Mutisensory activities using

wooden letters to
develop reading and spelling skills.
The value of multi-sensory learning is that it enables
students to use their own approach to the tasks through
using their strong areas and at the same time exercising
their weaker areas (Hickey; 2002)
The aim is for the student to acquire permanent,
automatic response to the names-sounds-shapes of
phonograms (i.e. a symbol representing a vocal sound),
and the ability the put them into the correct sequential
order. Visual, auditory, tactile-kinaesthetic and oralkinaesthetic perceptual systems must interact sufficiently
to make learning secure so the student can quickly and
easily produce any aspect of the phonogram for reading
or spelling.

Why do students need to practice the alphabet with

wooden letters?
The alphabet is the basis of all written language
Alphabetical order is the basis of most of our
reference systems. Students need to master
alphabetical order- which provides the foundation
for use of a dictionary and all alphabetical references
The activities allow for practice of automatic recall of
the name and sound of each letter
Wooden letters have no back or front- so the student
needs to work out if the b is a b, d or p- this
allows for practice in correct orientation of confusing
letters
Students must understand that the letters are
symbols representing speech sounds, which are the
ingredients of words.
Students must have automatic recall of the sound/s
made by the letters to be able to read fluently.
Suggested activities
Ten minutes, five days a week is recommended. Keep it
fun!
Uppercase or Lowercase letters may be used.
Click on the links to our Speld Videos on You Tube for
demonstration of some of these activities.
These activities may be used in a one-to-one situation or
in pairs in a school situation. These activity ideas are
compiled from Hickey Multisensory Language Course and
Alpha to Omega.

 Recognising letters by feel- students select a letter

from a bag, with their eyes closed, and work out by
feel what the name of the letter is, then say the
sound (s) made by the letter. Extend this by asking
the student to name 3 words beginning with that
letter/sound. Be careful that they give words
beginning with the sound if that is what you have
asked for- the /k/ sound can be words such as cat,
kettle, and clip but not chip. If you ask for words
beginning with k they might be king, kite, kettle
etc- this allows for discussion about k always being
used for the /k/ sound before the letters i and e at
the beginning of words. Also ask the student to name
three words ending in a particular sound.
Sequencing letters in the correct order from A to Z
working from left to right. If an error is made say
'check the letter that starts the word 'duck'- which
way does that letter go?' (Younger students and
those with severe visual memory difficulties will
need to have a reference chart to check the
orientation of the letters).

 Play a game with the student: Student closes eyes

and parent mixes up letters/ reverses some and
takes some away, closing the gaps. Student opens
eyes and needs to correct the sequence as fast as
possible. Swap roles- keep it fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FKYNPqjSzGI&feature=plcp
Touch the letters in sequence giving the name and
sound. This reinforces automatic recall of
letter/sound knowledge. Watch out for the correct
sounds made by 'g' and 'u'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hOGbiFvWt6w&feature=plcp
Teach the vowels- a e i o u- without these vowels,
no word can you do! Student quickly takes those
letters out of the whole sequence naming them and
then quickly puts them back into the sequence.
Teach also that each syllable has a vowel, and we
sometimes borrow y as a vowel in my and try. Be
careful to teach the correct short and long vowel
sound made by these letters.
Onset and rime. Extract the vowels and x and q.
Select one vowel to make a rime. Blend the onsets to
the rime at speed. (Onset is the letter/s that come
before the vowel in a word. Rime is the vowel and all
letters coming after: c/at s/et/ br/ead pl/ank).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Dmei_2AosEs&feature=plcp

 Saying sequence of letters starting at a given

letter- this is to teach the sequence of letters without
always going back to A. Ask the student to name the
5 letters that come after 'e'- at first they can look at
the sequence and then try without looking. Swap
roles and keep it fun!
Making words: Say a word, student repeats the
word and makes the word, then says the word
again. Say another word that uses some of the
letters/sounds in the previous words so that the
student must identify which letters are kept- good for
phonological processing skill development.
Also, once a rule has been taught- e.g. k is used
before i and e at the beginning of words, use a list
of words targeting that rule e.g. kip, cap, cot, cut, kit,
keg etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=7BchjquIiUo&feature=plcp
Developing Memory: Auditory: with the alphabet
sequence laid out, say a series of letters, starting
with 4 such as K P F Y. Student repeats the
sequence and then collects the letters in the correct
order. Then move on to a sequence of 5 letters.
Teach student to rehearse the series/ visualise to
aid memory. Swap roles to keep it fun- student then
has to remember their own sequence to correct you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=JHyaQJRTgcI&feature=plcp
Visual: Show a series of random letters for 3-4
seconds and then hide. Student must verbally

repeat the series and then lay out the letters in the
correct order.
Auditory Working Memory: Say three words, such
as man, cap, toad: Student must repeat the words
aloud and then select the final letters of each word
in sequence: n, p, d. Increase to 4 words etc. Do the
same with medial vowel sounds: say 3 words such
as from, black, stick. Student repeats the words
and then selects o, a, i in the correct sequence. Do
the same with initial sounds.
Accenting Stress and Rhythm in words
The ability to identify stressed syllables of words is
important for reading and spelling. Alphabet activities
allow for practice of beating out rhythms and stressing
the accented beats.
Say the alphabet stressing each alternate letter or
third letter
e.g. ABCDEFGHIJ
ABC DEF GHIJKL

Using alphabet skills to develop Dictionary skills

Teach the alphabet begins with A and ends in Z
The midway point is M-N which divides the dictionary
into two halves.
Show the student how to open the dictionary to the
middle to find M
Show the student how to halve the first half of the
alphabet to find the first quartile A B C D in the
dictionary. Lay out the letters in the same way.
Identify the second quartile EFGHIJKLM
Estimate the third quartile in the dictionary and lay
out the corresponding letters NOPQR

 Identify the last quartile of the dictionary STUVWXYZ

Play games timing how long it takes for the student
to find a page in the dictionary with 'S' words, 'F'
words, 'O' words etc. Have a competition.
Play games finding the pages for letters that come 5
letters after 'e' etc. This teaches the student to move
forward from E without going back to A