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Lesson Plan
Amanda West
EDU417: Cognitive Studies Capstone
Instructor Joanna Savarese-Levine

April 7, 2016

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Lesson Plan: Alpha-Art

Content Area or Developmental Focus: language acquisition

Age/Grade of Children: preschool (3-4 years old)
Length of Lesson: 45 minutes
Goal: The goal of this lesson is to teach the capital letters of the alphabet.
Objective: Students will be able to recognize and identify the uppercase letters of the alphabet
and work together with peers and with teacher assistance to put them in the correct order.
Materials: The instructor should provide pre-cut block letters for each of the 26 letters of the
alphabet, cut from 8.5x11 white card stock. A rainbow of colored construction paper should be
available (26 sheets). The instructor will also need white glue and tape (or a clothesline long
enough to accommodate 26 portrait-oriented sheets of construction paper, along with 26
clothespins). The students will require a variety of art supplies: dot markers, wide- tip markers,
fine-tip markers, crayons, colored pencils, and any other dry media art supplies the teacher
wishes to incorporate.
Introduction:
Good morning! <Sing the Good Morning, Good Day song>
Who here can sing the alphabet? Raise your hand! Ok. Are you ready? I think you better show
me how good you are at singing the alphabet. <Instructor leads class in alphabet song.>
Ok! That was awesome! Do you know what letter is at the beginning of your name? <class
responds>
Does anyone see the ABCs in our classroom? <class looks around, responds no. Instructor
reminds students of ABCs on the name tags on their desks.>
Do you think you could help me with a project? We could MAKE our own alphabet to hang on
the wall! What do you think? <class responds yes>
Ok! Lets get started. Go to the art center and youll find some letters all cut out. Each of you
can choose a letter to decorate. Youll have 15 minutes to work on your letters and clean up.
Ready...set...go! <class proceeds to art center>

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Lesson Development:
1. Engage students by asking who can sing the alphabet song.
2.

Sing alphabet song.

3.

Discuss letters and names, introduce lesson, direct students to art

center.

4.

Give students 15 minutes to use rapid-dry art supplies (markers,

crayons, etc-) to decorate blank cut-outs of the uppercase letters of
the alphabet.

5.

Help the students glue or tape each decorated letter to a

construction paper backing.

6.

Clean up.

7.

Ask students to help identify each letter as they are held up for the class. Praise the decorations on each letter.

8.

Ask students to work together with each other and the instructor to hang the letters in alphabetical order where they will be displayed for the class for the duration of the school
year.

9.

Sing the alphabet song through once more at the close of the lesson.

Differentiation: Students with difficulty holding drawing implements and art supplies may require alternative supplies. Where the class uses regular markers, dotter markers (which are larger
and easier to hold on to and articulate) may be used.
Gifted learners may proceed through the activities very quickly. They can be asked individually
to practice writing their names on the reverse side of the construction paper.
ELL and remedial learners may have trouble identifying the letters and should be given ample
chances to do so, potentially with verbal assistance from the instructor. Almost all children will

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be able to identify at least some letters; those remedial or ELL students should be chosen first
when they raise their hands, promoting engagement and contribution from all students.
Checking for Understanding (Assessment): This activity includes guided practice, as the
instructor will be available to correct inaccurate letter order or help students identify letters they
have not yet mastered. The instructor should use the hanging alphabet to engage with students
and assess their letter identification abilities on a continual basis. If the alphabet is hung with
clothespins, it can be taken down periodically and the students can show progress to proficiency
by identifying and ordering the letters without instructor guidance.
Closing: Ask the students to verify that the letters are hung in the correct order. Sing the alphabet
song through once more and this time, point to the freshly-hung alphabet letters from the project.

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References

Huitt, W. (2003). The information processing approach to cognition. Educational Psychology

Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved from http://
www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/infoproc.html