This was an idea of one of our teachers that I adapted to give students practice with letter-sound associations. We purchased a cloth shoe rack for about $25 readily available at Walmart or Bed Bath Shops. These hang over a door with hooks. Each shoe section is labeled with the print letter, then laminated, then embossed with the corresponding braille letter. Each section is full of items that begin with that letter sound. Children love to explore the different tactile textures.
Materials
- cloth shoe rack
- braille and print letters
- small items for each letter of the alphabet
Procedure
- Place small objects beginning with each letter in each pocket.
- Ask students to identify the items and name the letter they begin with.
Variations
Games could be adapted to make the exploration more interesting.
- For example, “Count all the items in Letter ‘C'”.
- Pull out items from two different letters and have the child sort or separate them according to their beginning sound.
- Ask the child to name each item with an adjective that begins with the same sound. ie, candy caterpillar, black bug, dirty dog.
