Action Research

Initial Meeting with Teacher

When I first began talking to Mrs. Kaiser about who I was
going to work with throughout my action research project she
gave me two options, one would be working with the lowest of low
on letter sounds and recognition while the second option was to
work with children in the pink area (two students who are on the
verge of reading) and giving them an extra push. After working
with all of Mrs. Kaisers students in the classroom, we decided it
would be most beneficial for me to work with the two students are
in the red area and tend to need the most extra help in class.

Students Chosen
Student J: Mrs. Kaiser chose this student because of his slow letter
and word recognition as well as his inability to keep up with the
class when writing. This student is also part of ELL and leaves
daily to work on his English with an ELL coach. Although this
student struggles with rate and recognition, Mrs. Kaiser and I
believe that within the three weeks Ive been there, his fluency
skills have improved and with one-on-one intervention and being
pulled out daily, his fluency skills will continue to improve.
Student R: Mrs. Kaiser chose this student because of his
inadequate ability to recognize letters as well as his name. Mrs.
Kaiser explained that this student is very underexposed and
struggles even knowing his own name. She also explained that
because of certain paperwork and documentation issues, this
student has not had an opportunity to be pulled out for a
specialist to work one-on-one with him. This is a huge reason we
decided I would work with him for action research. Hopefully with
lots of one-on-one intervention and work with letter recognition,
Rs fluency and overall language skills will begin to improve.

The Question

After discussing with Mrs. Kaiser what specific students she

wanted me to work with, we discovered the common problem was
that these two students couldnt recognize letters. For the focus
of the research action project we will keep this question in mind:
How can below grade level kindergarten students letter
recognition ability improve to eventually recognize sight
words and develop in their overall fluency skills? By
working on each individual letter sound and shape, we hope to
improve each students letter recognition.

Action Research Timeline

Pre-Session
Initial Meeting with Mrs. Kaiser o Discuss with Mrs. Kaiser what individual students I will
be working with in a group
o Find a common problem within the group of students
o Identify my action research focus question

Session 1
Pre-Assessment:
o Verbal student interest survey to discover what student
J and R are interested in
Letter Recognition test whole alphabet

Session 2
File folder games letter recognition
Letter Recognition in students own names show them their
name and then use individual letter matching. Match each
letter in their name, using uppercase and lowercase

Session 3
Letter stamps
CAP Assessment
Letter pans

Session 4
Read students the book Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
Alphabet foam letters

Session 5
Speedy Alphabet Arc (readingrockets.com) this will serve
as a count for how many letters both students have learned
over the sessions
Final letters in name recognition test

Initial Assessment Reflection

Administered September 29th, 2015 Letter Names/Recognition
Test
Student J
After administrating the Letter Name Test to Student J, I
became more excited for the action research project in general.
This student was so excited to work with me. He asked every time
I was in the class if he could go work on letters with me. He was
eager to learn and I really appreciated his enthusiasm. Before
administrating the Letter Test we first discovered certain interests
that student J had. Student J loves animals and in particular, he
loves dogs. He said his family does not have a dog but one day he
hopes to get one! Student J to begin with knew 4 out of 5 letters
in his name plus one other letters. Therefore he knew 19% of the
alphabet. This seemed challenging but I could tell because of the
exposure to the letters in his name, he just needed exposure to all
the other letters and could pick up quickly.
Student R
After administrating both the Letter Recognition Test and the
Interest Survey/Discussion I realized that this students struggles
were more deeply rooted than I thought to begin with. Not only
does this student know 0 letters in his name but he also lacks
both fine and gross motor skills. It was hard to get this student to
pay attention and he would often fall out of his chair. He does not

have the fine motor skills to hold a pencil in his hand so he is not
able to write his name, even if he could verbally tell me the
letters in his name.

Action Research Chart

Date/Tim Strategy
e Spent
Descripti
on

Anecdotal Data from

Observati Assessmen
on
t/Activity

Plan for
Next
Session

Reflect

9/29/15
25 mins.

-Interests
to
engage
-Letter
recogniti
on

-It took a
while for
both
students to
complete the
interest
survey,
easily
distracted
-Student R
scored a 0%
on his letter
recognition
test; he was
not able to
correlate any
letters to
symbols.
-Student J
scored 19%
on the letter
recognition
assessment,
(knowing A,
S, J, O, and
X)

-Next
session I
will work
on letter
recognitio
n with
both
students J
and R in
their own
names.
Learning
lettersymbol
correspon
dence and
how to
spell you
name is
vital.

-Both
students J
and R are
very
excited to
come
work with
me during
center
time and
it is so
sweet. I
think this
will be
very
valuable
time
spent
with
these two
throughou
t the
semester.

10/6/15
15 mins.

Students
name

-Student R
is very
culturally
aware, when
observing
the language
he does
know it
seems he
has been
exposed to
multiple TV
shows and
pop cultural
songs.
Therefore his
interests are
not
academic,
two specific
things he
said he liked
was
cartoons
and watch
me whip.
-Student J
is an ELL
student and
I figured out
today that
he loves
animals
-Student R
does not
know any

-Student R
knows 0 out
of 4 letters in

-Next
session I
plan to

-I wish I
could
record the

letter
recogniti
on
-File
folder
game

10/15/15 -Letter
25 mins. pans

-CAP
assessmen
t

10/20/15 -Modeling
20 mins. -Visual

letters in his
name. When
I ask what
the letter is
he responds
with his
name,
-Student J
knows each
letter in his
name,
besides one.
-They were
both excited
to use the
letter
manipulative
s and
wanted to
touch the
strawberry
file folder
game.
-The letter
pans are so
much fun for
both student
J and R!
-Student R
is beginning
to remember
the letters in
his name,
yay!
-They both
struggled
with the
concepts
about print
assessment.

his name.
On this day,
we focused
on R and A
using picture
examples of
other words
beginning
with those
letters.
-Student J
knows 4 out
5 letters in
his name and
is so excited
about
learning
more letters!

work more
with
Student R
on the
letters of
his name
-I also
plan to
complete
the CAP
assessme
nt with
both
students

exciteme
nt of
student J
has when
he recites
the
correct
letter. The
feeling of
success is
great and
I know
this is
beneficial
for them
both.

-Student
R scored a
3 out of 13
on CAP
-Student J
scored a
6/13 on
CAP

-Next
session I
plan on
reading
them an
alphabet
book,
hoping
they will
read aloud
a few
letters
with me
-We will
also work
on visually
tracing
letters

-Today I

-Both
students
really

-Both
students

-Next
session
will be the

noticed
more
clearly
how much
Student R
not only
struggles
with
alphabetic
knowledge
but also
his fine
and gross
motor
skills.
Holding
the book
during the
CAP
assessmen
t was
difficult for
him.
-Both
these
students

11/3/15
15 mins.

Lettering

enjoyed
reading,
Eating the
Alphabet
(who doesnt
love food?)
-Students R
and J were
both very
smiley and a
little goofy
today both
loved the
idea of
writing
letters in the
air.

were able
to visually
trace all
letters of
the
alphabet
with
guidance.
-Student J
visually
traced his
whole
name with
no help.

last
session so
I plan to
do a final
alphabet
assessme
nt. For
student
R my goal
is for him
just to be
able to
spell his
name.

are
genuinely
learning
letter
names and
I am so
proud of
the growth
I have
seen in
each of
these
students
so I am
excited for
next week
to see
their
progress in
all!

-Alphabet
Arc
-Letters
in name

-To begin
with I asked
student J to
write out his
name on his
paper and
he wrote it
correctly!!
Yay! Then I
asked
student R to
spell his
name
because his
fine motor
skills dont
necessarily
allow him to
hold his
pencil and
write letters
and he
verbally told
me how to
spell his
name!
-Then we
worked on
the alphabet
arc to test

-Student J
could now
name 17
letters out of
26!
-Student R
now could
name the
letters in his
name plus 6
other letters!
He is slowly
but surely
learning his
alphabet!

