I began with an Alphabet Assessment Checklist. I asked Nicholas to identify all letters in the uppercase form and to tell the sound for each letter. We then used the letters "BB," "Mm," "Nn," and "Tt," and Nicholas matched pictures to the correct letter, focusing on the first sound of the picture/word. "Bb" was slightly difficult, but there was a definite improvement in Nicholas' ability to tell the first sound of a word without me "stretching" or "bouncing" the sound for him. Nicholas printed his first name without assistance and identified each letter in his name. We will work on his last name in upcoming lessons. Last week, I asked Nicholas to print letters we have studied, in the uppercase form, with no model to follow. He had a bit of difficulty with F, I, T, and B. Today he printed them correctly. Before he printed the requested letter, on his own he said the sound for the letter to himself. This strategy seemed to help him print the letter. Nicholas read the following sight words: I a is for He continues to have difficulty with "the." I introduced the word, "at" and asked Nicholas to "stretch" the sounds with me...aaaaattttt (at). I introduced the letter "Ww" and the sound /w/. Our alphabet card showed the word "wwwwwagon" and the take-home alphabet card showed a "wwwwwet wwwwwhale." We then watched a short You Tube video focusing on the letter "Ww" and the sound /w/.

During our lesson we revisited last week's lesson and then started to identify different feelings and sound that come with applying different pressure to the drumsticks when striking the drum.

Nicholas became a little more familiar with the drum pads on the drum set. He isolated hands playing both 1 and 2 notes on each drum at a time.

Nicholas correctly identified the following letters: Aa, Bb, Cc, Ee, Ff, Hh, Ii, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Ss, Tt, Vv, and Zz. He identified the sound for each letter, except for short /i/. Nicholas read all of our "environmental print" cards...Example: "F is for (picture of) Fruit Loops." We added the "B" card..."B is for (picture of the logo for) Burger King." Nicholas found the "B" foam letter. When asked to find the "b" foam letter, he pointed to "d." This is a very common error in young children. He then matched all of the capital foam letters we have studied to the lowercase letter. We then read/sang "B is for Bubbles." It is sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Nicholas highlighted every "B" and "b" in the song. I then gave him a bubble wand (bbbbbubble) and we had fun taking one turn each with the wand. Nicholas printed all of the lowercase letters we have studied. He did this without looking at a model to copy. We then worked on printing "B" and "b." We concluded our lesson with the reading of the following words: I is for the

Nicholas reviewed the name and sound for Aa, Cc, Ff, Hh, Ii, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Pp, Ss, Tt, and Vv. I introduced the letter "Bb" and the "bounce sound" /b/. The alphabet card had a picture of a "bbbbbus." The take-home card had a picture of a "bbbbbee." Nicholas watched a short You Tube video that focused on the letter "Bb" and the sound /b/. Nicholas reviewed his sight words---is for the --- I then put the word "I" on an index card, adding this to his sight words. Nicholas printed his first name and then he printed the capital form of all the letters he has studied. He did not have a model to copy during this activity. We concluded this hour by playing a letter identification game called "Undersea ABCs." We focused only on capital letters as we played this game.

Using our alphabet cards, Nicholas stated the name and sound of the letters we have studied...Aa Cc Ff Hh Kk Ll Mm Nn Pp Ss Tt Vv Ii..Nicholas did well, only forgetting the sound for short /i/. For each card he would say, for example, "Mm /m/ mitten." On several occasions, Nicholas also suggested his own word for the letter on the card. We focused on our newest letter "Ii" and the sound for short /i/. We reviewed the alphabet card, stretching "iiiiiguana." We reviewed the take-home card, stretching "iiiiitty-bitty iiiiinchworm." Nicholas and I then read/sang the short song, "I is for Iguana." It is sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It." Nicholas then highlighted each "I" and "i" in the song. The next activity focused on the letters and sounds for "Hh," "Vv," "Kk," and "Ii." He matched pictures to each letter, focusing on the first sound heard in the picture. We then worked on the sight words, "is" and "for." I introduced the sight word "The/the."

