The Letter People Explained

The Letter People is a children's literacy program. The term also refers to the family of various characters depicted in it.

Original program

Elayne Reiss-Weimann and Rita Friedman, two teachers from George Miller Elementary in Nanuet, New York, created the concept of Letter People. [1] In 1964, first-grade teacher Reiss-Weimann formed the original idea for the Letter People. She had struggled daily to draw the attention of her 24 students (who were typical first-graders, eager and rambunctious) in a distraction-fond hallway classroom at the overcrowded school. Weimann collaborated with an early childhood coordinator, Rita Friedman, to create an educational program that revolved around 26 anthropomorphic characters, each representing a letter of the alphabet, to teach beginning readers how to "decode" or "sound out" the consonants and vowels that form words. They embodied the basic rules of phonics into stories about this clan of make-believe pictograms called the Letter People.

Each letter of the alphabet had a distinct characteristic to help children learn not only the letter but the sound the letter represents in the written word. For example, Mister M has a munching mouth, Mister N has a noisy nose and Mister T has tall teeth. The characters were painted on large, two-dimensional portrait cards. Each character was given an engaging personality to help the teacher bring her or him alive in the classroom, and each character had a song (or a poem at the time) to help children recall the distinguishing feature and sound. With the help of the Letter People, children remained on-task, learned more quickly, and retained what they learned. From the beginning, the children viewed the Letter People like real people and not just letters of the alphabet, phonics devices, or toys. On one occasion, when the Letter People had to be shipped to another school, the children insisted that holes would be placed in the boxes so that the Letter People could breathe as they traveled.[2]

Weimann and Friedman later sold the idea to New Dimensions in Education, Inc. (based in Plainview, New York, and later in Norwalk, Connecticut) which, in turn, copyrighted and published The Letter People educational products in 1968.[3] Liz Callen was hired by NDE to design the looks of the characters. NDE developed the concept into classroom programs: Alpha One in 1968,[4] and Alpha Time in 1972.[5]

Both program's basic concept was simple: Each letter of the English alphabet was represented by a unique character with traits derived from itself. The consonants were males (as the Letter Boys) and the vowels were females (as the Letter Girls, whom there could be no word without). Reiss-Weimann and Friedman also wrote two series of books about the characters, Read-to-Me (1972–1978) and Fables from the Letter People (1988–1989). Callen returned to illustrate all the books of the latter series. Each Letter Person also had an accompanying song (available on cassettes and vinyl record), and inflatable vinyl effigies in two sizes or a.k.a. "life-size") known as "Huggables". Other merchandise included filmstrips, flash cards, giant picture cards, board games, puzzles, other educational vinyl records, and coloring sheets.[6] Educators who adopted the program were trained in its implementation, and The Letter People was soon picked up by over 37,000[7] schools across the US.

Alpha One

Alpha One, also known as Alpha One: Breaking the Code, was a first and second grade program introduced in 1968, and revised in 1974,[8] that was designed to teach children to read and write sentences containing words containing three syllables in length and to develop within the child a sense of his own success and fun in learning to read by using the Letter People characters.[9] Alpha One’s game-like approach capitalized upon the child’s sense of fun and imagination to develop interest in learning to read and spell. Learning letter symbols and sounds, mastering rules of word formation, and reading and writing are byproducts of the interaction between the child and his 26 "Letter People" friends, his participation in creative and dramatic play, his enjoyment of activities associated with specially developed filmstrips and recorded stories and rhymes, and his programmed success in a variety of visual and auditory discrimination "Letter People" games. This program is the precursor to the Alpha Time program. [10]

Contents of the Alpha One Kit

Nearly all of the following materials have been described in conjunction with explaining the games and activities used during Alpha One lessons. In addition, teachers could also buy more materials through the NDE catalog along with the base program. The contents of the base Alpha One Kit are listed below with little additional explanation:

Alpha Time

Alpha Time, also known as Alpha Time: Beginning Reading, was a kindergarten program introduced in 1972, and revised in 1976 and 1980 that was meant to help children develop oral communication; dramatic play; oral/aural discrimination; visual discrimination and letter identification; and social living through the use of the Letter People.[11] In Alpha Time, kindergarteners were introduced to the child-sized vinyl characters commonly known as the Huggables",[12] which were large enough for small children to hug (though there were smaller-sized Huggables as well), instead of the 2D picture cards used in the 1st and 2nd grade Alpha One program. Alpha Time was meant to be used before Alpha One to introduce children to basic concepts.

