Preschool Lessons: Letter Mm

Finally, the vowels are all done and you can start teaching the consonants to the kids.  Just like the other letters that you have taught in the past, the consonants also have the sounds that are very important when teaching phonics.  The sound of the letters of the alphabet is a must-learn because the sound will guide the kids when they will soon learn to read words.  As soon as the kids have learned the sound of each letter; it is easier for them to learn how to read the words, except of course the sight words which is another series of lessons for the young learners.

Teaching the consonants is another job that needs a lot of activities if your aim is to create a fun and interesting class.  The young kids need these activities to pep them up to learn effectively.

There are no set rules here to teach the consonants.  But I usually start teaching Letter M. 

As I always mention even in the past articles of mine; always make sure to review the kids about the past letters.  This is a very helpful method of teaching since the kids will have better retention if lessons are repeated every day.  So before plunging into the activities for Letter M, allow the kids to recall the vowels.

Unless you are in a hurry, which I guess you are not; review lessons is a must in the learning process.  First you have to make sure that the kids have really learned their past lessons and the only way by which you find out is to ask the kids.

Start by showing the flash cards again and asking, “What letter is this?”  When the kids have recited all the vowels ask also the sound.  Do not forget to always accompany the letters with hand action of the sound so that they will get used to it which will help them memorize the letters faster.

Introduce Letter M.

Introducing the letters is easy especially with the kids already familiar with the vowels.  But it is better if you add some enhancement to the introduction like this:

“Today kids, we have a new letter which looks like two small mountains.  We call this letter M.”  Let the children say M then let each kid recite the letter.

Flash the letter again in front of the kids and tell them to repeat the letter. 

Introduce the sound of M

After introducing the letter, you can now introduce also the sound of M.  You start by saying; “The sound of M is mmmm.  Just like when you like something delicious and you say mmmm delicious.”  Look at the kids and you will find out that they are all relishing the sound of M and imitating you.  Call their attention by saying; “Now kids, let me hear you all say the sound of M.”  The kids I’m sure will say mmmm excitedly.

Get all the objects that begin with M and show them to the kids.  You can also name some children whose names begin with M; just like Mary, Mario, etc.

Here is a list of things that begin with M.

Letter M is one of the letters in the alphabet where you can use several objects.  But limit the objects that you show to the kids to avoid confusing them. It is enough to teach them the letter and the sound.  They will soon discover other things that begin with M.

Teaching young kids is not merely teaching them to sing, read and write.  The best part of being a teacher for young kids is in the way you handle them so that they will have fun learning and be able to cope with school life.  It is important as a teacher to be very observant and see the ability of each child. 

This is the reason why there are different levels in the preschool group.  You should know where the kids belong so that you can teach the kids more effectively.

The nursery is the age group between ages 2 – 3 ½ years old.  We often call this group–the playgroup- since they have more playtime than work time. These very young kids do not yet know how to hold pens and crayons; even if they know how to hold pencils and crayons, it is impossible for them to know how to write the letters immediately. 

You don’t expect very young kids to be able to trace letters for such a short time in school and at their age, they can’t handle writing materials yet so you can let them trace letter M with your guidance.  Some kids in this age group have their own way of doing things.  They can say no or they can push your hand if they are not in the right mood to write.  If this is the case; just let the kid hold the crayon and let her scribble on her own.  Avoid forcing very young kids to work because if you do this the kids will refuse to go back to school the next day. 

The nursery group can accomplish some simple activities and exercises.  Tracing and coloring are the most common activities for them.  For the younger kids, use only the uppercase letters first when teaching them. 

You can also have simple art projects like coloring a ready-made mask.

Older children can already write the uppercase and lowercase letters.  Some can even write Mm perfectly.  If there are kids who cannot write the letter properly, do not worry.  They are still in kinder and they will soon learn to write Mm perfectly as they go. 

You can give the kids exercises that require them to write Mm in the blank.  You can also give other exercises that include A, E, I, O and U.  This type of exercises let the kids recognize the letters better if you emphasize on the sound of each letter.  By giving them enough exercises, the kids will be able to recognize each letter by through the sounds.

Matching type includes both letters and pictures.  You can let the kids match the uppercase letters to the lowercase letters and you can also let them match the pictures to the correct beginning letter.

You can now teach syllables to the kids since you have covered all the vowels.  This is the first time the children will hear about syllables so it is important to show them how the sound works.

It is important to explain to the kids that you are combining two sounds in order to form the syllable.  This is hard.  Teaching the kids to read syllables is one of the hardest tasks of being a teacher to beginner learners.  You have to develop a method that will make the kids have fun learning so that they will really listen and learn how to read.

Following the steps above, you apply these to the letters e, I, o and u.  So you have now 5 syllables in a row that read: la le li lo lu

As an added activity you can let the kids read the syllables every day using flash cards before giving them the activity sheets to do.