Uppercase & Lowercase Letter Recognition

Developmentally, upper case letters are easier so we teach them first. The upper case teaching order helps teach correct formation and orientation while eliminating reversals. At 3 and 4 fine motor skills can better accommodate uppercase letters. Learning capitals first makes learning lowercase letters easy. Teach lowercase c, o, s, v, and w, first because they are exactly the same as their capital partners, only smaller. By teaching capitals first, we have prepared children for nearly half of the lowercase letters that are similar in formation. Have the children learn this saying to help them distinguish a “b” from a “d.” When you write a “b,” just like in baseball, first draw the bat and then the ball—a bat and ball make a “b.”

UPPERCASE & LOWERCASE CLOTHESPIN MATCH

Denise Griffith from Wheatley Early Childhood Programs in Port Arthur, Texas created the matching game pictured here. With a fine marker write an uppercase letter on one side of a clothespin and the corresponding lowercase letter on the other side. Glue letter pairs around an 8” by 11” poster board. At first, have the children match the uppercase letter and then the lowercase letter with its matching pair. When they have mastered that skill, prepare another two boards. Make one board with only the uppercase letters, and one with only the lowercase letters. Now the children can practice matching uppercase to lowercase letters.

LETTER RECOGNITION STORIES

First, read the story to the children, and then ask them to follow the directions 1-3.
1. Circle every letter “w” in the story below.
2. Underline every letter “p” in the story.
3. Put a box around every letter “m” in the story.

I saw a pig on the farm.
I saw some worms on the farm.
I saw a man on the farm.
I liked the farm.

PLASTIC SPOON LETTER RECOGNITION

Write the uppercase letters on 26 plastic spoons, and the lowercase letters on 26 plastic forks. Label uppercase letters “ABC” on one plastic plate, and lowercase letters “abc” on another plastic plate. Have the children Identify and sort the uppercase and lowercase letters.