N/A

-Ah! They
know
more of
their
letters
now! This
feeling is
so worth
the effort
and work
put into
helping
these
students
even
when it
was
challengin
g!
Student R
now
knows the
letters of
his name
and that
will
forever

how many
letters they
now knew.

stay with
him.

Strategies Used
1.
2.
3.
4.

Alphabet Arc
Strawberry Letter Matching File Folder Game
Letter Pan Matching
Read Aloud modeling and demonstrating letter to symbol
correlation (alphabet books)
5. Name Sort
6. Visual Letters foam letters
7. Tracing Letters in Air

Lessons/Assessments Used
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Letter Recognition Assessment (Letter Names Test)

Concepts About Print (CAP)
Interactive Read Aloud naming letters
Letter Arc
Letter Pans

Necessary Instruction Changes

1. After completing the initial assessment of the Letter
Recognition with Student R, I realized that what he first
needed was the letters of his name. This is a vital skill to
have, if he cannot spell his name then he will not be able to
move forward with any other fluency skills. So for a change
in instruction, I decided to solely focus on the four letters in
his name. If he was able to learn these letters then I could
begin focusing on the whole alphabet.
2. I also noticed that Student R did not have fine or gross motor
skills, so this was something that we begin to work on in
small bits. If he was falling out of his chair throughout a
session, I would remind him that we sit on our bottoms with

our two feet flat on the floor. We also worked with how to
hold a pencil or dry erase marker.
3. I saw from the beginning that student J was very excited to
learn new letters. This was not something he didnt want to
engage in he looked forward to this everyday. So
something in my instruction that I could change was
including Student Js interests in the activities we were
doing. If he was constantly willing to give his best and
always have a positive attitude then I should do the same.
4. I also learned from working with student J, different ways to
engage him during his normal centers in the classroom. Each
morning I was in the classroom, my kindergarteners had
language arts/reading centers. When student J reached the
library center, he almost shut down and didnt seem like the
happy, excited student I worked with during action research.
I think student J felt defeated looking at a whole book so
from this I took away two things. One, reading to him really
helped him enjoy this time. And two, student J needed lots of
positive reinforcement. I saw the growth that was taking
place and he deserved to be reminded of it each time I
worked with him.

Final Assessment Reflection

Student J
After 5 sessions of one-on-one intervention, Student Js letter
recognition skills really improved. Now student J knew 17 out of
26 letters in the alphabet. Student J gets pulled out on a day-today basis to work on his English skills so I know he works with
multiple people on his letter recognition but it felt so
accomplishing to know that this time I spent with him made an
impact. Student J now knew 65% of his alphabet and I could not
be more proud. If I didnt learn anything else from working with
student J, I would say that I learned the impact that 10-20 minutes
a day can have on a student. Time is truly valuable and no matter
the time span, it can be effective.

Student R

After 5 sessions of one-on-one intervention, Student R now

knew the 4 letters of his name and how to spell it!! YAY! This
seems like such a small accomplishment but it is such a big deal
that will have an impact on the rest of his time in kindergarten.
Because he learned these four letters (plus one more) both the
teacher and I have faith that he will begin to learn other letters
that he is constantly being exposed to. This student currently
does not get pulled out for an IEP or any other sort of individual
time but if that does happen I believe it would be very beneficial
for this student. He needs one-on-one time and helped me realize
the power of time with individuals.

