Running head: INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

Increasing Letter Recognition in Head Start Students Using Alphabet Arc and Line by Line
Letter ID
Lindsey Kraus
University of New England
April 21, 2016

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine if using specific interventions would help improve
letter recognition in 8 Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten students. There were two interventions
used in this study. Line by Line Letter ID was an intervention used that was repetitive exercise
where students were asked to name known and unknown letters. Alphabet Arc was a hands on
intervention where the students named letters while matching letter manipulatives to a letter arc.
The students were given a pretest, which consisted of the teacher asking them to name each letter
of the alphabet and each letter of their first name. Then for the next three weeks, two
interventions were used three times a week to help improve strengthen the students letter
recognition ability. There was a posttest given that again asked the students to name each of the
letters in the alphabet and the letters in their first name. The results of the pretest and posttest
were compared. The results showed that the interventions were successful. All of the students
improved their letter recognition in both the alphabet and their own names. Areas of further
research include using varying letter recognition interventions based on the child in order to keep
their interest and enthusiasm.

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

Table of Contents
Introduction..4
Problem Statement...5
Research Questions..6
Hypothesis6
Literature Review.7
Literacy Development..7
Letter Recognition...8
Summary....10
Methodology..............11
Research Design....12
Data Collection Plan
Data Analysis.15
Sample Selection16
Results....16
Findings.18
Discussion..21
Limitations.23
Summary and Further Research.23
Action Plan.23
Conclusion.25
References..26
Appendix28

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

Increasing Letter Recognition in Head Start Students Using Alphabet Arc and Line by Line
Letter ID
In order for students to learn to read, they need to be able to identify letter sounds to
sound out words. Before the students can learn letter sounds they must be able to identify the
letters and differentiate between them. Learning to spell and write will also prove to be difficult
if students do not know the differences between letters. In Early Childhood Education (ECE)
programs like Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten, attention to these concepts make a difference.
Robust evidence suggest that a year or two of center-based ECE for three- and four year
olds, provided in a developmentally appropriate program, will improve childrens early
language, literacy and mathematic skills when measured at the end of the program or
soon after. (Brooks-Gunn et al., 2013, p.4)
This study will explore how the interventions Line by Line Letter ID and Alphabet Arc help
preschool students increase their letter identification knowledge and accuracy. Line by Line
Letter ID is a repetitive exercise where the students identify a set of known and unknown letters
repeatedly until unknown letters become known letters. Alphabet Arc is a hands on activity that
requires the students to name the letters while matching letters to an arc. By using these two
interventions, the students will increase their letter recognition.
The class involved in this study is a class located in the Rochambeau School in the White
Plains School District in White Plains, New York. This is a mixed class with 8 Head Start and 4
Pre-Kindergarten students. All of the students in the class use Spanish as their primary language
and 50% of the parents in the class do not speak English at all. Head Start is a federally funded
program designed to increase the school-readiness of young children in low-income families.
Many of these families do not have the resources to expose their children to the alphabet or

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

books. The students range in ages from 3-5 years old, the younger students will continue on to
Pre-Kindergarten and the older students will go to Kindergarten after this year.
It is especially important for these students to develop a strong understanding of language
and letter recognition. These students are essentially learning a whole new language (English) in
the classroom and will need to master the alphabet before they can move onto letter sounds and
reading. This knowledge will also help their oral language by helping them learn what sounds
letter make in English as opposed to Spanish. These students will be moving onto primary
schools where they will be speaking, reading and writing in English, so it is imperative that they
develop these skills now.
Neither of the teachers in this classroom speaks Spanish, so there is also the disadvantage
of a language barrier between students and teachers. The teachers have spent the school year so
far working on communicating with the students and teaching them words and phrases to help
them understand the classroom routines and rules. The students slowly understand more and
more English by being exposed to it all day long and are starting to show understanding of
lessons. Now that there is a routine in place and the teachers are able to communicate with the
students, the teachers would like to focus on letter recognition to prepare the students for further
schooling.
Problem Statement
It is more than half way through the school year and the majority of the students in this
class still cannot name all of the letters. Many of the students cannot spell their names. The head
teacher, who is conducting this study, is expected to prepare some of these students for
Kindergarten where they will be expected to know letter names and letter sounds. The students
came into this class with very little English and therefore no knowledge of letter names.

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

From doing activities with the children the teachers can tell the students do not know
most of the letters when asked to name them. They can all sing the ABC song and some students
can accurately name the letters in their first name. The head teacher recently decided to start with
the beginning of the alphabet and discuss a letter each week. This includes saying the letter, the
sound, what words start with that letter, a craft and practicing writing that letter. She has
discovered that this brief conversation about the letter in circle time and these small activities are
not enough to help the students remember the letter names. The teachers believe that there needs
to be a more specific plan that will reach each individual student.
The head teacher asked each individual student to name the letters of the alphabet out of
order. Out of 11 students, 3 know 100% of the letters. 5 students know under 50% of the letters
and 3 students know between 80% and 100%. The goal for the students under 50% is to get them
above 60%. The goal for the students between 80% and 100% is to get them to 100%. This data
is show in Table A. Also shown in this table is how many letters each student knows in their
name.
Research Questions
This study intends to determine the extent to which letter recognition can be increased by
reinforcing the known letters and teaching the unknown letters through Line by Line Letter ID
activity and the use of manipulatives and hands on activities (Alphabet Arc) in the classroom.
Additionally, this researcher will evaluate the students ability to identify letter names outside of
the context of these two activities.
Hypothesis
Following 5 weeks of exposure to Line by Line Letter ID and Alphabet Arc 3 times a
week, the students will raise their accuracy of letter identification. The students who start with

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

below 50% accuracy will raise their scores to above 50% accuracy. Students with between 50%
and 80% accuracy will raise their scores to above 80% accuracy. The students will show their
ability to identify letters outside of the context of the Alphabet Arc and Line by Line Letter ID
activities. They will be able to carry over their knowledge into center time and when asked to
name the letters in their first and last names.
Literature Review
With legislation like the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, IDEA in 2004, and the
Common Core standards, our expectations of our students are higher than ever. Teachers,
administrators, and parents are all working together to help students achieve their learning goals
to the best of their ability. To help students reach their highest potential, many parents and
teachers are looking towards preschool and pre-kindergarten programs to help get students on the
right track from an early age. Many studies have indicated the positive impact these early
childhood education (ECE) programs have on a childs education.
Literacy Development
One of the most important aspects of a childs early childhood education is literacy
development. According to Boon Rosof et al. (2008), The foundation of all learning is rooted in
the development of language and literacy abilities (p.17). Literacy carries over into all aspects
of education; if a child cannot read then they will have trouble in all of their other subjects, social
lives, and emotional lives. Once children are in Kindergarten, almost all of their success in
school depends on being able to read and write. Students must be able to read and write in all
areas of their schooling, including extracurricular subjects and activities. It has been shown that
if students are struggling with literacy in their early years, it will carry on through their
secondary years of schooling and it becomes harder and harder to catch students up (Piasta and

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

Wagner, 2010). Evidence, in fact, supports the conclusion that early literacy skills are
significantly impacted by early, consistent, and accurate instruction in the areas of phonological
and phonemic awareness (Boon Rosof et. al. 2008, p.19). For that reason, there is a lot of
emphasis put on early childhood education and literacy.
Letter Recognition
The most basic aspect of early childhood literacy development is letter recognition. The
ability to recognize letters and name them is the first thing that a child learns to do when it comes
to reading and writing. The acquisition of alphabet knowledge, or knowledge of letter names
and corresponding sounds, is an important accomplishment in childrens early literacy
development and recognized as the strongest predictor of later reading ability (Piasta, Purport &
Wagner, 2010, p.1). Children will struggle to learn to spell words if they cannot identify and
distinguish between different letters. Children who struggle with letter recognition are more
likely to have trouble learning to read and develop reading disabilities. If a child does not know
the letters of the alphabet it will significantly hinder his or her ability to read and write. The
earlier a child is taught the letters of the alphabet the stronger reader they might be. (Bilodeau,
2012, p.13) According to Chard & Osborn (2015), a beginning reading program should include
many alphabet knowledge activities where children name both upper and lower case letters,
games, songs, and activities that help children learn letter names; writing activities that have
children practice writing letters they are learning; and a sensible sequence of letter introduction
that can be adjusted to the needs of the children (p.1).
In an early childhood classroom, the students are all at different levels and learning
abilities. For most students this is their first school experience, and the exposure to literacy
outside of school is varied. Because of the gap in the education of these students, the students

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

will benefit more from working with a teacher one-on-one or in a small group. One-to-oneteaching is a structured arrangement in which the child has the chance to react with the teacher
and be reinforced when they respond correctly (Aldemir & Gursel, 2014, p.734). As Piasta &
Wagner (2010) stated, The benefit of small-group instruction has been repeatedly recognized
within the early literacy literature as a hallmark of effective literacy instruction and linked to
enhanced skill development in students (p.20). When the students are all at different levels of
learning, whole group instruction will not be as beneficial as small group instruction or one-onone instruction. By using one-on-one instruction, teachers can differentiate the activities based
on what the students know or do not know. By working with students in a one-on-one
environment the teacher can really identify the students strengths and weaknesses and different
strategies to help them learn.
Using two different techniques to enforce letter recognition will help students with
different learning styles and keep the students interested (Clark, Jones and Reutzel, 2012). Line
by Line Letter ID is a repetitive exercise. According to Clark, Jones and Reutzel (2012),
Students learn alphabet knowledge best through frequent exposure and repetition to the letters
(p.4). This activity is presented on a sheet of paper that has rows and columns of letters, usually
arranged in a 10 x10 box. There will be three known letters on the sheet and two unknown
letters. The students will go through the rows and name the letters. The idea is that through
repetition they should remember the unknown letters as they go. Once the students master a sheet
they will move on to a new sheet with new unknown letters. This activity will give the students
practice every day with known letters and unknown letters. Each day it reinforces known letters
so that students retain what they have learned while simultaneously introducing unknown letters.
As Wilson (2008) states,

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

10

Perceptive teachers, realizing the importance of this first stage of reading

development, look for ways to acquaint the child with literacy in personally
satisfying ways. They do this primarily through a literacy-rich environment where
children have authentic opportunities to become engaged in a variety of listening,
talking, reading, and writing activities. (p.1)
Alphabet Arc is a hands on activity for students who enjoy using a manipulative to learn.
According to Mesmer (2012), the students first identify the letter they have in their hand, find the
letter on the arc, place the letter on the arc, and then check it by singing or naming the letters in
order. Once the students master this, they can be timed to see how fast they can do it. It is
important that the students are naming the letter before they place them on the arc so that it is not
just shape memorization; they are also repeating the names of the letters. Once the students can
match all of the letters, a different arc is used where letters in the arc are taken away and they
have to fill in the missing letters. Alphabet Arc can be used as a game and will be viewed as
playing by students, which is important at this age level (slides 7-12).
Summary
In order to stay competitive the next generation must be assured a strong, early
foundation for learning, crucial to childrens later school and societal success (DellaMattera,
2010, p.35). One of the most important aspects of a childs early childhood education is their
literacy development. Students who master letter recognition at an early stage become more
successful readers and writers. Before students can move onto learning letter sounds and reading
they must learn how to identify letters. By using two different techniques, Line By Line Letter
ID and Alphabet Arc, students will have different ways of learning to name the letters of the
alphabet. The students in this study came into school with very little knowledge of the alphabet.

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

11

Using Line by Line Letter ID and Alphabet Arc will help increase their letter knowledge and
help them identify letters not only in the context of the alphabet, but in their names so that they
can start recognizing letters in other context
Methodology
The majority of students in this Head Start/Pre-Kindergarten class in White Plains, NY
cannot name all of the letters in the alphabet. Half of these students will be moving on to
Kindergarten next year and will be expected to name the letters and possibly know letter sounds.
The brief lesson on letter names during circle time has proven to not be effective for these
children, and they need more individualized instruction. This study intended to determine the
extent to which letter recognition can be increased by reinforcing the known letters and teaching
the unknown letters through Line by Line Letter ID activity and the use of manipulatives and
hands-on activities (Alphabet Arc) in the classroom. Additionally, this researcher evaluated the
students ability to identify letter names outside of the context of these two activities. Following
5 weeks of exposure to Line by Line Letter ID and Alphabet Arc 3 times a week, the students
raised their accuracy of letter identification. The students showed their ability to identify letters
outside of the context of the Alphabet Arc and Line by Line letter ID activities. They were able
to carry over their knowledge into center time when asked to name the letters in their first names.
This study was based on quantitative research. The head teacher (researcher) identified the
problem as being that the students are not able to name the letters of the alphabet. The head
teacher collected numerical data on how many letters each student can identify in the alphabet
and their name. Table 1 shows the percentage of letters each student knows and the teacher set
goals based on their percentage. At the end of the study the head teacher collected the same data
on how many letters the student can name to show growth.

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

12

Table 1.
Pretest Table
Student

% letters known in alphabet

% letters known in name

0%

0%

3%

16%

7%

60%

30%

33%

46%

87%

80%

100%

84%

100%

92%

100%

Research Design
The teacher chose to do two interventions to implement during the study. Line-by-Line
letter ID is a repetitive practice for the students that use known letters and unknown letters in the
same session. The head teacher will do this with the students 3 times a week. The head teacher
designed sheets that are based on each individual students knowledge of letters. The sheets have
rows and columns of letters. There were 3 known letters and 2 unknown letters included. The
students named the letters on the sheet. If they paused for more than 3 seconds, the teacher told
them the name of the letter, but the teacher did not tell them the letter if they name it incorrectly
and move on. The teacher kept score on an identical teachers copy. This was done for a minute
or until the student finished, whichever came first. The teacher then put the correct and incorrect
answers in a graph and showed the graph to the student to encourage how well they are doing.

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

13

Then the teacher and the student went through the page to correct any errors they had. They read
the letters together, and then the student read the letters on their own. If the student passed that
page (48 letter names per minute with 2 or fewer mistakes), then they moved on to a new page
the next day. The new page will contain 1-2 previously unknown letters (now known since they
passed the previous page), one more known letter and 2 unknown letters. This then continued
until all the letters are learned.
Alphabet Arc is a hands on activity for the students to do. The teacher did this with the
students twice a week. The alphabet arc is just that--an arc of letters in order. These letters are
big enough for a student to match up a magnetic letter to them. The students took the magnetic
letters, said the name, and matched it to the same letter on the arc. The teacher did this with them
to help them with any letters they did not know. When the students mastered the arc on their
own, they did the same activity with an arc that only had some of the letters on it. The students
matched these letters, but also placed the missing letters in the correct place on the arc. This let
the students use a manipulative so that they get the feel of each letter while naming and matching
it.
Data Collection Plan
The teacher has already collected data on what letters the students know and created a
pretest table to show it (Table 1). All students (A-H) know less than 100% of the letters in the
alphabet. Students A-E can name fewer than 50% of the letters. For Line By Line Letter ID, the
teacher will be completing a graph (Appendix A) every time they do the activity with the
students. This will show how many correct letters and how many errors they get each time. It
will show how many times the teacher has to do each individual page with the students and how
many pages it took for the student to master the unknown letters. For Alphabet Arc, the teacher

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

14

will keep track of how many letters the students know in the Arc each week (Appendix B) and
how many times it takes to master the Arc and how long it takes for them to master the Arc
(Appendix C). At the end of both interventions the teacher will retest the students to see how
many letters they can name and how many letters in their name they can identify in the posttest
table (Appendix D) and compare it with the pretest table (Table 1). This comparison will be
shown in Appendix E. Shown in Table 2 is a triangulation matrix that connects the research
questions with the data collection instruments.
Table 2.
Triangulation Matrix
Research Question
1. Preexisting
Knowledge?
2. Effectiveness
of Line-By-Line
Letter ID

Data Source
2

Pretest

Pretest

Letter ID
Graph

Posttest
Posttest

3. Effectiveness
of Alphabet Arc

Pretest

Alphabet
Arc table

4. Knowledge of
letter names

Pretest

Posttest

5. Knowledge of
letters in name

Pretest

Name
Activities

Posttest

The data collection process was discussed with a director of the school and another Head
Start teacher in the school. After looking over the study and the data collection methods, both
colleagues agreed that the procedures and sources were valid. It was discussed that the students
names should be kept confidential and that their identification should be kept consistent