Contents of the Alpha Time Kit[13] [14]

Television series

Country:United States
Num Episodes:60
Runtime:15 minutes
Network:PBS

Alan J. Pratt, Ph.D., a director and vice-president of NDE, Inc. approached KETC-TV, a PBS affiliate in St. Louis, Missouri, about creating a TV series based on the escapades of the Letter People. After five pilot programs were produced, Dr. Pratt approached the Council of Great City Schools (the 20 largest school districts in the US). Eventually, with the cooperation of the superintendents of the Council, NDE, and KETC-TV, a joint venture commenced. The series comprised sixty 15-minute episodes that became extremely popular nationwide with children who were learning to read. To ensure phonetic and linguistic accuracy in the television production process, Ruth Lerner from NDE served as the Editorial Supervisor.[15] Pratt was the Curriculum Consultant for the TV series. Tom McDonough of KETC-TV was the series' writer-director. While thousands of children were learning about the Letter People in school, thousands of others were being exposed to them through the television series based on the program. The show was extremely popular with children, and it quickly spread to over 105 other television stations across the country, via syndication, mainly to PBS and educational stations. The television series premiered on March 13, 1974.

The Letter People (relatively primitive puppets) undertake various adventures in Letter People Land, a dark, featureless place populated by strange people and creatures. Episodes usually focus on introducing new Letter People or new sounds formed by combining two Letter People together (such as /CH/ or /OU/). Other episodes take the Letter People to more exotic (though still featureless) locales such as outer space (eventually, the show would include more standard scenery, like cityscapes, meadows, Miss O's opera house, etc.), while a few highlight the characters' conflicts over various sounds (such as Mister C fighting Mister K for his sound). Another common feature of the show is the Catching Game, which is a game show hosted by Monty Swell (who is a character based on Monty Hall) where the Letter People must form words by positioning themselves correctly side-by-side.

Opening and closing sequence

A little dog is minding his own business when various figures (including a female figure carrying a bunch of helium balloons) enter the gates of Letter People Land as the song plays:

Come and meet the Letter People

Come and visit the family

Words are made of Letter People

A, B, C, D, follow me

Episode guide

No.Episode titleDirectorWriterOriginal airdate
1Meet Mister MThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonoughMarch 13, 1974
2Meet Mister TThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
3Meet Mister FThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
4Meet Mister HThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
5Meet Mister NThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
6Meet Mister BThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
7Meet Miss AThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
8What's the Catch?Thomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
9The TryoutThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
10The Catching GameThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
11Meet Mister ZThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey1974
12Meet Mister PGary TwitchellWilliam F. Bailey1974
13Meet Mister SThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough and William F. Bailey1974
14Meet Miss EWilliam F. BaileyThomas K. McDonough1974
15Meet Miss IGary TwitchellWilliam F. Bailey1974
16Meet Miss OGary TwitchellWilliam F. Bailey1974
17Meet Miss UThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey1974
18Meet Mister VThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1974
19Meet Mister LGary TwitchellWilliam F. Bailey1974
20The Story of Mister V; The Story of Mister SGary TwitchellWilliam F. Bailey1974
21The SquooshThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey1974
22Meet Mister DGary TwitchellGayle Waxman1974
23Meet Mister GThomas K. McDonoughGayle Waxman1974
24Meet Mister CThomas K. McDonoughHarry John Luecke1974
25Meet Mister KThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey1974
26The Story of Mister C and Mister K; Soft CThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey1974
27Meet Mister WThomas K. McDonoughGayle Waxman1974
28Long Vowel SoundsThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey1974
29Cooperation (Silent E)Thomas K. McDonoughGayle Waxman1974
30Adjacent Vowels (Two Vowels Standing Side-by-Side)Thomas K. McDonoughGayle Waxman1974
31Review IJeffrey JonesJeffrey Jones1975
32Review IIJeffrey JonesJeffrey Jones1975
33Review IIIJeffrey JonesThomas K. McDonough1975
34Review IVJeffrey JonesThomas K. McDonough1975
35Meet Mister YThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey1975
36Y as a Consonant and a VowelThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey1975
37Meet Mister JThomas K. McDonoughWilliam F. Bailey and Patrick Clear1975
38Soft GThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1975
39Meet Mister RThomas K. McDonoughGayle Waxman, Patrick Clear and Thomas K. McDonough1975
40Star Trip, part I (AR)Jeffrey JonesRon Cohen1975
41Star Trip, part II (OR)Jeffrey JonesRon Cohen1975
42Star Trip, part III (ER, IR, UR)Jeffrey JonesRon Cohen1975
43Review VThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1975
44Meet Mister XThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough and James Scott1975
45Meet Mister QThomas K. McDonoughJames Scott1975
46The Word Machine (Runaway Words)Jeffrey JonesRalph St. William1975
47Chewy Cherry Choo-Choo (CH)Thomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1975
48The Thing (TH)Jeffrey JonesRalph St. William1975
49WH and SHJeffrey JonesThomas K. McDonough1975
50Review VIThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonough1975
51The -ING Sound, part IJeffrey JonesRalph St. William1975
52The -ING Sound, part IIJeffrey JonesRalph St. William1975
53Words in Parts, part IThomas K. McDonoughRalph St. William1975
54Words in Parts, part IIThomas K. McDonoughRalph St. William1975
55OU and OWJeffrey JonesRalph DiGuglielmo1976
56OI and OYThomas K. McDonoughRalph DiGuglielmo1976
57Double O (OO)Thomas K. McDonoughRalph DiGuglielmo1976
58AU and AWJeffrey JonesRalph DiGuglielmo1976
59Sentences, part IJeffrey JonesJeffrey Jones1976
60Sentences, part IIThomas K. McDonoughThomas K. McDonoughFebruary 25, 1976

