sky-Grass-Dirt format with directional arrows on the front of the card. Then sing or chant the rhymes together to help the children learn how to write the letters. Sung or spoken, these rhymes are quite helpful for the children as they are learning to write the letters, and serve as a great tool to boost their memory and make the task a lot more fun at the same time! The rhymes, combined with the Sky-Grass-Dirt practice sheets are winning combination to make alphabet writing SO MUCH EASIER!!!
This resource supports the video, Alphabet Formation: Songs to Write the ABCs, available on DVD at HeidiSongs.com, or via internet video streaming at Uscreen. However, it can be used with or without the videos.
It also goes along GREAT with our Letter of the Week Focus Wall!
Here's what's Included:
-Instructions with tips for teaching kids using the Sky-Grass-Dirt method of teaching printing, and using these materials specifically. (5 Pages)
-26 Alphabet Formation Display Cards/Posters with sky Sky-Grass-Dirt letter models in full color. (27 Pages)
-26 Rhyme Cards with poems/songs to help kids remember how to form the letters, and a beginning sound picture. Each card contains two rhymes: one for the upper and one for the lowercase letter, (except for letters in which one rhyme would suffice, such as the letter S.) (27 Pages)
-26 A-Z Scaffolded Sky-Grass-Dirt practice sheets to help children transition from the colored to the black and white paper, and one blank one. (28 Pages)
-3 Large format 8..5” x 11” Sky Grass Dirt Cards to demonstrate the printing of each letter, and to teach them the NAMES of each line: “Sky, Fence, Grass and Dirt.” Just point to each line and have them tell you what the name of it is. This is great practice and helps them figure out what you mean when you tell them to "start at the fence, and then draw that line all the way down into the mud," for example. For my kids, this cleared the whole mystery of how to write those "dirt letters," such as y, g, j, p, q. One card has a realistic photo of sky, grass, and dirt behind the lines. Another shows the lines with just blue to represent the sky, green for the grass, and brown for the dirt behind the lines. The last is simply a large format card with black and white lines. There are also three additional pages for children that need to practice each of these formats separately in large format. (7 Pages)
-1 A-Z Alphabet writing practice sheet in black and white to help children practice writing the entire alphabet, along with a model of how it should look when finished, and another one with directional arrows next to each letter. (3 Pages)
-2 Extra Large Lines for writing the alphabet, with two versions, lined or sky grass dirt colored (4 pages)
-2 Extra Large Lines for writing the alphabet, realistic graphics of sky, grass, dirt, with the alphabet in upper and lowercase to help aide children in writing (2 pages)
All of this, over 100 pages, for $8 on my TPT store! And it WORKS! Just look at what my little TKs were able to do before we went out on quarantine! Below you can see ALL of the papers from my class, not just the ones from the faster learners.
The key is to start on the lined color paper right from the beginning, so that they understand that the size and placement of each letter is an important part of learning to print.
It is not hard to get kids to transfer what they learned on the colored paper to the white paper. You just need to remind them to use what they know, and not “ignore” the lines on the white paper. :)
Any questions?? Let me know!
- Heidi :)
P.S. Don't forget all our videos are available to STREAM on Uscreen, FREE for the first 30 days! It's an awesome way to bring some EASY, active learning to your students during this time, and they can always cancel right before they are ever charged, like on day 29! Check out the info page on our website for more info!
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Follow me! Did you enjoy this post? Do me a favor and share it with your friends! And follow this blog by signing up for my email updates here, and follow me on TPT! I'm also on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, too! Don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter for special deals and promo codes that you won't find out about anywhere else.
I use these Sky Grass Dirt Alphabet Formation Practice Sheets and Rhyme Cards to introduce a letter, and then practice writing it correctly when teaching letter writing and printing in both large and small groups! Using the Sky-Grass-Dirt format to explain where the letters go on the lines really helps many children understand where the letters should be placed, and what size they should be.
The practice sheets are perfect for use with dry erase markers! Just sneak a peek at the rhyme printed on the back of the card, while showing the letter printed in large Sky-Grass-Dirt format with directional arrows on the front of the card. Then sing or chant the rhymes together to help the children learn how to write the letters. Sung or spoken, these rhymes are quite helpful for the children as they are learning to write the letters, and serve as a great tool to boost their memory and make the task a lot more fun at the same time! The rhymes, combined with the Sky-Grass-Dirt practice sheets are winning combination to make alphabet writing SO MUCH EASIER!!!
This resource supports the video, Alphabet Formation: Songs to Write the ABCs, available on DVD at HeidiSongs.com, or via internet video streaming at Uscreen. However, it can be used with or without the videos.
It also goes along GREAT with our Letter of the Week Focus Wall!
Here's what's Included:
-Instructions with tips for teaching kids using the Sky-Grass-Dirt method of teaching printing, and using these materials specifically. (5 Pages)
-26 Alphabet Formation Display Cards/Posters with sky Sky-Grass-Dirt letter models in full color. (27 Pages)
-26 Rhyme Cards with poems/songs to help kids remember how to form the letters, and a beginning sound picture. Each card contains two rhymes: one for the upper and one for the lowercase letter, (except for letters in which one rhyme would suffice, such as the letter S.) (27 Pages)
-26 A-Z Scaffolded Sky-Grass-Dirt practice sheets to help children transition from the colored to the black and white paper, and one blank one. (28 Pages)
-3 Large format 8..5” x 11” Sky Grass Dirt Cards to demonstrate the printing of each letter, and to teach them the NAMES of each line: “Sky, Fence, Grass and Dirt.” Just point to each line and have them tell you what the name of it is. This is great practice and helps them figure out what you mean when you tell them to "start at the fence, and then draw that line all the way down into the mud," for example. For my kids, this cleared the whole mystery of how to write those "dirt letters," such as y, g, j, p, q. One card has a realistic photo of sky, grass, and dirt behind the lines. Another shows the lines with just blue to represent the sky, green for the grass, and brown for the dirt behind the lines. The last is simply a large format card with black and white lines. There are also three additional pages for children that need to practice each of these formats separately in large format. (7 Pages)
-1 A-Z Alphabet writing practice sheet in black and white to help children practice writing the entire alphabet, along with a model of how it should look when finished, and another one with directional arrows next to each letter. (3 Pages)
-2 Extra Large Lines for writing the alphabet, with two versions, lined or sky grass dirt colored (4 pages)
-2 Extra Large Lines for writing the alphabet, realistic graphics of sky, grass, dirt, with the alphabet in upper and lowercase to help aide children in writing (2 pages)
All of this, over 100 pages, for $8 on my TPT store! And it WORKS! Just look at what my little TKs were able to do before we went out on quarantine! Below you can see ALL of the papers from my class, not just the ones from the faster learners.
The key is to start on the lined color paper right from the beginning, so that they understand that the size and placement of each letter is an important part of learning to print.
It is not hard to get kids to transfer what they learned on the colored paper to the white paper. You just need to remind them to use what they know, and not “ignore” the lines on the white paper. :)
Any questions?? Let me know!
- Heidi :)
P.S. Don't forget all our videos are available to STREAM on Uscreen, FREE for the first 30 days! It's an awesome way to bring some EASY, active learning to your students during this time, and they can always cancel right before they are ever charged, like on day 29! Check out the info page on our website for more info!
----------------------------------
Follow me! Did you enjoy this post? Do me a favor and share it with your friends! And follow this blog by signing up for my email updates here, and follow me on TPT! I'm also on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, too! Don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter for special deals and promo codes that you won't find out about anywhere else.
