Homeschool and Teacher Resource: Classroom Alphabet Resource Kit

Alphabet Kit $6.95

• Instant PDF Download!
• Unlimited Printing. Print and use again and again.

Looking for coordinated alphabet decorations for your classroom?

• Want an alphabet border that also functions as a handwriting and phonics reference?
• Need the convenience of printing resources from your own computer?
• Looking for coordinated products such as desk strips, flashcards, and word wall headers?

Testy Homeschool & Teacher Resources:
Classroom Alphabet Resource Kit

This Classroom Alphabet Resource kit has been designed to provide coordinated classroom decorations and materials to be used in the teaching of the alphabet, phonics, and handwriting. The alphabet border uses Steck-Vaughn style printing which is similar to the Zaner-Bloser ball and stick, but slanted like D'Nealian (although less ornamental). The letters of the alphabet are printed in both uppercase and lowercase on each card on a 3-line rule. Each of the three lines are slightly different to aid in visual discrimination. The bottom half of the 3-line rule is highlighted also to aid in visual discrimination of the letter parts.

There are 1-4 pictures associated with each letter to aid in the teaching of phonics. Some of the letters in the English language are used to produce more than one sound. For example, the letter "C" can be read with an /k/ sound in "cat" or an /s/ sound in "circus". The pictures on the alphabet chart and the flashcards are chosen to reinforce these phonics details. There is an optional additional page for the alphabet border which features 6 common digraphs (ch, sh, th, ph, kn, wh). All together, the alphabet border is almost 13 feet long and consists of 14 color pages to be printed on any color printer. You can laminate the individual pages for durability before hanging them if you wish.

There are mini versions of all of the alphabet border cards to be used as either alphabet or phonics flashcards for drill or use in small groups, centers, or individual games. In this set each diagraph has its own card.

The resource kit also includes the 3-rule uppercase and lowercase letters on individual cards that can be used as headers for a word wall. I've included the digraphs here as well if you choose to separate out words that begin with digraphs into their own section (put "chick" under "ch" instead of under "c").

There is a handwriting mini-poster that illustrates how some lowercase letters are small (use only the bottom half of the 3-line rule), some are tall (use the entire 3-line rule) and some fall (fall below the 3-line rule). This can be a great visual aid when teaching formation of the lowercase letters.

Finally the set includes desk strips that can be attached to each child's desk or table or placed in a folder for their reference. There is a 3-line rule spot to write the child's name to be used as a spelling and handwriting reference. The entire uppercase and lowercase alphabet on the desk strip along with the six common digraphs, the numerals 1 through 9, and a tiny version of the mini-handwriting poster.

Printable Alphabet Resources Included:

• 13 foot, full color Alphabet border
• 32 letter and digraph flashcards
• Handwriting Mini-Poster
• 32 Word Wall Headers
• Desk Strips

This resource is intended to be purchased and used by a single educator in his or her classroom/s. Please do not share these materials with other educators. Refer them to my website instead. Thanks!

Alphabet Kit $6.95

• Instant PDF Download!
• Unlimited Printing. Print and use again and again.

Scholastic Book Clubs for Homeschool Too

I remember getting Scholastic Book club flyers as a child and poring over them for hours choosing exactly what to spend my allowance on. I remember turning in the paper form and the money to my teacher and I remember the joy of getting my little pile of books each month when they came in. It made me sad to think that my children wouldn't have that fun because our family is choosing to homeschool.

As it turns out, you can participate in Scholastic Book Clubs (now called Scholastic Reading Club) as a homeschool. You simply go to the Club Sign In Page and click on the "Don't have an account? Register now" button. Choose to register as an educator and then on the next popup page after entering your basic contact information you choose "Homeschool". You'll pick the grades you're teaching (you can choose more than one) and they'll send you paper flyers, but you can also do everything online.

Right now, if you make a $25 order, they'll send you a 10 pack of books with a teacher's guide for free (the book pack will correspond to the highest grade level you picked in your profile - if you want to receive a pack for a lower grade, simply temporarily remove the higher grades from your profile and add them back in later).

They have another amazing deal going on right now too. Teachers (including homeschool teachers) can purchase packs of 24 birthday coupons for $25. The coupons can be redeemed for books from any of the flyers for books up to a $5 value. So your $25 now can be redeemed for up to $120 in books during the rest of the school year.

I just made an order where I'll be getting 104 books for about 77 cents each (yes, I went a little crazy, but the deals are often best in the first flyer of the school year. The bonus points you are earning with the current order can actually be spent on the current order if you go into checkout and then back out again to make more changes. I used the points I earned on this order to "buy" additional books which is how I got the books down to 77 cents each. Well, that and I got a lot of multi-packs that were a good bargain.

I highly recommend the book clubs. It is difficult to find books elsewhere that match Scholastic's prices and they often have exclusive softcover versions of books that are only available in hardcover everywhere else. If you avoid the few ridiculously high prices items thrown into each flyer you can easily get 7-15 books a month for about $1-$1.50 each. You can also skip a month whenever you like.

If you happen to be in a homeschool organization one person can sign up as an educator and then distribute flyers to everyone else. The other parents can sign up for parent (rather than educator) accounts and use a code given to them by the coordinator to place their orders and pay for them online.

Enjoy!

Free Simple Articulation Screening Tool

For those of you who are new, I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist. I also have a daughter with Childhood Apraxia of Speech who wasn't talking at the age of two. Look back in the archives for the full journey, but to simplify things a lot, she made a great deal of progress once we began intensive therapy. Several months later she had enough speech to attempt an articulation test. Hahahaha. I'm sure some of you have tried a GFTA with an apraxic two year old so you know where I'm coming from here. It took us three sessions. And it was a mess. Think about the stimuli on a GFTA. There are so many of them. They are multisyllablic. The problems with the instrument in the context of severe apraxia with a young child are purely practical.

I just needed a quick, simple, way to gather data about the phonemic inventory of a young child with a severe speech delay while maximizing their chances of success. That meant I needed simple stimuli (CVC words) and a short test (appropriate for short attention spans). So I made my own. And I used it and found it useful. Then it sat in a folder on my computer for two years.

Recently I decided I wanted to re-screen Ava's speech. Now, of course, she could participate in a standardized articulation assessment without a problem, but I don't own one, so I dug out the screening I made two years ago to use again. All of the reasons it worked then make it an extremely easy instrument to readminister now. I thought I would share the instrument with all of you.

If you like this free articulation screener, you might want to check out the premium speech therapy kits now available in the Testy Shop. Kits include expanded speech sound card sets, illustrated minimal pairs, homework sheets and more in a single download.

Simple Articulation Screening

Description

This is a tool designed to screen the phonetic inventory and articulation errors of young children with severe speech delays. The screening is comprised of picture stimuli of 22 CVC words. Prompts are provided on the back of each stimulus card. Results can be analyzed for individual articulation errors and for patterns of phonological processing errors.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this articulation screening provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

To download click on each image to open it full size. Then right click on the image, choose "save as" and save the page to your computer.

I recommend you print on cardstock or laminate for durability.

Looking for Feedback

I would love to hear back from anyone who uses this card set. Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change. Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.

Where can I find more?

Speech therapy picture card sets are on my Download/Print Free Speech Articulation Materials page. Other card sets include /p, b, t, d, m, n, h, f, v, k, g, w, j, s, z, l, r, th, ch, sh, ʤ, s-blends, and l-blends/. More sets are being added regularly.