Availability

The show continued to air reruns on PBS stations until the Letter People program was revised in late 1996. It is rumored that PBS was ordered to destroy the show's master tapes on behalf of the newer program, given that the original program's characters depicted negative imagery. Prior to this, NDE released the show's episodes on a 5-tape VHS set of Letter People "Learning Advantage Videos" as part of the Letter People curriculum in the early-to-mid 1990s;[16] on the other hand, fans have preserved the episodes on many VHS recordings taped off of TV while the show was still on the air, and various DVDs having the episodes preserved can be found from time to time on auction sites such as eBay.

Revised

In 1990, Abrams & Co. Publishers Inc. (founded in 1989) of Austin, Texas, bought the rights to The Letter People from the previous owner, Norwalk, Connecticut-based New Dimensions in Education, Inc. At first, the company slightly revised the program, such as adding lowercase letters to the back of each Letter Person (previously they had been placed on each character somewhat randomly), but in 1996, they gave the program a major update, completely redesigning the look of the characters (however, some Letter People keep half of their designs from their original counterparts) and the associated materials, and also made sweeping changes to many of the Letter People, especially over half of their genders themselves, most obviously equalizing the proportion of male to female characters (vowels are now distinguished by their ability to light up via "LetterLights," which appear as yellow suns on their right shoulders). The male characters' names changed from "Mister" to "Mr.", and the female characters' names changed from "Miss" to "Ms.". Most of the characters' associated characteristics were changed as well, such as all references to "junk food" being swapped for non-food-related characteristics (Mr. D's "delicious donuts" were exchanged for "dazzling dance", for example) and any Letter Person that Abrams deemed as expressing negative images being changed to be more positive (Mr. H's horrible hair became happy hair instead, Mr. R's Ripping Rubberbands became Rainbow Ribbons, and Mr. X was no longer all wrong and became different, albeit still mixed-up). Alphakid A was used as the newer program's mascot.

New Letter People storybooks were written, many with simple rebus and decodable words. In 2002, a newer "Read-to-Me" book series was also written, with an eye toward teaching conflict resolution and problem-solving skills, and features a variety of genres including storybook, mystery, biography, poetry, and nonfiction.

The program is divided into three levels with increasing emphasis on phonics: Let's Begin with the Letter People for preschool, Land of the Letter People for kindergarten, and Lives of the Letter People for first grade. The program has been taught to about 35 million children.

Though the program is generally well-received by educators, some have criticized its strong focus on phonics at the expense of other literacy-building techniques.

In 2008, after Abrams & Co. Publishers, Inc. was acquired by Learning Trends and merged into Abrams Learning Trends, The Letter People program, along with other Abrams & Co. Publishers properties, eventually became incorporated into the DIG Pre-K curriculum.