Student Progress Monitoring

(Series 1: Initial Assessment)
(Series 2: Final Assessment)

Series 1
Column1

Student J

Student R

Letter
Recognition Test
Name______________________________________ Grade: ___ Age: ___ Date: ____
Administered By: ______________________________ Total Points: ____ of +52

Upper Case Letters:

A
B
C
D
E

K
O
L
S
R

F
H
Y
N
G

W
U
M
I
T

P
J
Q
Z
V

Lower Case Letters:

a
b
c
d
e

k
o
l
s
r

f
h
y
n
g

w
u
m
i
t

p
j
q
z
v

ConceptsAbout Print A s s e s s m e n t
Purpose: Based on their home and early school experiences with printbed time stories and readalouds, big book shared reading, shared writing and their very independent adventures with pretend
reading and writingyoung children come to kindergarten and even first grade with different
understandings about the arbitrary conventions that we use to communicate meaning in print.
An assessment of each childs level of understanding, and sometimes misunderstandings of these
conventions helps teachers know what their students are attending to in print and what still needs to
be learned. This knowledge enables teachers to design and focus teaching points in literacy minilessons and other classroom literacy experiences that move children forward in their understanding
of how print works. Where is the front of the book? Where does the story start? Where do I start
reading and where do I go after that? What is a letter? What is a word? These are important
literacy understandings that can develop through guided hands-on experience with reading and
writing in the literacy workshop.
An assessment of emergent literacy print concepts should include:
Book orientation knowledge
Understanding of principles involving the directional arrangement of print on the page
The knowledge that print, not picture, contains the story
Understanding of important reading terminology such as word, letter, beginning of sentence,
and top of page
Understanding of simple punctuation marks
(Gillett and Temple, 1994, Understanding Reading Problems: Assessment and instruction. Harper
Collins: NY. p. 70)

Directions: In assessing concepts of print, the teacher sits with the child, one-on one, and reads an
engaging early level text, asking the child to help with the reading. The book used should have
distinct layout of print and illustrations, good spacing between words, multiple lines of text on each
page, some basic sight words (I, me, and, is, was, etc.) and basic elements of punctuation (periods,
quotation marks, question marks, exclamation points). Because the teacher reads the book to the
child with the child looking on and responding to prompts, the text we are using is Honey for Baby
Bear at a level F. This text has varied and sophisticated text layout and punctuation. (Other sample
texts, levels C-F might include: Where is Hannah? Bens Teddy Bear, A Friend for Little White
Rabbit, Nicks Glasses, Dan, the Flying Man, Going to Lucys House).
The teacher should be very familiar with the text (story, layout and features, punctuation, etc.)
before reading with the child. Have ready two brightly colored index cards, a pencil and the record
sheet. This assessment incorporates prompts that help the teacher observe a students behaviors in
response to the prompts and note these on the record sheet. (While working with the child, you
will want to make small tick marks to note correct responses and keep moving, but later note the
childs specific behaviors and responses.)
Based upon the research of Clay, M. M. (2000). Concepts About Print: What have children
learned about printed language? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

TCRWP 2006-07 Do not duplicate without permission.

Best Practices to Develop Letter Recognition

Elizabeth Collier
Samford University

Abstract
This paper explores the best, most efficient strategies to use when
instructing a child in letter recognition. The importance and vitality of letter
recognition to later help a student with fluency is key. Letter recognition and
understand letter to symbol correlation is foundational to all other literacy
skills. A multisensory approach to teaching letter recognition is proven to be
effective. Some of these strategies include letter arcs, lowercase to
uppercase matching and a visual and kinesthetic perspective of lettering.
These are only a few strategies that can enhance the growth of letter
recognition. The strategies found are proven by researched and further
discussed to be beneficial while planning action research.

Letter recognition is a vital skill when it comes to fluency and literacy.

