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My Biggest FAQ… Answered!

August 11, 2013 Maria Manore Gavin 41 Comments

It is no secret that I taught in my dream classroom last year. I loved my room and I know that many of you did too, because I continue to get fresh new comments on that old blog post. I also get a lot of questions, especially about my alphabet wall. Teachers love how pretty it looks and want to know more. What do I use it for? Where did I get the letters? Do my students do something with the board? I am so excited to FINALLY answer all of your questions today!

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links, which helps to support the blog.
great idea for an alphabet wall bulletin board
This is how my alphabet bulletin board looks in the fall. Brightly colored and empty. (Keep reading to the end for an explanation of how I created my letters).
great idea for an alphabet wall bulletin board

Using the Alphabet Board for Instruction

I do a Letter of the Week in my classroom. (Yes, we learn about a variety of letters all year long, every chance that I get to teach letters and their sounds.) The Letter of the Week just gets more attention than all the other letters that week.

I announce the focus letter on Monday morning. I remove the letter of study from the bulletin board when I introduce the letter and its sound to the class. Then we create a list of words that begin with that letter. I put a note in each child’s letter that explains the new letter of the week to parents, along with the students’ homework for the week. This part is really fun. Each child is responsible for looking in magazines or newspapers to find a picture that begins with the featured letter. All homework assignments are due by Friday. Typically, a few pictures come in each day throughout the week. During calendar time each day, I gather the students around while I open the envelopes and glue their pictures onto the letter for the week.

When we begin the Letter of the Week, each student receives an envelope labeled with his/her name and number. I laminate all of the envelopes and they hold up great for the duration of the school year.
using Letter of the Week in the kindergarten classroom
I usually take a few moments to trim each picture down so I can fit as many as possible onto the letter. When a student brings a really BIG image, I usually glue these onto the back of the letter. If I run out of space before Friday, all of those pictures are glued onto the back as well. My students take it in stride without complaint. I also encourage my students to bring photos of themselves when we study the letter at the beginning of their first name.

By the end of the week, my letter collages look something like this.
Letter collages in a Kindergarten classroom
Putting the letters back in the correct location on the board is a breeze. As you probably know by now I am a teensy little bit on the fussy side. Actually, I’m an all-out fussy-pants. My letters are equally spaced apart and in a straight line. I want to re-hang the letters easily at the end of each study so when I set up the bulletin board in the fall, I mount all of the letters on a slightly larger white piece of construction paper that is stapled to the board beneath the brightly colored letter. The plain white letter is a great visual reminder to my students of what we are studying that week and it clearly marks where I need to re-hang the collage letter.
great idea for Letter of the Week in the kindergarten classroom
By the end of the school year, my completed alphabet board looks like this! It is a great visual reminder for the students of each letter and sound that we have learned together.
this teacher explains how she uses Letter of the Week as part of her classroom display

How I Made My Letters

My method for creating these letters can be summed up in 3 words: THE HARD WAY. My school has alphabet die-cuts that are about 5″ tall. They were not big enough, but I loved the simple block style of each letter. So I cut out each letter on the die cut machine, then placed each one on the school copier and enlarged the image significantly. That created a whole set of black letters on white copy paper. I wanted a template that I could use year after year so I traced the black letters onto old file folders so I would have a stencil. Each year I trace the alphabet stencils onto colored cardstock paper. For a few years, I  used construction paper but I did not like how fast it faded in my sunny classroom. I have found that the cardstock holds it’s color so much BETTER.

Lucky for you, I have learned a few tricks along the way. If you have a Cricut or a Cameo Silhouette, save yourself some work and let the machine do all the cutting!

If you still have to do things the old fashioned way, I created a set of Alphabet Wall Templates that you can download for free. Just print, cut the letters out and use them to create your own classroom alphabet.
alphabet wall templates for classroom bulletin board - FREE!
*One quick note: these letters were created on my computer using the best font I could find that most closely resembles the letters on my alphabet wall. It is not an exact match. The letters in my template are a bit more narrow and less chunky, but again, It’s a good start.

