Capital Letters W and U

I had a very enjoyable morning working with a young child who is learning his alphabet. When we took our nature walk and went into the garden he was SO SO excited to dig in the dirt and find worms, that is what we did! And I changed my lesson plan to accommodate his interest. Thus, W and U.

In the Waldorf method of teaching the alphabet, you choose something for each letter that starts with the letter and is also the shape of that letter!

W is for WORM
U is for UNDERGROUND

nature walk - visit garden

observe green tomatoes, seedlings in straw bale cold frame (red and green lettuces, beets, parsnips, radishes), persimmons ripening and falling off the trees

dig in garden soil to find worms

use trowel, shovel
practice right foot and left foot with shovel, jump on it with both feet
observe worms, snails, roots of plants

feel worms, find different sizes and kinds of worms

when a worm is partly in and partly out of a soil clump, pick up the clump and break it apart to reveal the worm and see how he digs tunnels

snack break

classroom routines - feed rabbit a carrot, brush him

art - make clay worms by rolling self-hardening clay between your hands until it is long and thin, then fold into a W shape

story - read Tillie and the Wall by Leo Lionni

main lesson book

add W (worm) and U (underground) to MLB using block beeswax crayons

on practice paper, adults draws W with yellow beeswax crayon
child traces over it with red
child practices drawing W on his own
in MLB, draw W worms in yellow, child traces it in red

on practice paper, adult draws U with yellow beeswax crayon
child traces over it with blue
child practices drawing U on his own
in MLB, draw U underground in yellow, child traces it in blue

play - go outside and throw a ball in a U shape (underhand)

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MATERIALS:

garden soil, worms, trowel and shovel

self-hardening clay, newspapers, bowl of warm soapy water, towels for drying hands

main lesson book, block beeswax crayons in the primary colors, practice paper



ball for throwing

Tillie and the Wall by Leo Lionni