Without letter to symbol knowledge students are not able to complete any
literacy skills. When a student is focused on only letter recognition there is
not comprehension happening. Student J and Student R are unable to match
lowercase and uppercase letters and also struggle connecting hearing letters
to seeing them written. Both students know their ABC song very well but
when it comes to visual letter recognition there is a learning gap. There are
many strategies that can be inflicted to ensure that letter recognition growth
is happened. A multisensory approach incorporates students needs when
learning letter to symbol correlation as well as letter to sound (Neuhaus).
Many other different strategies have been researched and proven to improve
this skill.
There are many different ways to incorporate multisensory learning
into action research activities. When researching, I found that the OrtonGillingham approach focuses on the skills of decoding by 7 different key
features, one being multisensory (Orton-Gillingham). Multisensory lessons
involve each individual pathway to the brain: visual, auditory, and
kinesthetic. According to research when a child is able to engage sight,
sound, and touch, learning takes on a completely new level of potential.
Every individual child has a preferred way to learn and if a teacher can
activate this learning path through a lesson then the potential to succeed
and deeply learn material increases. When multisensory strategies are used
a child has the opportunity to see, watch, or look, while speaking aloud, and

then building or practicing. One example of a multisensory strategy that has

proven to be effective in action research is magnetic uppercase and
lowercase matching. Students are able to take hold of lowercase
manipulative letters and then magnetically attach them onto a cookie sheet.
The benefits of this particular strategy are working. To begin with, Student J
and Student R look forward to working individually with me because they are
able to be hands on and touch the letters they are matching. Research has
proven that when students are given the opportunity to use all of the
pathways to their brain there is greater potential for learning (OrtonGillingham). Another activity incorporating multisensory would be a student
using his or her fingers to write letters in the sand, sandpaper, or other
manipulative sources. A teacher would trace and cut out both the uppercase
and lowercase letters of the alphabet out of sandpaper. After working with
students on a certain letter, have the child use their fingers (index and
middle) to trace the letters shape. Model this technique before assigning and
then allow independent practice. The touch of the rough surface of sand
paper will create a retaining sense and students will remember the letter
shapes easier. Another activity that is very similar to the touch aspect of
sandpaper would be the dried bean activity. Pour a bag of beans into a pan
and have students trace the letters of the alphabet with them. The sensation
of the dried food will support childrens retention of letter shapes and names
(Reading Rockets).

Another aspect of the Orton-Gillingham strategy is the importance of

phonograms. A phonogram is a letter or combination of letters that represent
a sound. Phonograms are often pushed to the side or taught after a student
learns letter names and sight words. This strategy says that phonogram
sounds should be taught first in order to build a basis for spelling words and
understanding how and why words are spelled the way they are. Each sound
in a word is represented by a phonogram. Different words have different
numbers of sounds. For example, the word past has four sounds therefore
the phonogram would be: p/a/s/t past. Another example is the word high.
High has two sounds so two phonograms: h/igh high. This is a great
example of the fact that the number of letters does not correspond with the
number of phonograms. The most efficient way to teach students basic
phonograms is phonogram cards. On the side you show to your student
would just be the particular phonogram while the other side shows the
teacher the sound of the phonogram, along with a key word. There are also
multiple apps a teacher could purchase to help get the idea of phonograms
across to his/her students. When working with Student J and Student R
throughout action research project phonograms will not be the focus. Before
hearing letters sounds, a child must recognize letter to symbol correlation.
Technology has begun to play a big role in the teaching of letter
recognition. When speaking to outside resources, letter recognition games
are played often through technology. Starfall is a great resource for online
engagement. There are games that can take a student through elementary

school from ABCs to Im Reading. A teacher could have centers set up

around the room and include two or three technology stations using iPads,
smart boards, or desktop computers. A good way to engage Student J and
Student R would be to incorporate technology into the lesson.
With multisensory, phonograms, and technology strategies, as well as
strategies from our textbook and lessons, student enhancement in letter
recognition should improve.

References
Neuhaus. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2015, from http://neuhaus.org/askan-expert/what-isresearchbased-intervention-kindergarten-student-having-difficultyletter-soundrecognition/
Our Mission. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2015, from https://www.ortongillingham.com
Letter- and Word-Recognition Apps, Games, and Websites. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 8, 2015, from

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/letter-and-word-recognitionappsgames-and-websites
Alphabet Matching. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2015, from
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/alphabet_matching