BATT: Additional resources

These resources build upon the Beginning Alphabetics Tests and Tools (BATT) project. For more detailed information on the BATT refer to the Beginning Alphabetics Tests and Tools tab. 
More Roman Alphabet Activities
To be used with the BATT 
Daily Alphabet Drill
  1. Make the 26 upper and lower case letters visible on a classroom poster or strips taped to students’ desks (see below for a free, printable download)
  2. Teacher calls out the 26 alphabet letters one by one (the pace can increase over time)
  3. One student comes up and points to the letter on the poster or all students point to the letter on their alphabet strips
 
Alphabet Bingo
  1. All students have copies of Tests 1, 2, or 3 (just one)
  2. Teacher calls out upper, lower, or upper/lower letters
  3. As letters are called, students cover them up with markers
  4. Nobody wins or loses, but everybody has a good time!
 
Alphabet Partner Quiz
  1. Student pairs cut up Tests 1, 2, or 3
  2. One student quizzes the other by showing a flashcard and asking for the name
  3. Students switch roles
 
Alphabet Matching 1
  1. Students cut up Test 1 or Test 2
  2. They place the flashcards in matching boxes on the other test
 
Alphabet Matching 2
  1. All students have copies of Tests 1 and 2 (both)
  2. They cut out upper and lower case letters from magazines
  3. They paste the magazine letters in matching boxes
Alphabet Memory Game
  1. Student pairs cut up Tests 1 and 2, mix, and place them face down
  2. They play a memory game by turning over and matching the letters
  3. The student with the most correct matches wins!
 
Alphabet Tracing
  1. All students have copies of Tests 1 or 2
  2. Teacher names a lower or upper case letter
  3. Teacher talks aloud their process of tracing: For b or d: “Start at the top, go down the line, then go back up the line, and make a circle.”
 
Alphabet Air or Skywriting
  1. Teacher cuts up Test 1 or 2 and mixes them up
  2. A student pulls out one letter
  3. He/she writes the letter “in the air or sky”
  4. Other students guess the letter
 
Alphabet Ordering
  1. Students cut up Test 3
  2. They line up the flashcards in alphabetical order
  3. They paste them in alphabetical order on another sheet of paper
 
Alphabet Quiz
  1. Teacher forms student pairs
  2. One student selects a Test 3 letter and says the name
  3. The other writes the lower and upper case letter on Test 4
  4. Students switch roles
NOTE: More FREE alphabet flashcards and bingo cards available at: http://www.mcedservices.com
Free Instructional Websites
​
Magic Keys, ABC Fast Phonics by Carol Moore
  1. Go to http://www.abcfastphonics.com
  2. Students click on #4 Letter Names
 
Starfall by Starfall Education
  1. Go to http://www.starfall.com
  2. Students select ABCs
 
English Code Crackers by Patsy Vinogradov, Kristin Perry, and Kristin Klas
  1. Go to http://www.englishcodecrackers.com
  2. Look for information or files on code-cracking presentations, respected books, published materials, multi-sensory instructional videos, and tile or flashcard printables
More Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Word Recognition Activities
Group (or Pair) Consonant Quiz
  1. All students have copies of Test 5
  2. Teacher calls out single consonant sounds
  3. Students write the letters for the sounds
  4. Teacher gives the correct answer immediately
 
In Phonics They Use (Cunningham, 2013), the author suggests this activity:
  1. Teacher makes a list of action (run, jump, drive, fly, hop, kick, laugh, smile, etc.) or food (banana, cake, crackers, fish, milk, soup, yogurt, pizza, etc.) words that begin with taught sounds
  2. Teacher says or acts the words and students write down the beginning sound
  3. Teacher gives the correct answer immediately
 
Group Word Building
  1. Teacher distributes LARGE letter-sound flash cards to students
  2. She/he builds 2-3 letter words by sending students to the front of the classroom
  3. All students read and spell the words together
 
Chart Practice
  1. Teacher makes a chart on the board of taught sounds
  2. He/she says 3 letter words beginning with taught sounds and asks students where to write them
  3. Teacher does the same for 2-3 letter words ending with taught sounds
 
