For teachers · lesson card
Waterfall
Telling b, d, p and q apart: finding the one different letter in a sea of look-alikes · ages 4-7
1. Warm-up, 5 minutes
Make b and d with your hands (thumbs up, fists together, like a bed), then p and q (thumbs down). Call out a letter and let the class make it.
2. The game, on the projector
The class hunts for the different letter on the big screen and calls "There!" when they spot it; a helper taps it into the well. Swap helpers after every find.
Projector mode is the game with ?projector on the end of its address. It's big and landscape, a win waits for you to press Next, and nothing is saved on the computer: no progress, no animal cards, no login.
3. Away from the screen
The Waterfall sheet: rows of one letter with one different letter hidden in each. Each child rings the different one, then writes a row of their own for a partner.
Questions to ask
- Which letter are you looking for this time?
- How did you know that one was a b and not a d?
- Which way does its tummy face?
Curriculum
- AC9EFLY11: recognise and name all upper- and lower-case letters (graphs) and know the most common sound that each letter represents
- EYLF 5.4: Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work
More detail, and every word it says: the page for grown-ups.
Updated