Remember those days when using macaroni to form letters? Well those days are back, except its gone digital. What if your kids could use things to form letters such as foods and animals to create letters from A to Z. This is an opportunity to get creative by dragging items anyway they prefer as long as it forms the letters shown. Its been a blast creating this activity because I know that kids will learn the correct way to write their letters through the use of item manipulations.

What is it? This is a tracing activity that introduces upper and lower case letters from A to Z. The key is identifying how each letter is written and using pictures that starts with the letter to trace the letters. As demonstrated in the video above, apples and alligators are used for tracing. Students are more than welcome to use any of the six images provided to form the letters anyway they prefer.

Who is it for? This is primarily for early readers who are just beginning to recognize letters. Students need to acquire the skills of letter recognition in the sounds that each letter makes and understand how letters are formed. Tracing lines are indicated for individual letters to teach the basic formation of letters and the correct directions.

How to play it? Students will identify the upper case and lower case letter. Recognize that each letter produces sound. Notice the pictures on right side. Each picture begins with the letter shown in the center. Students can then drag each picture of their choice to the letters. This is all fun and play while students are establishing how much fun tracing letters can be.

How to set it up?

No Prep – The wonderful thing about using Boom Cards is that you don’t have to worry about setting it up. You are good to go if you have Internet service on your technology device. No need to cut, paste, or laminate countless number of papers. No need to print; even though Boom provides that option.

Immediate Feedback – This is one of the best features of Boom Learning. Once answers are picked, Boom provides quick responses with red circles indicating incorrect answers and green circles for correct answers. Drop zones are indicated by blue boxes to make it easy for students to see where things should be placed.

Self-Grading - Tracking progress on Boom is self-explanatory. Records are stored into the system automatically to make grading a breeze. Everything from the time they started the activity to the incorrect answers; are all in display screen for teachers to view.

How to use it? These digital task cards can be used in the language and reading Center. It promotes phonemic awareness, letter recognition, and picture association. 

To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial.

What is included? 26 Interactive digital task cards

Why is it a great activity? Coming up with this idea made me think of learning the alphabet while having fun and being creative. Its not just a matter of knowing how letters are formulated, but enjoying using things to create the letters.