Alpha Sprint WorksheetAlpha Sprint Speedy Letter Naming Practice NAME: DATE: Instructions How many letters can you name in one minute? Point to each letter starting from the top left. Read across each row. If you get stuck, your teacher will help you and you can move to the next one! a s m t f p i n c o r d g l u h j k e v w x y z q b a t m i f h s r n o p c e u d g l k j v w q b y z x a o p i t s n m f r e d g u h l c k j v w x y z q b m i a o s p n t c r e f u h d l g b j k v q Letters Named Errors Total Score Teacher Observations
Lowercase Launchpad SlidesLowercase Launchpad Building Automaticity in Letter Naming Today's Blueprint See It Look at the lowercase letter shapes on the screen. Say It Name the letters as fast as you can without making mistakes! Warm-up Sprint a m t s i f Can you name these 6 letters in 5 seconds? Watch Out! Some letters are sneaky! They look almost the same. Look closely at the bellies and tails. b bed d dog p pig q queen Ready for the Sprint? Get your Alpha Sprint paper ready. We will name as many letters as we can in 60 seconds! Sprint Strategy 01 Eyes on the Prize Keep your eyes on the letter your finger is pointing to. 02 Don't Stop If you get stuck, say "skip" and move to the next one quickly. 03 Steady Rhythm Try to name letters like a ticking clock: a... b... c... d...
Alpha Search ActivityAlpha Search Letter Detective Mission NAME: DATE: Mission Brief Detectives, we need to find the target letters! Look at the letter in the big circle. Then, search the row and circle every match you find. b d b p b h q b d d b q d p d a p q p g b p d p m m n w m r u m n r n m h n u n i l i j i f i t Speed Search Challenge Can you find all the s letters hidden in this jumble? Circle them as fast as you can! a s o e s c r s f z s x s p s m
Lowercase Launchpad Teacher GuideTeacher Playbook Lesson: Lowercase Launchpad Intervention Focus: Letter Naming Automaticity Lesson Overview This intervention is designed for students who can recognize some letters but lack the automaticity required for fluent reading. The goal is to move from accuracy to automaticity (naming letters in under 1 second). Materials Needed Alpha Sprint Worksheet Alpha Search Activity Stopwatch/Timer Highlighter/Markers Instructional Sequence 1 Warm-up & Discrimination (5-7 mins) Use the Lowercase Launchpad Slides to review shapes. Focus heavily on b/d/p/q. Ask the student to describe the difference (e.g., "d has a tall tail like a dog, p has a tail that goes down"). "Today we are training our eyes to be super fast. We want our brains to see the letter and say the name before we even think about it!" 2 Alpha Search Activity (5-10 mins) Guide the student through the Alpha Search worksheet. This builds visual discrimination. If they miss a target letter, stop and compare it to the "distractor" letter they skipped over. 3 Alpha Sprint: Cold Timing (1 min) Set the timer for 1 minute. Have the student name letters on the Alpha Sprint Worksheet. Mark errors on your copy or a tracking sheet. Do not correct errors during the timing—just mark and move on. 4 Error Correction & Practice (5 mins) Identify 2-3 letters the student missed or hesitated on. Practice those letters using a "My Turn, Your Turn" approach. Point to the letter: "This is g. What letter?" "g." "Again." "g." Differentiation Strategies Support (Scaffolding) • Highlight the first row of letters to guide tracking. • Focus only on 5-10 letters instead of the full 26. • Use a "window" card to show only one letter at a time. Challenge (Extension) • Ask for the letter sound instead of the name. • Increase the goal (e.g., "Can you beat your score by 5 letters?"). • Have the student find words in a book starting with a target letter.
