The Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase (Constructive Playthings) will help children identify letters of the alphabet. Depending on the child’s age, developmental level, and/or grade, the child can learn the following concepts:
- identify uppercase letters
- identify lowercase letters
- identify letter names
- identify letter sounds
- identify vowel sounds
- sequence letters
- match uppercase with lowercase partner
- write uppercase letters
- write lowercase letters
Materials
The Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase contains 40 letters (28 consonants and 12 vowels) and the Giant Magnetic Letters – Lowercase contains 40 letters (28 consonants and 12 vowels). All letters are plastic and each letter has magnets on the back. The Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase are represented in six colors (purple, green, red, orange, blue, yellow).
Identifying uppercase and lowercase letters
Identifying letter names
This is the letter “Bb.” Emphasize uppercase “B” and lowercase “b” while pointing to each letter.
Identifying letter sounds
The sound the letter “B” represents is /b/ (e.g., “ball” or “book.”) Point to both uppercase “B” and lowercase “b” as children imitate the /b/ sound.
Identifying vowels
Identifying long and short vowel sounds:
- short -a- = “apple”
- long -a- = “acorn”
- short -e- = “elephant”
- long -e- = “eagle”
- short -i- = “insect”
- long -i- = “ice cream”
- short -o- = “ostrich”
- long -o- = “open”
- short -u- = “umbrella”
- long -u- = “unicorn”
A long vowel sounds like the name of the letter.
Sequencing letters
When appropriate, children can learn to sequence letters from A-Z in three different ways:
Uppercase and lowercase letters
Uppercase letters
Lowercase letters
Matching uppercase and lowercase letters
Encourage children to match uppercase letters to lowercase partners.
Writing uppercase and lowercase letters
The Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase are useful as children learn to form both uppercase and lowercase letters. The teacher should also model the process of writing each letter.
My experience using the Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase
In my practice as a special educator and SEIT, I have used the Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase to teach letter identification, sequencing letters, and letter-sound correspondence. I have also taught consonant-vowel combinations (e.g., “ba”) and one syllable words. For the most part, my experience includes working with children unable to identify the letters, but I have also worked with 3-5 year-olds able to identify all letters (uppercase and lowercase) as well as their corresponding sounds.
The Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase have been very useful when coaching families to model each individual sound or cv combinations, which is useful to promote speech development.
Coaching families has been much easier when using the Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase and children tend to remain engaged for longer periods of time. When I focus on phonic instruction, I do not teach letter names or sounds specifically. Instead, my goal is for the child to imitate each individual sound or combination of sounds.
I have observed many teachers, parents, and caregivers focusing on either uppercase or lowercase letters at once. Based on my experience, it is much more beneficial to teach a child uppercase and lowercase letters together, one letter at a time (e.g., “Aa”). As children learn letter names, they should also be encouraged to match the uppercase letter to the lowercase letter.
Additional Activities
Ask simple WH questions – This is a great activity I have tried when working in small groups of 2-3 children. Each child has a letter and I ask one of the following questions:
- “What letter is this?”
- “Who has the letter ___?”: The child may respond “me” or “I do.” Also, one child can identify the peer (by name or by saying “he/she”) that has the letter ___.
- “Where is the letter ___?”
- “Which letter makes the ___ sound?”
Most children also demonstrated improvement in other areas, including but not limited to:
- imitating letter sounds after a peer
- not calling out
- identifying peer names
- responding when name is called
- waiting turn
- taking turns
- sharing
- isolating index finger to point
- joint attention
- improved attention span
Suggestions
Uppercase and lowercase letters – I strongly recommend teaching uppercase and lowercase letters at the same time (e.g., “H” and “h”).
The Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase are perfect as children learn to spell:
Their name
Sight words
The Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase are also great to teach:
CV Combinations
CVC Combinations
Summary
The Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase and Lowercase are chunky and colorful plastic letters with magnets on the back. Children will be able to:
- identify uppercase letters
- identify lowercase letters
- identify letter names
- identify letter sounds
- identify vowels
- sequence letters
- match uppercase and lowercase letters
- write uppercase letters
- write lowercase letters
Additional Information
Where to buy
Giant Magnetic Letters – Uppercase:
Giant Magnetic Letters – Lowercase:
