This document provides instructions for creating a sandpaper letters learning task to help young children develop letter recognition and formation skills. Students trace letters cut from sandpaper and glued to cards to learn letter shapes through touch. The activity allows independent, self-guided practice and development of fine motor skills. Assessment involves observing students matching traced letters to models and providing feedback to support letter mastery.

1. ECED4080 Creating Materials for Use by Young Children
Sample Album of Learning Task Documentation Entry
Learning Task: Sandpaper Letters
Description:
Students move their fingertips over the
sandpaper letters and numerals to ‘get a feel’
of them. Single letters and numerals can be
used as stand alone cards to start with. Later
combinations of numerals or letters can be
used to practice specific number or phonetic
skills.
Learning task adapted from:
http://www.Volumes/External%20Hard
%20Disk/1.%20SQU
%20courses/6.%20Creating%20Classroom
%20Materials/7.%20Sandpaper%20Letters/
Sources/Sandpaper%20Letters%20-
%20FamilyEducation.com.html
Age Group:
3.5 to 5.5 years
Student Learning Outcomes:
Subject Area:
Writing:
Language
Prints letters of the alphabet
Subject Strand:
Prerequisite Concepts, Skills, & Values:
Writing
• follows class routines for selecting,
using and returning individual learning
Subject Topic:
tasks
Letter Formation
• adopts class routines for obtaining
Background Information: teacher support to demonstrate
Children need many experiences working learning tasks and to obtain assistance
with letters of the alphabet before they can • small muscle control to trace the
actually begin to print letters using a pencil sandpaper letters
or marker. Understanding can begin in a • recognizes and names letters and
receptive manner with activities such as numerals
having children move their fingers over the • recognizes tactile shapes from work
shapes of sandpaper letter. In this learning with three dimensional shapes
task, sandpaper numerals and letters are cut • concepts about print – differentiating
out and glued on laminated cards. Once between upper and lower case letters
students can recognize and name letters and on a printed page
numerals, they could attempt to match upper
and lower case letters. Letter combinations
can placed on cards as letter chunks.
Numeral combinations can be used to
introduce ‘ten’ and the other ‘teen numbers.’

2. ECED4080 Creating Materials for Use by Young Children
• Show the child how to trace the
Learning Theory & Instructional shape of numerals while saying the
Strategy: quantity, which they represent.
• the activity follows the constructivist • Say that letters can be models to
theory of learning in that the child use while forming them with a
learns about letter formation by thick pencil or paintbrush.
actually tracing the letters
• show the child how to move the
themselves.
play dough to the tray.
• the instructional strategy is
independent learning with self- Preparation:
correction Cut out enough cards of each colour to
• the teacher demonstrates the learning match the number required for the letters
task for the child initially, then the and numerals in both Arabic and English.
child works on its own perhaps Laminate the cards before attaching the
working with the same task for sandpaper. Employ the template sheets to
several days to reach the mastery cut out the sandpaper letters. Note that the
level. letters are flipped so that you can cut from
the smooth side of the sand paper. Glue
Student Characteristics Accommodated: the letters to the laminated cards using
• accommodating both bodily Super Glue.
kinesthetic, spatial, and naturalistic
intelligences underlie the design of Tools and equipment needed:
this activity as student enjoy the • letter and numeral sheets
texture, and sight of the sandpaper • cards for laminating
and observe the shapes and patterns
• sandpaper
of the letters.
• Super Glue
• the activity provides concrete
• scissors
experience leading to the more
abstract recognition and formation of
Laminated Letter Sheets:
printed letters.
• associated file of English and
• visually impaired students are aided
Arabic letters and numerals
with the tactile feel of the letters and
their large size • computer printout each of the
pages of the file
• children only engage in this activity
when it is developmentally • letter cards laminated
appropriate for them and are not • sandpaper letters glued to card
forced to move along with the entire
class or through the forced
progression inherent to printed
workbooks
Introduction of the Learning Task:
• Show the child how to remove the
activity tray from the shelf noting the
placement of each item.
• Take the learning task to an open
space at a table.
• Demonstrate how to trace the shape
of a letter while saying the sound that
the letter makes.

3. ECED4080 Creating Materials for Use by Young Children
Checklist of Tray Items:
• tray
• container of Arabic letters
• container of Hindi numerals
• container of English lower case
letters
• container of English upper case
letters
• container of Arabic numerals
• containers of combinations
Extension Activities:
1. Students could go on to use
paintbrush strokes to form letters of Alternate Tactile Letter Activity:
their names including a capital letter Students can look at a sheet of laminated letters
at the beginning. and attempt to draw various letters in a tray
2. Students could use a wet sponge to containing sand.
form letters on concrete or a
chalkboard. Evaluation Rubric:
3. Students could use a large, thick 1. Has difficulty keeping finger on the
pencil to form letters and print their sandpaper letters. Transfers only a
names. few letter strokes to paper.
2. Forms letters with reversal and/or
Enrichment Activities: missing strokes.
1. Students could be provided with 3. Forms most letters matching the models
specific letter combinations chunks provided.
to address specific phonics skills 4. Form all letters correctly matching the
2. Students could be provided with upper and lower cases.
specific numeral combinations as an
aid to the letter of place value with Vocabulary:
double-digit numbers. letter, upper case, lower case, sandpaper,
numerals, print, model, & trace.
Assessment Techniques:
• Student compares play dough letters References:
with printed models and self corrects. http://www.Volumes/External%20Hard
• Instructor observes student while %20Disk/1.%20SQU
working and provides formative %20courses/6.%20Creating%20Classroom
feedback. %20Materials/7.%20Sandpaper
• Instructor examines and analyzes %20Letters/Sources/Sandpaper%20Letters
finished product. %20-%20FamilyEducation.com.html
Feedback Suggestions: Comments, Hints, & Suggestions:
• How could you make the letters the Use different coloured backing for each set of
same as what you traced with your letters and numerals.
finger?
• What is different about this letter Key Words:
from the one on the sandpaper card? writing, letter formation, upper case, lower
case, sandpaper, trace, self-correct, &
matching.

4. ECED4080 Creating Materials for Use by Young Children
• What are the upper/lower case
letterforms for this letter?