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

15

throughout the study and in each table. Both colleagues agreed that the data being collected was
relevant to the study and would help demonstrate whether the hypothesis was correct and the
research questions were answered. After speaking with both colleagues, Appendix B was added
to the data collection. It was discussed that there should be a table displaying how Alphabet Arc
was working throughout the study instead of just at the end of the study. All of the data
collection methods are valid. They are directly showing how each strategy is helping the students
and data is being shown not only throughout the study but also at the beginning and end for
comparison. There are no methods that are being used that are not relevant to the study and all
information collected will help answer the research questions.
Data Analysis
The appendices will be used to organize and analyze the data. The students will be
consistently referred to as Student A-H in all of the tables and analysis. Student A will be
Student A throughout the whole study; Student B will be Student B, etc. The students real
names will not be used anywhere throughout the study, so there will be no way of identifying the
students. Appendix A will be used for Line by Line Letter ID. Unless the students are having a
hard time with the activity, one worksheet should be enough for each student for the whole
study. The worksheet will show the letters being practiced, the errors, and the letters completed
per minute. Since each worksheet shows multiple weeks, it will be easy to analyze how the
students are progressing. The reader will be able to see week-by-week information and compare.
For Alphabet Arc, Appendix B will show how many letters the student can match by the end of
the week. The teacher will record the number of letters they can accurately name and match into
the table to show the progress week by week. The reader will be able to see how many times it
took them to master it and then how quickly they can do it once it is mastered in Appendix C.

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

16

Appendix D will be completed when the study is finished. The students will be asked to identify
every letter of the alphabet in a random order and that percentage will be recorded. They will
then be asked to identify the letters in their name and that percentage will be recorded. This data
will be compared with the data in Table 1. This comparison will be shown in Appendix E.
Sample Selection
The students involved in this study were in a class located in White Plains, New York.
Six of the students were a part of the Head Start Program (students A, B, C, F, G, H) and two
students were in the Pre-Kindergarten program (students D and E). Students D and E were four
years old. Two of the Head Start students (C and G) were four years old and were going on to
Kindergarten as well, while the other four students were three years old (A, B, F and H) and had
another year of Head Start or Pre-kindergarten. Although the programs had separate names, all
of these students were located in the same classroom and received all of the same lessons. The
two Pre-Kindergarten students were only in the classroom for half a day. Spanish was the
students primary language and 50% of the parents in the class did not speak English at all.
These students came into this classroom that year with very little prior knowledge of the
alphabet. They also did not have a head teacher until the end of October, so they had only been
receiving a structured education since November.
Results
The purpose of this study was to improve the letter recognition in 8 students in a Head
Start/Pre-Kindergarten class. These students could not identify all of the letters of the alphabet at
the start of the study. The two interventions that were used were Line by Line Letter ID and
Alphabet Arc. Line by Line Letter ID is a repetitive activity where the students continuously
named known and unknown letters until they were learned. Alphabet Arc is a hands on activity

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

17

that had the students match letter manipulatives while naming the letters. For Line by Line Letter
ID, the data was collected on a graph for each student. The number of letters per minute, errors
and letters being studied were all recorded (Appendix A). For Alphabet Arc, the number of
letters the students could identify in the arc at the end of the week was recorded (Appendix B).
At the end of Alphabet Arc, the number of times it took for the students to master the Arc was
recorded as well as how long it took them to complete the Arc accurately (Appendix C). At the
end of the study the students were asked to name the letters in the alphabet and their name, and
this posttest data was recorded (Appendix D). The posttest and pretest data were compared in a
table (Appendix E).

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

18

Findings
Table 1, which was presented in the problem statement section of this paper, is repeated
here for the readers convenience. This was given before any of the interventions were used.
Column 2 shows the percentage of letters known in the alphabet, and column 3 shows the
percentage of letters known in their own name.
Table 1.
Pretest Table
Student

% letters known in alphabet

% letters known in name

0%

0%

3%

16%

7%

60%

30%

33%

46%

87%

80%

100%

84%

100%

92%

100%

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

19

Table 2 presents the results of the posttest. The posttest was administered after 4 weeks of
2 interventions 3 days a week. All students were asked to name all 26 letters in the alphabet, and
then they were asked to name the letters in their own first name. Column 2 shows the % letters
known in alphabet and Column 3 shows the % letters known in name.
Table 2.
Posttest Table
Student
A

% letters known in alphabet

19%

% letters known in name

40%

57%

100%

46%

80%

65%

88%

76%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

20

Table 3 presents the comparison between the known letters in the alphabet from the
pretest (Table 1) and the posttest (Table 2). The pretest was administered before any of the
interventions were used. The posttest was administered after 4 weeks of 2 interventions used 3
times a week. Column 2 shows the percent of letters known in the alphabet in the pretest and
column 3 shows the percent of letters known in the alphabet in the posttest. Column 4 shows the
percent change between the pretest and the posttest.
Table 3.
Comparison Table Letters in Alphabet
Student
% letters known in
alphabet pretest
A

