Preschool Literacy Lesson Plans

Want to give your little ones a head start on reading and writing? Preschool literacy lesson plans can help make this a reality! These plans aren’t just about learning letters and sounds; they set the stage for a love of reading and writing that lasts a lifetime. Following a well-structured plan can create a fun and engaging classroom environment where young children develop the foundational skills they need to become successful readers and writers. 

I am excited to share with you easy ways to teach fun literacy activities and the important things every preschool literacy plan should include.

Preschool literacy curriculum goes beyond simply learning the alphabet. It’s about building a strong foundation for reading and writing success. This includes developing oral language skills, phonological awareness (hearing and manipulating sounds in spoken language), and basic phonics knowledge.

Teaching the alphabet to preschoolers goes beyond just direct instruction. The best way to nurture these early literacy skills is to create a fun and engaging environment. This could involve singing alphabet songs, reading stories with vibrant pictures, and incorporating letters into everyday activities. By understanding why these skills are important and making learning enjoyable, we can help young children build a lifelong love of reading and writing.

​​​​If you are looking for enriching, engaging, relevant literacy lessons be sure to check out my complete and comprehensive preschool literacy curriculum. This will take all the guesswork out of your weekly and daily planning.

HOW TO TEACH LITERACY TO PRESCHOOLERS

When teaching literacy to preschoolers, keep things fun and engaging. Here are some key strategies:

Read Aloud Every Day

Daily story time introduces children to new vocabulary, sentence structure, and the joy of books. It also helps instill a love for reading. Imagine your preschoolers’ faces lighting up as you bring stories to life with animated voices and sound effects!

Sing Songs and Rhymes

Get those little bodies moving and grooving with catchy songs and rhymes! Not only are songs and rhymes fun, but they also help develop phonological awareness, which is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. Think of it as training little ears for the building blocks of language!

Play Word Games

Turn learning into a playful competition with interactive word games! Games like “I Spy” and rhyming games are fantastic ways to make learning letters and sounds exciting. Imagine the joy of discovery when a child excitedly shouts out, “I spy something that starts with B… it’s a book!”

Incorporate Literacy into Everyday Activities

Weave literacy into the everyday fabric of your classroom. Label objects around the room, creating a word-filled environment. Share and write important words together, encouraging participation and building vocabulary. During playtime, spark their imaginations by turning pretend play into storytelling adventures.

Provide Hands-on Activities

Let creativity run wild with hands-on activities! Activities like sculpting letters in playdough or letter-matching games turn learning into a sensory experience. Imagine the satisfaction of your preschoolers molding the letter “A” or triumphantly matching a lowercase “b” to its uppercase buddy!

WHAT DOES LITERACY LOOK LIKE IN A PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM?

Imagine a preschool classroom filled with vibrant children’s books, alphabet charts, and writing centers brimming with crayons and markers. You read stories with animated voices, encouraging children to participate through sounds, gestures, and simple questions. During playtime, songs and rhymes fill the air, and children may be seen “writing” stories with squiggles and shapes, mimicking the act of reading and writing.

This active, playful environment fosters a love of literacy, where children are curious about words and eager to explore the world of reading and writing.

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE PRESCHOOL LITERACY CURRICULUM?

A well-rounded preschool literacy curriculum includes units that introduce children to fundamental concepts in a sequential and systematic manner. Here are some examples of units and skills taught in my comprehensive preschool literacy curriculum:

• Oral Language: Oral language development is crucial for literacy development. Some of these important skills include developing listening skills, following directions, using complete sentences, turn-taking, responding to songs and poems, and responding to others during a discussion. My literacy curriculum teaches all these skills and more through daily lessons that include music and finger plays.
• Phonological Awareness: Phonological awareness development helps set a strong foundation in pre-reading skills. It includes several skills like listening for words, identifying rhyming words, coming up with rhymes, syllable segmenting and counting, blending onset and rime, listening for initial sounds, phonemes, and more! My curriculum has 40 weeks of daily lessons which include over 160 lessons in phonological awareness. You will never run out of engaging and fun activities to share with your preschoolers!
• Phonics: Phonics is the oh-so-important relationship between letters and sounds. It is important to establish daily alphabet routines for your preschoolers that last throughout the entire year. My phonics curriculum is extensive and complete, while also being engaging and fun. Daily lessons include skill practice in letters & sounds, reading & writing connections, Alphabet Friends songs with actions, letter cards, alphabet bulletin board cards, and more! Your preschoolers will get to practice a variety of alphabet skills every day in fun and new ways.

PRESCHOOL LITERACY ACTIVITIES

Let’s explore some engaging activities to incorporate into your preschool literacy lesson plans:

ORAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Oral language development is more than just learning new words. It’s about building the skills kids need to communicate effectively. This includes speaking clearly, listening attentively, and taking turns in conversations. Some fun oral language activities that you can easily incorporate into your preschool classroom include show and tell, storytelling circle, and story time puppets. Oral language sets the foundation for strong reading and writing skills later on!

These oral language development activities encourage children to express themselves verbally and develop strong communication skills:

• Ladybug Visual Discrimination Cards
• Farm Animal Printables to Develop Language Skills
• 11 Fun Oral Language Development Activities

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS 

Phonological awareness is a fancy way of saying you can play with sounds in words! It’s like being a word detective. Phonological awareness includes figuring out how many sounds are in a word, if they rhyme or sound alike at the beginning, and even how to take sounds apart and put them back together. This skill is super important for learning to read!

• I Spy Letter Identification Activity
• Initial Sound Blackout Game
• Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

PHONICS ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS

Preschoolers are natural sound detectives! Phonics awareness is like their secret decoder ring for words. They can learn to clap out the different sounds they hear in words like “dog” (d-og), find words that rhyme like “cat” and “hat,” and even play with changing sounds to turn “bat” into “mat.” All this detective work with sounds helps them get ready to crack the code of reading and become superstar readers!

These playful activities introduce children to the basic sounds associated with letters, paving the way for future phonics instruction:

• Alphabet Tracing Card with Beginning Sound
• Summer Beginning Sounds Clip Cards
• Beginning Sounds S’mores Game
• Letter Sound Songs for Preschool
• Letter Sounds Bingo

Preschool literacy lesson plans are a powerful tool for sparking a lifelong love of learning. By incorporating engaging activities and building a strong foundation in oral language, phonological awareness, and phonics, we can empower young children to embark on an exciting journey to becoming readers.

Sarah Punkoney, MAT

I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.

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