In the early 2010s, four new Letter People characters were added to the program in order to teach children Spanish.[17] The four characters are Srta. Ch, Sr. Ll, Srta. Ñ and Sr. Rr.

In May 2019, Abrams Learning Trends, along with its properties including The Letter People characters, was acquired by Excelligence Learning Corporation and became incorporated into a subsidiary of Frog Street Press, thus causing Abrams Learning Trends to cease operations as an individual company.[18] As of September 21, 2020, The Letter People had no more new content made but the franchise continued to be kept alive as a learning unit of the DIG Pre-K program, with the hand puppets, certain educational materials, a CD with the songs, and most of the big books of the Letter People (all only available for purchase as part of the DIG Pre-K program) having been available on Frog Street Enterprises' online store until early 2024. All discontinued material such as worksheets, flashcards, the Huggables, and other books of the Letter People are still available second-hand from time to time through other online stores such as eBay.

As of February 1, 2024, Frog Street Press discontinued the DIG Pre-K program, ending the life of the Letter People franchise due to low sales.

The Number Workers

Along with the original program of The Letter People, its mathematics-equivalent program The Number Workers was also created. The Number Workers are referred to as the numerical cousins of the Letter People from a planet called "Number Workers World" and were created to help children learn not only about numbers, their sounds and how many there are in each number, but also symbols, mathematics, time, addition, and measurement. They range from numbers 1–9 with the odd numbers being males (as the Number Boys) and the even numbers being females (as the Number Girls). Each Number Person carries a number of objects to teach children how many there are to represent the number (such as Mister 1 having "only one of everything: a one-legged table, a one-legged chair, one microscope, one test tube and one clock with one hand"),[19] and also represents the job they employ: Mister 1 as a scientist, Miss 2 as a doctor, Mister 3 as a pilot, Miss 4 as a construction worker, Mister 5 as a sports player, Miss 6 as a shape stacker, Mister 7 as an ice-cream salesman, Miss 8 as a photographer and Mister 9 as a magician. (Note that the Number Workers are called "Number People" even though they are never referred to the Number People in the official program)

Unlike The Letter People, The Number Workers (and its later revamped version "The Number People") was lesser-known and had very few products, including an Alpha Math workbook (Number World Book), flashcards, giant picture cards, a teacher's guide, and a vinyl-containing accompanying songs for each Number Worker.

The Number People

When The Letter People program was revamped in 1996, The Number Workers program was also revamped along with it and was renamed "The Number People". This version features six males (Mr. 0, Mr. 2, Mr. 4, Mr. 5, Mr. 9, and Mr. 10) and five females (Miss 1, Miss 3, Miss 6, Miss 7, and Miss 8), with two new numbers introduced, which are 0 and 10. Each Number Person has the numeral placed to the top-right corner of his/her uniform, while a number word was also added to the back of each Number Person. A Spanish-language version was also available to teach the Spanish names of the numbers.[20]

Place where the Letter People live

In the original 1968 program, the place where the Letter People live was originally a fictional town called "Letter People Land" but, when the program was revised in 1990, it was renamed the "Land of the Letter People." As the newly revised program in 1996 utilized the newer version of the characters and town structures, the name of the Letter People's residence still remained the same.

List of Letter People

Original Program (1968)CharacteristicRevised Program (1996)Characteristic
Miss AA'chooMs. AA'choo
Mister BBeautiful ButtonsMr. BBeautiful Buttons
Mister CCotton CandyMr. CColossal Cap
Mister DDelicious DoughnutsMr. DDazzling Dance
Miss EExerciseMs. EExercise Energy
Mister FFunny FeetMs. FFunny Feet
Mister GGooey GumMr. GGooey Gum
Mister HHorrible HairMr. HHappy Hair
Miss I*Itchy Itch (originally)/Incredible InventorMr. IImpossible Inches
Mister JJumbled JunkMs. JJingle Jingle Jacket
Mister KKicking/Kicking King/Kind KickMs. KKaboom Kick
Mister LLemon LollipopsMs. LLongest Laugh
Mister MMunching MouthMr. MMunching Mouth
Mister NNoisy NoseMr. NNoisy Nose
Miss O*Obstinate (originally)/Optimistic OptimistMr. OOpposite
Mister PPointy PatchesMs. PPointy Patches
Mister QQuietMr. Q*Quiet Questions (originally)
Questions
Mister RRipping Rubber BandsMr. RRainbow Ribbons
Mister SSuper SocksMs. SSuper Socks
Mister TTall TeethMs. TTall Teeth
Miss UUpsy-Daisy UmbrellaMs. UUnusual Umbrella
Mister VViolet Velvet VestMs. VVegetable Vest
Mister WWonderful WinkMs. WWonderful Words
Mister XMixed-Up/All WrongMr. XDifferent
Mister YYawningMs. YYodeling Yawn
Mister ZZipping ZippersMr. ZZipping Zippers