**Another quick note: Not every letter fit perfectly onto 8.5×11″ paper. Some letters were too wide to fit on the page. For these letters, you will have to use your imagination (and hopefully a ruler) to continue the rest of the letters onto 12×12″ cardstock. Sorry, but this was the best I could do!

Take a Tour

Want to see more of my bright and sunny classroom? Check out last year’s blog post and see photos of the entire room.
bright and sunny kindergarten classroom

Peek into My New Classroom

This year I moved into a new building and started my classroom from scratch! Stop by and visit my ALL NEW classroom. I give a complete tour!
beautiful teacher desk area in a kindergarten classroom

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FAQ alphabet, bulletin board, classroom, Kindergarten

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Comments

  1. Ana says

    August 11, 2013 at 6:14 pm

    Absolutely brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing 🙂 Wish I had a huge bulletin board like yours though…

    Reply
  2. Lyndsey (A Year of Many "Firsts") says

    August 11, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    Holy cow! YOU ARE INCREDIBLE. I just adore you and everything you create. You are so unbelievably talented. This idea is genius! Love you friend!!!!!!

    Reply
  3. Melissa Reed says

    August 11, 2013 at 6:20 pm

    Love that the kiddos bring in pictures for each letter! Great idea!

    Reply
  4. Shuna Patterson says

    August 11, 2013 at 6:21 pm

    I love the idea of the kiddos bringing in pictures for the letter of the week. Thanks so much for the awesome freebie

    Reply
  5. Erin Blecki says

    August 11, 2013 at 6:22 pm

    Love love love! thanks for sharing your methods!!!

    Reply
  6. Anne says

    August 11, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Why upper case?

    Reply
  7. dearmswong says

    August 11, 2013 at 7:06 pm

    Thanks for the free templates. I know what I’m doing when I return to the classroom! 🙂

    Reply
  8. diditeach says

    August 11, 2013 at 7:25 pm

    Great idea !

    Reply
  9. Marsha McGuire says

    August 11, 2013 at 7:53 pm

    Please come decorate my room for me friend. I love your ideas. You’re so smart and creative.
    Love it.
    Marsha

    Reply
  10. Julie Stowe says

    August 12, 2013 at 1:36 am

    Fabulous idea. Thanks for sharing with step by step instructions.
    Julie 🙂
    Mrs Stowe’s Kinder Cottage

    Reply
  11. Angela Piccoli says

    August 12, 2013 at 2:44 am

    This is such a great idea! I would LOVE to find a way to incorporate this into my 5th grade classroom (maybe with phonics sounds i.e. blends and short vowels- yes I have a few students who would benefit from that!) Check me out on http://5thgradeandfab.blogspot.com – I am a new blogger!

    Reply
  12. Kim says

    August 12, 2013 at 7:07 am

    I’ve been admiring your alphabet wall in the before picture, but love it even more in the after! Do you know the approximate size of your bulletin board (the alphabet part)? Also, do you use this in place of or in addition to a word wall? Thanks!

    Reply
  13. Kate says

    August 12, 2013 at 9:36 am

    I love this idea! Thanks for sharing!
    Kate
    Fun in ECSE

    Reply
  14. Katie Lawson says

    August 12, 2013 at 9:46 am

    Great idea!

    Reply
  15. Miss Nelson says

    August 12, 2013 at 2:17 pm

    Love this post. I love your letter idea.

    Reply
  16. Mrs. Frost says

    August 12, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    So cute! I love the big, bright letters! The kids must really look forward to this activity!
    Mrs.Frost’s Kindergarten

    Reply
  17. Christina Swan says

    August 12, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    I love this! You are so creative! I hope I can incorporate it somewhere in my small classroom this year! What Cricut cartridge has good block letters like these?

    Reply
  18. Hannah Walters says

    August 13, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    Would you mind sharing the letter that you use to send to parents describing the letter and homework? I love this idea and just need a place to get started!

