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This post has been co-written with Ben Wolfson, a full-time educator and assistant principal in the USA.
By the end of kindergarten, the expectation is that students will have mastered the ability to correctly form the entire alphabet. As with all early literacy skills, the only way that they will fully embed this skill is to have them practice again and again. The big challenge, therefore, is to find ways to keep this repetition fresh and interesting, and these alphabet tracing worksheets pdf are another great tool for literacy centers. The traceable letters and pictures give multiple opportunities for letter shape practice as well as spelling of some longer words.
The Importance Of Tracing
The act of writing requires the coordination of multiple muscles and fine motor control which is why it can be the source of a lot of frustration for many younger students. They not only have to commit the proper process for forming each but also then have to persuade their hand to make those shapes a reality. This is where lowercase alphabet tracing is an important stepping stone. Tracing over the correct letter shape forces students to slow down and concentrate as well as building muscle memory. These trace and erase kinder alphabet worksheets have traceable shapes as well as letters and words to provide lots of fine motor practice.
Preparing Fun Alphabet Pages
For this activity you will need:
Paper
Printer
Pencils
Writing tools for tracing
Optional: laminator
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These alphabet tracing worksheets pdf are simple to use; just download the packet, print off the letter you’re working on and your literacy center is ready. If you’re planning on using them for a trace and erase activity, be sure to laminate them in full size so students can practice their fine motor penmanship.
Extending Lowercase Alphabet Tracing
These trace and erase kinder alphabet worksheets are quick to set up. Simply pick the letter that your class is working on and either laminate a class set of pages or put them in plastic wallets so students can repeat the activity. As your students gain mastery over their lowercase alphabet tracing, try some of these activities to extend their learning:
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Starting letters – you can use these traceable letters and pictures to help students learn the skill of listening to the starting sound of a word to help with their spelling. Each of these shapes has a distinctive starting sound, so you can play a matching game with your students where you say a shape from the pack and they have to either show you the match, or for an extra challenge, they can try to write the starting sound.
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Create your own pages – the challenge with many kinder alphabet worksheets is to find shapes and words that your students know and recognize. As they master this packet, you can talk with them about other familiar words that begin with each letter and make your own alphabet tracing worksheets pdf
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Letter names and sounds – these trace and erase alphabet worksheets are also a great opportunity to start teaching students that each letter has a name as well as a sound that it makes. As they complete each page, you can encourage them to say each letter’s name and the sound it makes as they trace it.