Record Keeping for Sandpaper Letters

This Fall will mark the beginning of my sixth year in the classroom - where has the time gone?!  While I have learned much over the years, I have yet to find an ideal method of keeping records specific to Sandpaper Letters.  Last year, I kept a separate notebook for keeping record of introduction of sounds and Sandpaper Letters.  At first, this was ideal in the sense that I could easily find each child's record and see which sounds and (later) letters had been introduced.  After a while, however, it felt as if I was loosing track as to which letters the child had already mastered and which ones still needed practice.  For this reason, I wanted to find a solution and better way to keep record within the records!

Thankfully, during the Language Oral Exam at the beginning of this summer, one of our instructors shared with us an interesting method of record keeping for Sandpaper Letters.  First, each child has their own booklet with the entire alphabet on the inside cover while the remaining pages are blank.  There are enough pages for one letter per page.
 

I've made one booklet for each child - they are delightfully small, only about 2x3 inches.

  Here is a closer look at the alphabet on the inside cover:

Handwritten in cursive.

 Once a child is introduced a letter, a mark is made like this (on the letter on the inside cover...):

As the child works to master the letter, a second mark is made:

When the child masters the letter, a final mark is made, completing a triangle around the letter:

As each letter is mastered (not necessarily in order), the teacher (or child) writes the letter on a page in the booklet.  The booklet stays at school until all letters are complete.  Eventually, the entire booklet has one letter on each page which the child can use to review.



I plan to keep them in the classroom using this adorable basket on a shelf...Seriously,  how much fun will this be to carry to each lesson?!

 I appreciate how this method not only helps the teacher keep track of progression within the lessons of the Sandpaper Letters, but also the child has a beautiful booklet to take home and share with family.  I know that the children in my class LOVE to take home booklets that are part of lessons we've had together!  Additionally, I feel this method gives the child more opportunities to see the written symbols (inside cover) as we work through the letters.  Likewise, my assistant can easily surmise by looking at through the booklet which letters the child has worked on and which ones still need a lesson.

It will be exciting to implement this new method of record keeping for Sandpaper Letters in the classroom this Fall. In case you are wondering, yes, we use cursive for teaching writing in my class...  you can read more about it in this post.  Also, I'd be most interested in hearing how others record lessons for Sandpaper Letters in your classrooms!