Books

Read-to-Me (1972–1978)

^Unknown illustrator

*illustrated by James Razzi

Read-to-Me (2002–2003)

Credits

Original program (1968)

Songs (1972)

Television series (1974) [21]

Puppeteers and Voices

Revised program (1996)

Strategy Tapes

In popular media

Literature

Films

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 9 May 1969 . TV to Star in Country Class . live . 16 June 2024 . Rockland County Journal-News . 4.
  2. Web site: Lehr . Fran R. . Abrams Learning Trends: Research Foundations for The Letter People® Programs . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20150324145328/https://www.abramslearningtrends.com/sites/default/files/089570-1.pdf . 24 March 2015 . 31 January 2020 . abramslearningtrends.com . Abrams & Company Publishers, Inc.; Learning Trends, LLC.
  3. News: 28 June 1970 . Kids and Words . live . 15 June 2024 . Parade . 12.
  4. News: Rudy . Garcia . 15 November 1970 . Can Alpha End Poor Reading? . live . 15 June 2024 . New York Daily News.
  5. News: Scott . Marry Ann . 16 November 1972 . The Huggables: from Munching Mouth to Horrible Hair . live . 15 July 2024 . The Vestal News . 6.
  6. News: 20 June 1973 . Alpha One Reading Plan Clicks at Shenendehowa . 15 June 2024 . Schenectady Gazette . 6.
  7. News: 25 July 1977 . Ex-Nanuet teachers win royalty battle . live . 15 July 2024 . The Journal-News . 2B.
  8. Book: Sexism and language . 1977 . Urbana, Ill. : National Council of Teachers of English . Internet Archive . 978-0-8141-4373-5 . 167.
  9. Book: Robert C. Aukerman . Approaches to Beginning Reading . 1984-06-01 . John Wiley & Sons Inc . Internet Archive . 978-0-02-304950-7 . 151-158.
  10. Book: ERIC ED055128: Further Examination of Exemplary Programs for Educating Disadvantaged Children. Final Report. . July 1971 . ERIC . 1971 . 179-192 . english.
  11. Book: ERIC . ERIC ED112378: Prereading; Teaching Reading Skills. Volume III. . 1974 . 110 . english.
  12. May 12, 1972 . The Huggables . Life Magazine.
  13. Book: Alpha Time Professional Guide - Revised Edition 1978 . 1978 . New Dimensions In Education, Inc. . Revised . iii-viia.
  14. Book: ERIC ED098975: Bilingual Bicultural Materials; A Listing for Library Resource Centers. . June 1976 . ERIC . 16-17 . english.
  15. News: 14 July 1972 . Drying the Eyes of Crybaby Vowels . live . 14 July 2024 . Newsday . 16.
  16. Web site: The Letter People Learning Advantage Videos 1995 TV advertisement . YouTube . 5 July 2021 . 15 January 2022.
  17. Web site: Spanish Puppets, Set of 4. abramslearningtrends.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20180820074612/https://www.abramslearningtrends.com/products/spanish-puppets-set-4. 2018-08-20.
  18. Excelligence Learning Corporation Acquires Abrams Pre-K Curriculum and the Letter People.
  19. Book: People . Letter . The Number People – Alpha Math Worksheets . 6 April 2016 . CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform . 978-1530900046.
  20. Web site: The Number People. https://web.archive.org/web/20080228210825/http://www.abramsandcompany.com/the_number_people.aspx. dead. 28 February 2008. Abrams & Company Education Products – Home of the Letter People. 30 May 2019.
  21. Book: The Letter People KETC-TV Teachers Guide . 1974 . New Dimensions in Education, Inc. . 67.