Letter Sounds

I love teaching.  It may be genetic.  My mom was a teacher, my grandma was a teacher, my grandpa was a principal.  There just may be some genetic sequence that when put together just right creates a teacher.  So, given a history like that, of course I'm having fun teaching my preschooler letter sounds.
For my son I created different ways of remembering the sound that each letter makes. Make the sound, then do the action with it. For vowels they are all the short vowel sounds. Use flashcards of each letter so they have a visual for the letter.  So you are teaching visually (flashcard), audio (saying sound), and kinesthetically (acting out) so three of Gardner's learning methods are used.
While sounding out each letter do the following:
A - put a fist to your eye and pretend you are crying
B - pat belly like a drum
C - curl hand into a claw "C" shape
D - drum table
E - put hand to ear like you can't hear
F - make fists and pretend you are fighting
G - butt heads like a goat
H - wave hand in front of mouth like something is too hot
I - wave hand under nose as though something smells bad, you may add the word "stinky"
J - using first two fingers have your and jump
K - kick your leg out
L - pretend to pick a lollipop
M - rub belly and make "mm" sound as though something tasted good
N - shake finger as though telling someone "no"
O - sing it opera style of course
P - lightly tap their shoulder
Q - make "shushing" motion
R - pretend you are driving a race car
S - wriggle arm like a snake
T - tap head lightly with one finger
U - show your arm muscle
V - make a "V" with your fingers, and drive the "V"
W - make a helicopter motion above your head
X - cross arms like to swords into "X" shape
Y - pretend you are playing with a yo-yo
Z - just zoom a finger through the air like a bumble bee

Hopefully this makes sense.

Another way I've taught letter sounds was with animal poems where the animals make the sounds.  We find and circle the letter we are learning throughout the poem.  I found clipart pictures of the animals to go with each poem, but they didn't translate to this post, and since I'm new at blogging I'm not sure how to rectify that.  The poems are mine, so feel free to use, but not for commercial purposes.  I have it saved as a PDF file and as soon as I figure out how to add the PDF to the page you can print out the pages.  Most of the pictures are black and white so they can be made into a coloring book to be referred to again and again.
Also, this is visual (picture of animal), audio (sound of letter).  You are also pointing to and circling letters making connections throughout the page.
Here are my poems for each letter:

Aa

Annie Alligator is so sad.

A! a! A!

Annie cries because she’s mad.

A! a! A!

Bb

Billy Bear blows balloons.

B! b! B!

Billy blows them as big as the moon.

B! b! B!

Cc

Carla Cat loves to claw.

C! c! C!

Carla claws at birds that caw.

C! c! C!

Dd

Darla Dog likes to drum.

D! d! D!

Darla drums just for fun.

D! d! D!

Ee
Ellie Elephant cannot hear.
E! e! E!
Ellie has eggs in her ears.
E! e! E!

Ff
Freddy Fish loves to fight.
F! f! F!
Freddy fights day and night.
F! f! F!

Gg

Gary Gorilla gulps grape juice
G! g! G!
Gary gulps with Gussy Goose
G! g! G!

Hh

Harry Hippo ate food that’s hot.
H! h! H!
Harry ate an awful lot!
H! h! H!

Ii
Izzy Iguana is so icky.
I! i! I!
Izzy stepped in something sticky.
I! i! I!

Jj
Jesse Jaguar loves to jump.
J! j! J!
Jesse jumps over big, big bumps.
J! j! J!

Kk

Katie Kangaroo kicks and kicks

K! k! K!

Katie kicks at rocks and sticks.

K! k! K!

Ll

Lizzie Lion licks lollipops
L! l! L!
Lizzie licks and never stops
L! l! L!

Mm
Missy Mouse loves to munch.
M! m! M!
Missy munches on her lunch.
M! m! M!

Nn
Nellie Newt just says, “NO!”
N! n! N!
Nellie doesn’t want to go.
N! n! N!

Oo
Ozzie Owl sings opera loud.
O! o! O!
Ozzie sings it for the crowd.
O! o! O!PpPatty Panda makes popcorn pop.
P!p!P!
Patty pops and never stops.
P!p!P!

Qq
Quentin Quail quilts for the queen.
Q! q! Q!
Quentin’s quilts are blue and green.
Q! q! Q!

Rr
Robbie Rabbit races cars.
R! r! R!
Robbie races very far.
R! r! R!

Ss
Sally snake likes to hiss.
S! s! S!
Sally hisses at her sis.
S! s! S!

Tt
Timmy Turtle tots along.
T! t! T!
Timmy tots and sings a song.
T! t! T!

Uu
Unger Unicorn loves to hug.
U! u! U!
Unger will even hug a bug!
U! u! U!

VvViolet Vulture flies vroom, vroom.
V! v! V!
Violet loves to fly on her broom.
V! v! V!

Ww
Wally Whale whips his tail with a crash.
W! w! W!
Wally’s tail makes a splash!
W! w! W!

Xx

Xavier Xogert loves x-rays.
X! x! X!
Xavier x-rays every day.
X! x! X!

Yy
Yolanda Yak likes to yo-yo
Y! y! Y!
Yolanda makes her yo-yo go-go!
Y! y! Y!

Zz
Zoe Zebra likes to snooze away.
Z! z! Z!
Zoe snoozes every day.
Z! z! Z!

Combine the learning of the sound with the poems.  It helps them to recognize the letter in both upper and lower case as well as recognize the sound for each letter.