0%

% letters known in
alphabet
posttest
19%

% change

3%

57%

54%

7%

46%

39%

30%

65%

35%

46%

76%

30%

80%

100%

20%

84%

100%

16%

92%

100%

8%

19%

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

21

Table 7 presents the comparison between the known letters in the students names from
the pretest (Table 1) and the posttest (Table 2). The pretest was administered before any of the
interventions were used. The posttest was administered after 4 weeks of 2 interventions used 3
times a week. Column 2 shows the percent of letters known in the name in the pretest and
column 2 shows the percent of letters known in the name in the posttest. Column 3 shows the
percent change between the pretest and posttest.
Table 7.
Comparison Table Letters in Name
Student
% letters known in
name prettest
A
0%

% letters known in
name posttest
40%

% change
40%

16%

100%

84%

60%

80%

20%

33%

88%

55%

87%

100%

13%

100%

100%

0%

100%

100%

0%

100%

100%

0%

Discussion
Table 1 shows that at the beginning of this study, 5 students knew less than half of the
letters in the alphabet and 3 students knew between half and 92% percent of the letters in the
alphabet. Table 1 also shows that 5 students could not name all the letters in their first names.
Tables 2 and 3, the posttest comparison tables, show that all 8 students made progress with their
letter recognition skills in both the alphabet and their names. Table 2, the comparison table for

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

22

letters of the alphabet, shows the increase in alphabet letter recognition side by side. Students AF made a 19% or more increase in their letter recognition. Students F, G and H increased their
letter recognition to 100% of the letters in the alphabet. Table 3, the comparison table for the
students names, shows the increase in letter recognition in the students names. The students
made at least a 13% increase and up to an 84% increase.
The first research question asked to what extent letter recognition can be increased by
reinforcing the known letters and teaching the unknown letters through Line by Line Letter ID
activity and the use of manipulatives and hands on activities such as Alphabet Arc in the
classroom. The hypothesis was that students who start with below 50% accuracy would raise
their scores to above 50% accuracy. The students between 50% and 80% accuracy will raise their
scores to above 80% accuracy. The majority of the data confirms this hypothesis. Student A and
Student C both started below 50% accuracy and ended below 50% accuracy. Students B, D, and
E started below 50% accuracy and ended above 50% accuracy. Students F, G and H all started
with above 50% accuracy and ended with 100% accuracy.
The second research question evaluated the students ability to identify letter names
outside the context of these two activities. All of the students had an increase in the percentage of
letters that they could identify in their names. Five out of 8 students ended the interventions
knowing 100% of the letters in their first names. Two students ended the intervention knowing
more than 80% of the letters in their first names, and 1 student ended the intervention knowing
40% of the letters in their first name.
Although the hypothesis was not supported by the data 100%, all students showed
improvement. It is shown that some students made a greater percentage increase than others, but
all improvement was on an impressive scale. This data shows that the interventions were

INCREASING LETTER RECOGNITION

23

successful and helped increase all of the students letter recognition knowledge and their
knowledge carried over into other areas such as letter recognition in their first names.
Limitations
Fortunately, there was a minimum of limitations during this study. The study was
decreased from 5 weeks to 4 weeks because of a spring break where the students did not attend
school. A couple of students were absent throughout the 4 weeks, but they were able to make up
the sessions for the interventions that they missed. Some students found Line by Line Letter ID
tiring and too repetitive. Many of them had a hard time completing this intervention towards the
middle and end of the study. This might have impacted their improvement.
Summary and Further Research
This study and the interventions Line by Line Letter ID and Alphabet Arc were found to
be successful. All 8 students involved in this study showed improvement in their letter
recognition throughout the 4 weeks of the study. All students showed improvement in alphabet
recognition and recognition of letters in their first names. Although the hypothesis was
confirmed, further research should be conducted on this topic. Line by Line Letter ID proved to
be too repetitive and monotonous for the students. Another intervention should be chosen and
carried out with these students to help continue their letter recognition improvement and also
keep them engaged. It is recommended that similar interventions are conducted in other
classrooms with students who have similar starting data. Then concluding data can then be
compared, and it can be decided what interventions are the most successful.
Action Plan
The aim of this study was to see if the two interventions, Line by Line Letter ID and
Alphabet Arc, would help students recognize and name the letters of the alphabet quickly and

