Traditionally in kindergarten classrooms, a new letter was introduced each week, stretching out across more than half of the school year. With children expected to be early readers by the end of kindergarten, there isn't time to introduce letters so slowly. Instead, introduce letters once per day in the early weeks of school. Focus specifically on the letter of the day each day. After the 26 school days of introducing the letters are over, create a system to review the letters and sounds with your pupils daily. Sing an ABC song where you are naming the letter and sounds, while pairing it with movements.
Assign each child a letter at the beginning of your letter unit. Provide children with a large plastic bag with a closure. When sending the bag home, tell them that they will be letter detectives and it is their job to find correct items. In the bag include a letter to the parent(s). Let the parent(s) know what letter their child has been assigned. Ask parents to help their child find items that will fit into the bag and begin with the assigned letter. For example, if a child is assigned the letter "Dd," she can bring a doll, dog, duck and diaper to class. When it is time to introduce the new letter, have the child share what items she was able to find beginning with her letter. The items may be actual samples, such as a stuffed toy, or a picture from magazine or printed online image.
Read a book daily that focuses on the letter of the day and highlights repetition of words beginning with this letter. Take a page of the book and copy the words onto chart paper. After reading the book, read the chart paper page to your class. Point to each word while reading. Ask which children would like to come up and find one of the letters of the day. Provide highlighting tape for the children to highlight the letters.
Give students opportunities to practice writing the letter of the day. Teach the correct letter formation, starting from the top and going to the bottom. Provide children pages that show various pictures and have children color in only the pictures that begin with the letter of the day. If the letter is "Dd," on the sheet the children might see a dog, cat, table, door, drum and car. Make small paper booklets for children to practice reading using the letter of the day. A simple "sentence" might be, "The dog." On the next page, the child would see, "The door." Corresponding pictures should be on each page to help the young readers.