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HOW TO USE A–Z FOR MAT MAN® AND ME
Students build alphabet knowledge and early literacy skills incrementally through reading our letter books during shared-reading sessions and in practice activities. We recommend that teachers use this program during the following parts of their literacy block.
These five steps are what drives early literacy skills in A–Z for Mat Man® and Me:
1.
Teach The Letter Sound
Explicitly teach letter learning and invite students to participate.
2.
READ ALOUD AND ALONG
Read a letter book all the way through once. Then, ask students to read the story along with you.
3.
Practice Letters
Students write in the Practice Book to reinforce letter learning.
4.
FOCUS ON MEANING MAKING
Re-read the letter book together. Talk with students about story elements.
5.
ENGAGE IN DIGITAL PRACTICE
Students deepen their understanding on as they explore Student Digital Learning.
Example Lesson
Day 1 (Small Group) — Letter Learning Lesson
Day 1 (Independent Learning/Centers) — Letter Book Practice Pages
Day 2 (Small Group) — Meaning Making Lesson
Day 2 (Independent Learning/Centers) — Making Meaning Practice Pages
Small Group
15–20 minutes per session
Plan for shared reading of each Student Letter Book. Lead an interactive read aloud or invite children to read with you.
• Day 1—Teach each letter using the Letter Learning lesson.
• Day 2—Use the Meaning Making lesson to discuss the story.
Centers And Independent Work
15–20 minutes per session
• Children can stay actively engaged on their own through practice.
• Use A–Z for Mat Man® and Me: Practice for Emerging Readers and A–Z for Mat Man® and Me: Practice for Developing Readers to facilitate students’ independent work.
• Have children work in pairs on handson activities with Learning Without Tears manipulatives and the A–Z for Mat Man® and Me Student App.
Whole Group
Optional
You may want to gather all your students for reading aloud and modeling how to read. Use both print books and project the stories from the A–Z for Mat Man® and Me Interactive Teaching Tool, including Mat Man® and the Great Alphabet Parade.
SUPPORT FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (ELLs)
Learning the English alphabet and letter sounds can be particularly challenging for ELLs. To support ELLs in developing English language skills, the teacher’s guide provides research-based ELL scaffolds in each lesson.
Engage In Multimodal Learning
Add play and variety to your alphabet instruction with tips for active learning. Engage young learners and encourage creative interactions with the text they’ve explored.
