What is Common Use Order?
Did you ever play the letter game as a kid where you are sitting in the backseat, maybe with a sibling or two, and try to find the letters of the alphabet on signs or license plates or anywhere for that matter?
That's what my sisters and I used to do all the time on long road trips. I find our kids play it once in a while, too.
Have you ever noticed that certain letters were easier to find than others?
That's because certain letters really are used more often than other ones.
This is the basic concept behind common use method.
The beginning
I first heard about common use order as a student in the teaching program at Arizona State University. It made so much sense to me to teach the alphabet in the order that letters are used most commonly in print.
The reality
After I graduated with my degree in Elementary Education (with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education), I started implementing this type of teaching method with my students and found it to be very successful with their literacy progress.
The order
Here is the order that letters are used in print according to their frequency:
E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R, D, L, C, U, M, W, F, G, Y, P, B, V, K, J, X, Q, Z .
A benefit
A benefit to using this method is that when you teach according to letter frequency, learners are more likely to learn the letters at a faster pace. This means they have a better chance at reader sooner than later. It also means that everyday things, like signs, become teachable moments.
An adventure
I found teaching the alphabet in common use order was very much like an adventure to me in the sense that I was trying something new. The more metaphorical light bulbs that came on in the mind of my students, the more exciting this adventure became.
Happy teaching!