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accurately. From what was observed during this study, the teacher researcher did not continue
using these two strategies. Instead, they decided to incorporate different activities to help
improve letter recognition in the classroom. Both strategies had results that the teacher did not
expect or predict, and neither was hugely successful in the classroom. Line by Line Letter ID
proved to be too repetitive and intense for the students. The study included too many letters on
the pages the students were completing and the students either got overwhelmed or bored or
many times did not complete the activity successfully. For the Alphabet Arc activity, many
students could match the letters correctly, but still struggled with identifying the names of the
letters. They rushed through matching and did not take time to name the letters, which was the
point of the activity. Students were also absent during the study, including a student who missed
a whole week due to illness.
Even though both strategies did not go quite as planned, there was improvement in the
data. Being exposed to the letters so often and having one on one time with the teacher helped
the students and encouraged them to focus more on letter names. If the activities are changed
every few days and add new activities in, the students will be more engaged and interested in
completing the tasks. The teacher will continue to do these interventions with the students who
were still benefitting from them and incorporate new activities for the students who were starting
to become uninterested. It was shown that the effort that was put in to spend individual time with
students helped them become more successful, and this will be continued in the classroom.
Many other teachers who teach in this capacity are also struggling with this issue. A few
of the teacher researchers colleagues have expressed interest in incorporating some of these
activities into their classrooms. The teachers have discussed that it would be a great thing to start
at the beginning of the new school year, when it is easier to start new things and when there is

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unlimited time. The teacher researcher who conducted this study is going to start a whole new
letter recognition program based on their findings in this study for the new school year starting in
September.
Conclusion
One of the most important aspects of early childhood education is literacy development.
This is the basis of a childs ability to speak, read and write. The purpose of this study was to
improve Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten students letter recognition in order to build a strong
foundation in literacy. It was found that with the addition of two letter recognition interventions,
the students letter recognition skills improved. Even though all aspects of the study did not go as
smoothly as planned, the teacher researcher still saw progress in all of the students. The teacher
researcher is going to take the information that she collected and learned and continue to
incorporate various aspects of the study in her classroom. It was shown that one on one
instruction to the students was extremely beneficial for their learning progress. The teacher
researcher will continue to spend as much individualized time with the students as often as
possible to help continue the improvement shown. It is suggested that other interventions are
researched in order to gain a larger understanding of how the students learn and retain
information about the alphabet.

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References

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Bilodeau, K. (2012). Hand-on strategies to help assist children in letter formation and letter
recognition. Education Masters, 222. Retrieved from http://fisherpub.sfjc.edu/education_
ETD_masters/222
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childhood educators knowledge of early literacy development. Issues in Teacher
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Brooks-Gunn, J., Burchinal, M.R., Espinosa, L.M., Gormley, W.T., Ludwig, J., Magnuson, K.A.,
Phillips, D., Weiland, C., Yoshikawa, H., & Zaslow, M.J. (2013). Investing in our future:
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%20Preschool%20Education%20FINAL.pdf
Chard, D.J. & Osborn, J. (2015). Phonics and word recognition instruction in early reading
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/6316/
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DellaMattera, J. (2010). No preschooler left behind: Preschool policies in the NCLB world.

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Journal of Educational Research & Policy Studies, 10, 35-49. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ930164.pdf
Mesmer, H.A.E. (2012). Surefire strategies for struggling readers: Hitting developmental
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Piasta, S.B., Purpura, D.J, & Wagner, R.K. (2010). Fostering alphabet knowledge development:
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607-626. doi: 10.1007/s11145-009-9174-x
Piasta, S.B. & Wagner, R.K. (2010). Developing early literacy skills: A meta-analysis of
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?ArticleID=684

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Appendix A

Line-by-Line Letter ID Graph

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Appendix B

Alphabet Arc-# of letters known per week

Week
Student Student Student
A
B
C
1

Student
D

Student
E

Student
F

Student
G

Student
H

2
3
4

Appendix C
Completed Alphabet Arc Table
Student
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

# of times to master arc

Time taken to complete arc