Teachers, the New Alphabet Song Is Here!

As a child of the 1980s, the alphabet song has a special place in my heart. But as a mom and a teacher, I’m the first to admit that it can be confusing for little kids. Sometimes progress is painful, so as much as you would like to say “you can pry LMNOP from my cold, dead hands,” this is a change we need to embrace as educators.

This TikTok from @teacherrachelsorsel aka Teacher Rachel came across my feed and I was instantly captivated. Check it out:

@teacherrachelsorsel
It’s true: they changed the alphabet song. But it’s for a good reason! #scienceofreading #earlyliteracy #teachyourkidtoread #structuredliteracy #developmentallyappropriate #sor #phonics #alphabetsong #theychangedthealphabet #teachertip #preschool #kindergarten #firstgrade
♬ original sound – Mindful Teacher – SoR & SEL

What’s wrong with the old alphabet song?

I get it. It’s beloved. But it’s also problematic. Here’s why:

During the “LMNOP” section, many children hear an “L” and a “P” and don’t say the individual letter names in between. Some kids even think “LMNOP” is one letter!
At the end of the song, we say “Y and Z,” but students sometimes think “YN” or “NZ” are letters.

How is the new alphabet song different?

In the new song, you’ll sing it like this: ABCDEFG | HIJKLMN | OPQ| RST | UVW | XYZ. Now I never will forget | How to say the alphabet. That’s it! Teacher Rachel puts a snap in between every line, and I think it’s really helpful. Plus, no filler words!

What are people saying about the new alphabet song?

I saw this reaction a lot, but IMHO, “we all ended up OK” isn’t a good reason to keep doing something. If we can do better, we should. And this version is better.

I get what you’re saying, Justin. But any teacher will tell you that just because students are looking at the alphabet while they sing it, doesn’t mean they’re not going to get confused. Learning to read (particularly in English) is hard enough as it is. So I for one am pro anything that makes it clearer.