Adult Americans have been left in tears after a first grade school teacher revealed the new version of the alphabet song – with a significant change.
For decades, children have been taught the song as ‘A-B-C-D-E-F-G, H-I-J-K, L-M-N-O-P, Q-R-S, T-U-V, W-X, Y and Z, Now I know my ABCs, Next time won’t you sing with me?’
But now, Rachel Sorsel, an educator specializing in structured literacy, literacy intervention and dyslexia who has taught hundreds of students in the past five years, reveals that there is a new way to sing the chant – and for good reason.
Young kids are now singing: ‘A-B-C-D-E-F-G, H-I-J-K-L-M-N, O-P-Q, R-S-T, U-V-W, X-Y-Z, Now I never will forget, how to say the alphabet.’
The alteration comes after hundreds of years of The ABC Song, which was created in 1835, set to the tune originally composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1761.
In a now viral video, Sorsel explained that instructors have changed the classic ‘LMNOP’ and ‘Y and Z’ groups after children kept signing the former as ‘ellemenopee’ in one breath and would assume that the ‘and’ in ‘Y and Z’ was an actual letter.
‘I’m a teacher and I don’t teach the alphabet like the way I grew up singing it.
‘And this is one of the reasons because kids hear “LMNOP” and they don’t say the individual letter names. Some even think this is one letter.
‘Another reason is because at the end of the traditional alphabet song, we sing Y “N” Z and some kids think that YN is a letter or NZ is a letter.’
But while the change is for good reason, many have been left wondering why a new era of children are unable to understand the classic version of the song.
While the change is for good reason, many have been left wondering why a new era of children are unable to understand the classic version of the song
‘I agree with you but didn’t all of us turn out fine knowing how to read and such with the original way of singing the alphabet,’ one TikToker commented.
While another quipped: ‘I’ve never ever in my life met someone who thought lmnop or yn or nz were individual letters.’
‘do they not have the alphabet above the chalk board anymore? we knew LMNOP were individual letters cuz we could see them,’ a viewer questioned.
While another also added: ‘Do they not go through the alphabet and actually teach each letter anymore? Just throw the song at ’em and let ’em figure it out, huh?’
Some TikTokers also lamented the loss of the ‘LMNOP’ group in the song.
‘Ellemenohpee was my favorite letter tho,’ one user reminisced.
While another added: ‘LMNOP got me through a lot. We will never forget you. RIP.’
Sorsel further explained how learning the alphabets in the new way could actually improve the country’s literacy rate
Sorsel further explained how learning the alphabets in the new way could actually improve the country’s literacy rate.
‘When kids struggle with something as ‘simple’ as the alphabet song, we know that these [reading] skills are going to be tough for them and those are foundational to be able to decode and read,’ she told USA Today.
She also explained why enunciating does not work for such young children.
‘A lot of people on my videos comment, “Oh, why don’t you just enunciate?” And of course, we enunciated to make sure the kids understand what we’re saying with our mouths.
‘But it doesn’t make a difference because their brain is not developed enough to notice the difference as much as we do as fluent, literate adults.’
Sorsel added that while educators do want to connect visuals to sounds, those aged around between three and five who are learning the song do not have the neural networks to match the written letters to the sounds.
‘To kids, those just look like squiggles. You have to develop that a lot more slowly than just showing 26 squiggles and saying sounds.’
The revised version of the song is not Sorsel’s own creation but educational website Dream English originally switched up the classic back in 2012.