Letter and Word Changes (the number of changes depends on sounds known)
  1. Teacher writes a taught word on the board:  sat
  2. He/she changes the s to c to make cat and students say the word
  3. He/she changes the t to b to make cab and students say the word
  4. He/she changes the c to t make tab and students say the word
  5. He/she changes the b to g to make tag and students say the word
Making New Words
  1. Teacher writes a list of taught words on the board
  2. Students change consonants to make new words
  3. Students change vowels to make new words
  4. Students write phrases or sentences for the words
  5. Students sort the list and new words into letter-sound patterns
  6. Minimal Pairs or Trios
    • Teacher creates (or finds) a worksheet of word pairs or trios with one difference in consonant (bat, cat, hat or bad, fad, mad) or vowel sounds (bat, bit, but or bad, bid, bud)
    • Teacher says one of the words (similar to Tests 6A and B)
    • Students circle the word spoken
    • Teacher gives the correct answer immediately
 
Word, Phrase, and Sentence Sharing
  1. Students cut-up flashcard pages for taught letter-sound patterns
  2. In pairs, they form as many words as possible; teacher checks for real words
  3. Students share words with another pair
  4. Students write phrases or sentences for those words
  5. Students share phrases or sentences with the same pair
 
Phonics Bingo
  1. Teacher creates bingo cards for taught letter-sound or word patterns
  2. Teacher calls out taught sounds or words
  3. Students mark letters or words
  4. First student to cover 4 or 5 in a row wins!

Materials

Printable
Free Downloads to Print:

Alphabet Letter Strips
Teacher Flashcards
Fry's Instant Words Lists
Phrases and Sentences for Dictation

Online for FREE:

  • Center for the Study of Adult Literacy (CSAL) has organized an electronic library of over 1500 texts at grade levels 3.0-7.9. All have been reviewed by the CSAL team and are recommended for use with adult readers. http://csal.gsu.edu/content/library
   
  • Reading Skills for Today’s Adults by Marshall Adult Basic Education is intended “to help adults become better readers and more informed consumers, parents, employees, citizens and community members.” There is a wide variety of stories at Levels 0.7-8.0. http://www.marshalladulteducation.org/reading-skills-for-todays-adult
  • ReadWorks provides a wide variety of research-based units, lessons, and authentic, leveled non-fiction and literary passages. A login is required to view and print over 2200 passages at K-12 levels, each with question sets to support text comprehension. http://www.readworks.org
  • Story by Story Online by Charles and Pam LaRue, MCED Services includes 12 audio versions of short vowel and consonant digraph stories. http://www.mcedservices.com/phonics/phonics.htm
 
Consumable
Print to Purchase:
 
  • Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself/Reading Horizons by Charlotte F. Lockhart, HEC Reading Horizons. The print/software versions provide “a proven, multi-sensory approach that teaches foundational concepts.” 
 
  • Phonics They Use, Words for Reading and Writing, Sixth Edition by Patricia M. Cunningham, Pearson Education, Inc. This new resource provides more activities for building a pre-reading foundation, alphabetic and phonics knowledge, fluency, and spelling.
 
  • Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists, 5th Edition by Edward B. Fry and Jacqueline E. Kress, Jossey Bass. Lists 7-10 (pages 9-32) provide a phonics teaching order and example words.
 
  • Sequential and Systematic Phonics They Use: For Beginning Readers of All Ages by Patricia M. Cunningham, Carson Dellosa Publishing Company, Inc. This earlier resource provides activities for building alphabetic and phonics knowledge, fluency, and spelling.
  • Talk of the Block, New Reader’s Press. This set of engaging stories “provides phonetic instruction of short or long vowel sounds, reading practice, and activities at the lowest reading levels.”
 
  • The Teacher’s Line and Basic Angling for Words Student Book by Dorothy B. Montgomery and Angling for Words Study Book by Carolyn C. Bowen, Academic Therapy Publications. These three books provide “a multi-sensory, structured, and sequential approach” to reading and spelling.
 
  • What’s Next? by Lia Conklin, New Reader’s Press. This two-level, series provides “easy-to-read stories that follow Samsam, a Somali immigrant, through her daily life in the U.S. where she is faced with learning English, finding a job, visiting a doctor, and more.”

​Software to Purchase:
 
  • Ultimate Phonics Reading Program by Spencer Learning. This software program teaches “essential phonics skills” and is appropriate for all ages.
 
  • Wilson Reading System by Wilson Language Training Corporation, 2007, 2010.  This research-based reading and spelling curricula is for readers of all ages.