This paper discusses implementing a literacy program in a kindergarten classroom by having the children actively create an alphabet reference. The goals are for the children to better retain letter information by participating in making an alphabet list and book. It also aims to help children make connections between letters and words experienced outside of class. The program will be evaluated through teacher and student observations of how often the reference materials are used during literacy activities and whether children's writing skills improve over the semester.

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Culminating Paper
Alyssa Da Silva (0845116)
University of Guelph-Humber
ECS 4070
Katie Begley
Wednesday, November 30th, 2016

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Background
This semester I am placed in a Full Day Kindergarten classroom. As I was working with
my supervising teacher and reviewing the classroom for a change that I could implement and that
we found was missing, literacy came to mind. We were looking in the classroom and we made
note that there was an alphabet posted in the classroom however it was made by my teacher and
the children did not really remember that it was there. As I worked with them throughout the
semester on various writing activities and letter activities (JKs), I also noticed that the children
did not have somewhere to reference the letters, nor they did not know where to find them.
However, if the children were actively involved in the process of making their alphabet
references, they would remember where to find them and have a better understanding of the
letters themselves. This in turn, would help them with activities and more importantly their
writing and literacy as a whole. Therefore, the program in this classroom is missing a literacy
component. It is important to have the children as the active participants in the creation process,
so that they can retain the information as an experience, benefitting in more than one way when
it comes to utilizing that information.
For example, it is important the children encounter these letters in the classroom because
similarly, in the article “The Effectiveness of a Model of Language-Focused Classroom
Instruction on the Vocabulary and Narrative Development of Kindergarten Children” Coyne
and his colleagues performed three studies and concluded: “…that while students could develop
partial knowledge of words through embedded attention within storybook reading, fuller word
knowledge (depth) occurred with extended instruction through discussion and interactions with
the words outside the storybook reading” (Nielsen & Dinner, 2012, p.64). This would be the
importance that the alphabet wall (the beautiful stuff project) would have on the children in our

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class. When creating the project of the letters itself, they would be interacting with the letters
outside of reciting them, singing the “ABCs” or just having pictures on the wall. The children
would be exposed to the extended instruction and the discussions and interactions with myself,
peers, and the letters themselves. In addition, Vygotsky also framed a construction of literacy,
placing an emphasis on empowering students in their ‘meaning making’ and including the
characteristics of a ‘learning community’ (Roache-Jameson, 2005, p.48) Having the children
participate directly in the process of the “beautiful stuff” alphabet making, they will be making
constant connections between their materials, the process and the letters and words themselves.
Not only will the children be working with the letters, but they will be making a mental list, as
they work with the materials of words that begin with that letter. Therefore, they will already be
starting to focus on different aspects of literacy, like words, alphabet, sounds, etc. These
interactions, mental lists, and personal experiences within the building of this alphabet list are
“literacies connected to the opportunities children have to make meaning of their worlds, and
their places within it” (Heydon, Moffatt & Iannacci, 2015, p.175). The children have the
opportunity through this experience to make meaning of the materials and resources in their
classroom. There may also be materials that they work with that they may see before and after
school or outside of the classroom that they may connect with the alphabet list and create a larger
vocabulary for themselves. It is also possible that children may want to add personal items that
they have found throughout the semester to the already existent list. Providing another
opportunity for personal connection and finding their contributions to make sense of the world
around them.
In the article, Top Ten Signs of a Good Kindergarten Classroom, Brown University
states number five as: “Children learn numbers and the alphabet in the context of their everyday

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experiences” (Top 10 signs, 1996). This is one of the most important intended outcomes from
the program. That the children are learning about their letters and alphabet through their first-
hand experience of creating their reference resources. Also, being familiar with the alphabet that
they created, they may be able to add to their own alphabet as they experience their world in
school and in the classroom. In addition to individual experiences, there are some children that
have some behaviours in the classroom especially when it comes to sitting still and focusing on
tasks, and at times these skills are important for focusing on literacy and language activities. As
Bulotsky-Shearer and Fantuzzo (2010, p.62) state: “It is essential that preschool emotional and
behavioral problems are identified early to promote active engagement in classroom learning
opportunities that foster literacy and language skills”. It can be especially important to the
children with behaviours in the classroom to be active participants in their learning process.
Because it is not easy for them to sit still and learn “by the books” the process of being actively
involved in the alphabet resource, may spark their interest to use the resource for their personal
learning because they were able to enjoy it and store it in their memory instead of constantly
being reminded of a book to go and reference.
Objectives
As mentioned throughout the sentences above, the implementation of the program is
hoping to bring about several changes and objectives in the classroom. One objective is to have
the children actively involved in their learning, by creating the alphabet list with myself and with
their peers so that they will retain the information at a much higher rate. The second objective
would be to see children referencing the list and the book that we will make with more reference
materials (pictures of objects with each respective letter) and seeing how this is helping them
independently write and use their letters, sounds, and words. The third is to have children make

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connections from the outside world with their work that they were part of first hand in the
classroom. For example, hearing children have conversations such as “this is S like swimming
classes! I am taking swimming classes”. Depending on the level and response on the results, I
will also propose to my teacher to have children make their own book, and add words overtime
as they may come up with spontaneously.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The most primary form of evaluation will be observing the children firsthand. My teacher
has made it a habit for me to keep charts with me when I am implementing activities, allowing
me to make observation notes on things I am looking for in the process and what I find. I will use
this method to record times that I see the children referencing their letter resources throughout
the implementation of letter and writing activities.
I will also keep a journal handy in the classroom to jot down times throughout the day
that the children may reference the literacy resources (alphabet list or book) such as at play and
inquiry if they are making something simple like a sign. Or if I ask them to reference the letters
for a sound, and they come back knowing how to pronounce that letter. In addition to my own
observations, I will be asking my teacher to collect qualitative information (an informal
interview) to see if she noticed anything interesting throughout the week between the children
and the resources. In addition to discussing with my teacher, I would like to save literacy and
writing pieces from this fall semester and compare them in the winter near the end of my
practicum to see how the time and implementation of the literacy alphabet and book has changed
the writing and action of the children through the writing process. It is important for me to
remember as well, that the process is more important than the product and I need to see how

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children are using their resources through the process of their writing and how it is affecting the
product of their writing.
I look forward to working with the knowledge of my supervising teacher and the theories
laid out in this paper, to see the literacy change in the program of this full day kindergarten
classroom and how it will affect the children and the process and product of their writing and
literacy skills.

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Reference List
Bulotsky-Shearer, R. J., & Fantuzzo, J. W. (2011). Preschool behavior problems in
classroom learning situations and literacy outcomes in kindergarten and first grade.
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(1), 61-73. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.04.004
Heydon, R., Moffatt, L., & Iannacci, L. (2015). ‘Every day he has a dream to tell’:
classroom literacy curriculum in a full-day kindergarten. Journal Of
Curriculum Studies, 47(2), 171-202. doi:10.1080/00220272.2014.1000381
Nielsen C. D., Dinner F. L. 2012. "The
effectiveness of a model of language-focused classroom instruction on the
vocabulary and narrative development of kindergarten children." Journal Of
Education 192, no. 2/3: 63-77. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost.
Roache-Jameson, S. (2005). Kindergarten connections: A study of intertextuality
and its links with literacy in the kindergarten classroom. Australian Journal Of
Language & Literacy, 28(1), 48-66.
Top 10 signs of a good kindergarten classroom. (1996). Brown University Child &
Adolescent Behavior Letter, 12(10), 4.