Using our alphabet cards, Nicholas stated the name and sound of the letters we have studied...Ll Aa Ff Kk Hh Ss Pp Tt Cc Mm Vv Nn...Nicholas did well, having difficulty only with the sound for /n/. He then matched his small take-home alphabet cards to the large alphabet cards, affording him an extra opportunity to identify letters and sounds. I handed Nicholas a strip of capital foam letters and asked him to "punch out" the uppercase "V." He then did the same with the lowercase foam letters. Nicholas reviewed all of the "environmental print" cards. Each one begins with "------- (the letter is in this blank space) is for ------. For example, "C is for cupcake (picture of a cupcake)." I then printed "is" and "for" on index cards. These will be sight words for Nicholas. I then read a book, focusing on the letter "Vv" and the sound /v/. The title of the book is "My V Sound Box." The story focused on Valentine's Day. It used a picture, as well as the word, for all the words in the story beginning with "Vv." Nicholas "read" each word that was accompanied by a picture. I introduced the letter "Ii" and the short vowel sound, /i/. Our alphabet card has a picture of an "iguana" on it. Nicholas "stretched" the /i/ sound in "iguana." I explained that "Ii" can be called the "smiley sound" because our mouth makes a smile when we stretch the sound. The small take-home card has a picture of an inchworm and we are calling it the "iiiiitty-bitty iiiiinchworm." Nicholas watched a short video focusing on the letter "Ii" and the short vowel sound /i/. He then continued working on his "Vv" activity...making a volcano using construction paper, tissue paper, paint, and cotton balls.

Nicholas used our alphabet cards and correctly identified all the letters and sounds we have studied: Aa Cc Ff Hh Kk Ll Mm Nn Pp Ss Tt Vv Nicholas then listened to an interactive short video which focused on the letter "Hh" (heart) and the letter "Vv" (valentine). We then read and sang (to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?"), "V is for Volcano." Nicholas then high lighted every "V" and "v." I introduced the take-home story, "Gifts for Valentine's Day." Each page began with the word "The," followed by one word. This one word had a picture that matched the print. Nicholas began to sound out each word by looking at the first letter and making sure this sound matched the way the picture began. I put the word "the" and "The" on an index card. This will now be a sight word. Nicholas traced two hearts. He labeled one "heart" and one "valentine." He printed the sounds he knew. Nicholas' last activity was making a volcano out of construction paper, tissue paper, cotton balls, and paint.

Using our large alphabet cards, Nicholas identified the letter, the sound, and "stretched" or "bounced" the word shown by the picture on the card (EX: hhhhhouse)...Nn Ll Aa Ff Kk Hh Ss Pp Tt Cc Mm Nicholas then had a second chance to identify these letters and sounds as he matched his small take-home cards to the large alphabet cards. I gave Nicholas a strip of capital magnetic foam letters and asked him to "punch out" the "H." He did the same with the lowercase magnetic foam letters. He then matched all the foam capital letters studied to the foam lowercase letters. We reviewed the "environmental print" cards that were a bit difficult for Nicholas last Friday---"T is for Target" "K is for Kentucky Fried Chicken" We then looked at the card for "Hh."--- "H is for handicapped parking" I then introduced the letter "Vv" and the sound /v/. We looked at the large alphabet card and stretched "vvvvviolin." We then looked at the small take home card and "stretched" "vvvvvolcano." Nicholas enjoyed looking at a short You Tube video focusing on the letter "Vv." Valentine's Day is next week, so I selected "Hh" and "Vv" as the last two letters we have looked at... "Hh" for "heart" and "Vv" for "Valentine."

Nicholas used our large alphabet cards and told me the name and sound for those we have studied: Nn, Ss, Ll, Pp, Aa, Tt, Ff, Cc, Kk, Mm He then matched our smaller "animal" cards to these large cards. We "bounced" or "stretched" the name of each animal on the smaller cards. EX: "Bounce" the "p" in "ppppplayful pppppenguin." EX: "Stretch" the "s" in "sssssilly sssssnowman." Nicholas then looked at pictures, listened to the sound at the start of the word, and matched the picture to the correct letter. We then looked at our "environmental picture" cards and read each one. EX: L is for lion. Nicholas then played "Solo Cup Smash." We set up six cups in pyramid fashion. On each cup was a letter. Nicholas identified each letter and then took a "pinky" ball and knocked down the pyramid. Our new letter was "Hh" and the "bounce" sound /h/. Our alphabet card has a "house" on it and our animal card has a "happy hippo" on it. We watched a short You Tube video focusing on the letter "Hh." We then sang the song "H is for Hippopotamus" (to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It") as we looked at the words in print. Nicholas then highlighted every "H" and "h" that he saw. Nicholas then completed a Q-tip painting activity where he was asked to trace big and small hearts. Nicholas printed his name on his paper.