    Reply
  19. peter kenneth says

    November 1, 2013 at 5:21 am

    The idea of using a vibrant color is just fantastic… 🙂 well done..
    signs sheffield

    Reply
  20. emmecj says

    May 18, 2014 at 12:25 pm

    Love your ABC wall. I was thinking maybe if you laminated them, then just use tape or teacher’s stick stuff to place the pictures on. that way you can remove the pictures and use them again next year.

    Reply
  21. Samantha says

    August 8, 2014 at 2:58 pm

    I have downloaded your pre-primer and primer sight word labels. I was wondering what font did you use, we have a few we need to add.
    THANK YOU…I LOVE THEM~~

    Reply
  22. CdC says

    November 8, 2014 at 5:39 am

    Thank you so much! I love it xx

    Reply
  23. Samantha says

    April 7, 2015 at 8:46 am

    Hi Maria,
    I was wondering where you found or how you created the black number line with colored numbers?

    Reply
    • Maria Manore says

      April 7, 2015 at 4:24 pm

      Hi Samantha! The number line is available for purchase in my TpT store. Here is a link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Number-Line-0-120-Black-Series-899481

      Reply
  24. Lynn says

    June 19, 2015 at 7:36 pm

    Wonderful idea, Maria!

    Question… do you know in alphabetical order when introducing the letters, or do you go in a “random” order?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Maria Manore says

      June 20, 2015 at 1:01 pm

      Hi Lynn! My order is best described as random. It changes from year to year and usually revolves around the season, theme, or poems that we use each week

      Reply
  25. MaryAnn says

    June 29, 2015 at 1:56 pm

    What do your home folders look like?

    Reply
    • Maria Manore says

      July 2, 2015 at 9:46 am

      Hi MaryAnn! My home folders are nothing fancy at all. The school provides each child with a folder. The look varies from year to year. Sometimes they have an eagle on them, sometimes it’s a picture of an apple. Either way, they aren’t really my style but I use them because it is a school-wide resource and parents know to look for it every day.

      Reply
      • MaryAnn says

        July 2, 2015 at 10:45 am

        Awesome! I am just looking to change things up a bit!!!!!!
        Thank You!

        Reply
  26. Queara says

    October 25, 2015 at 3:57 am

    oh i want to be your student too! what a brilliant idea. 🙂

    Reply
  27. Katie Lindhurst says

    June 22, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    So I have been doing this wall based on your idea for two years now. The first year I did just a picture with the letter sound and made the collage. This last school year, I also did an interactive notebook with the kids. I would write the word of the picture that they brought in on the board next to the study letter. The kids would copy it down in their alphabet interactive notebooks. I would model over and over again sounding out the words, pointing out chunks or blends, etc. I saw my students writing improve this year with them really sounding out words a whole lot more! Thanks for the idea with the alphabet wall. The kids and I both love doing it.

    Reply
    • Maria Manore Gavin says

      June 22, 2016 at 5:43 pm

      That is such a great idea, Katie! I’m going to consider implementing that for my classroom too!

      Reply
  28. Mandy says

    July 23, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    Great letter of the week idea! Do you have a master letter that you send home to parents explaining what the expectations are? Would you be willing to share it?

    Reply
  29. Lisa Vrana says

    August 11, 2017 at 11:30 pm

    I love this idea, thank you! I’m teaching Kindergarten for the first time and I’m going to try this!

    Reply
  30. starla dawn says

    July 12, 2018 at 10:03 am

    Love your ideas! Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  31. Scarlett says

    July 16, 2018 at 3:09 pm

    I love the letters and have completed them in uppercase. I would love to print the lowercase letters to go with them. Can you tell me what font you used? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Maria Manore Gavin says

      July 24, 2018 at 10:39 pm

      It was Century Gothic!

      Reply

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 Maria Gavin round Hello there and welcome!
I'm Maria Gavin - a kindergarten teacher, curriculum developer, educational blogger and founder of Kinder Craze.

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