Teach Preschoolers the Letter W
Letter Recognition Lesson Plan Ideas and Activities
Lesson plan ideas to teach students to identify the letter W, write the letter W, and identify the W sound. W activities for science, math, and movement.
Learn all about the letter W with these lesson plan ideas.
Objectives
- Students will identify the letter W.
- Students will write the letter W.
- Students will identify the W sound at the beginning of words.
- Students will count, order and classify watermelon seeds.
- Students will plant, measure and record plat growth.
- Students will draw the different stages of water.
Letter Recognition: Fishing for Ws
- Fill a blue bin halfway with water and place magnetic letters along the bottom of the bin. Half of the letters in the bin should be Ws and the other half should be an assortment of other letters. Label the outside of the bin “water” by writing it with marker on a piece of masking tape.
- Tie a round magnet to the end of a pencil to use as a fishing pole. Demonstrate how to use the pole to pick up the Ws with the magnet. If the pole is too difficult for the students to use, have them take turns pointing to the Ws while you use the pole to fish them out.
Handwriting Activities
Watercolor Ws
- Demonstrate on a white board how to write the letter W. Pass out watercolor paper, paint and paint brushes. Have the students practice making watercolor Ws on their paper.
Window Ws
- Create a learning center at your classroom window. Purchase window markers or window chalk and store in canisters on the windowsill. Display Ws on the window or hanging from the ceiling as examples for the students to reference. Allow the students to practice writing Ws during free time.
Math: Watermelon Seeds
- Cut open a watermelon and scoop out the seeds.
- Place the students in small groups and give each group a pile of watermelon seeds. Have the students count the seeds, group the seeds according to size or color and place the seeds on the table in different patterns such as big, big, little.
- Give each student a plastic cup, organic soil, and a watermelon seed. Have each child plant the seed then write his name on the outside of the cup. Water the seeds and place on a windowsill.
- Measure and chart the growth of the watermelon plants.
Science: Three Stages of Water
- Explore the different stages of water with your class. Begin with the most familiar form of water - liquid. Show the class a bowl or glass of water and make note of the initial W sound in the word water using a think-aloud strategy.
- Have the students describe the liquid form of water and record their answers on a white board or chart paper.
- Pour the water into an ice cube tray and place it in the freezer. Show the tray to the students as the ice is freezing so they can see how it becomes a solid. After the cubes are completely frozen, show them to the children and record their observations in a column next to the liquid observations.
- Allow the ice to melt in a bowl. Discuss how it is turning back into liquid.
- Pour the water into a cold air humidifier. Talk to the students about how the water has now become water vapor. Record their observations regarding the water vapor in the third column.
- Reread the observations from the chart to the students. Have the students draw the different types of water they have learned about.
Movement: Get the Wiggles Out
- Glue wooden Ws from a craft store to thin dowels. Allow the students to paint and decorate their W wands using materials on hand in the classroom.
- When the wands are dry, have the students stand up and “get the wiggles out” by drawing big Ws in the air.
More Lesson Plan Ideas: Alphabet Activities and Games, Teach Kids to Write Paragraphs, Teach The Letter O.
The copyright of the article Teach Preschoolers the Letter W in Preschool is owned by Megan Sheakoski. Permission to republish Teach Preschoolers the Letter W must be granted by the author in writing.
