The Alphabet Song Is Completely Different Now, a Teacher Breaks Down the Important Reason Why (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Stock image of the alphabet (left), Rachel Platt.Photo:Getty; teacherrachelsorsel/TikTok

Getty; teacherrachelsorsel/TikTok

Rachel Platt is teaching us about our ABCs.

The first-grade teacher — who specializes in structured literacy, literacy intervention and dyslexia, has Orton Gillingham training, and was named a Nessy Dyslexia International Science of Reading Teacher of the Year honorable mention in 2023 — recently went viralon TikToksharing some insight on the new way of signingthe alphabetsong.

Platt, who is gearing up for her fifth year of teaching, tells PEOPLE that she gets to work with “a huge range of readers” through her job.

“My background is mostly in literacy and literacy intervention. I taught English to multilingual learners in Thailand,” she says. “Today, I work with kids who are struggling readers. I also teach a general-led classroom every year, so I get a huge range of readers, which is really awesome. I’m able to work with them and differentiate instruction to provide the best literacy to each kid.”

In her video, Platt explains, “Y’all, it’s true. I’m a teacher and I don’t teach the alphabet the way I grew up singing it and this is one of the reasons. Kids hear LMNOP and they don’t say the individual letter names.”

“Some even think this is one letter,” she said, pointing to the group of letters.

“Another reason is because at the end of the traditional alphabet song, we sing ‘Y and Z’ and some kids that that ‘whyan’ is a letter or ‘enzie’ is a letter. So instead, we sing it ‘ABCDEFG / HIJKLMN / OPQ/ RST/ UVW / XYZ /Now I never will forget / how to say the alphabet.'”

While the new way of singing the alphabet may surprise many, it’s been commonplace in Platt’s teaching experience.

“I have been teaching the ABCs this way my entire teaching career,” Platt reveals. “Even in college, I started working with kids who were dyslexic or had different language or reading disabilities.”

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For Platt, quizzing second and third-graders on their ABCs is a baseline part of her assessment.

“They’d sing the song to kind of get them started and they get to LMNOP and shut down a little bit. And so I definitely noticed this was a problem and I knew that this way ofsinging the alphabet song— with the pauses in the different places, but to the same tune — was really helpful for kids,” she says.

Speech-language pathologistAmy Zembriski, owner ofSpeech Therapy Connections, was unfamiliar with the changes to the alphabet song but admits they do make sense for little learners.

“I was in shock when I saw this new TikTok trend with a change in the alphabet song most of us have come to know and love! I’ll be honest, I was sad, BUT when I really thought about it… I think the recent update to the traditional alphabet song is going to positively impact children’s speech and language development," Zembriski tells PEOPLE.

“By slowing down the “L-M-N-O-P” part of the song, each letter is pronounced more clearly, making it easier for kids to hear and understand individual sounds,” Zembriski adds. “This improvement is especially important because it boosts phonological awareness — the ability to recognize and work with the sounds that make up words — which is a very important skill for learning to read and spell. For kids with phonological disorders, who often struggle with sound discrimination (the ability to hear & recognize differences in sounds) and articulation, this new version of the alphabet song can be particularly helpful. It gives them a clearer model of how each letter sounds, making it easier to correct sound errors and reach important speech milestones.”

Zambriski also says that the renewed focus on phonics rules can help children with “their difficulty in self-monitoring and identifying the sounds they produce incorrectly,” a challenge many speech therapists work with their patients on.

“An improvement in phonological awareness can help a child develop awareness much more easily and have a positive impact on how they progress in therapy,” Zembriski says. “It’s also important to know that many children with phonological disorders are at a higher risk of having reading challenges, too.”

Stock image of plastic letter magnets displaying the alphabet.Getty Images

“I’ve been sharing early literacy tips online for like five years now, but I’m always surprised whenever a video takes off. All of my content is fairly academic, so I always find it funny when people are reactive to what I share,” she says.

“I hope that it’s becoming more predominant,” she adds. “The approach that I mentioned before structured literacy is getting more traction. The research in and of itself about reading and the brain is fairly academic, but myself, along with some other creators and educators that I’ve met online in the past couple of years, have been working really hard to spread the message ofstructured literacy and equity in literacy. So I’m seeing more and more things that we’re talking about getting picked up and even curriculums starting to make changes, which is really awesome.

The educator is looking forward to kicking off another school year where she guides first graders on a journey of growth.

“The difference between a kindergartner and a second grader is massive and that’s like thanks to all the work. We do not just in literacy and math but also in terms of like executive functioning skills in first grade,” she says. “So, at the beginning of the year, in first grade, I really feel like we’re holding their hands through every single little step of what they’re doing in terms of their organization and in terms of their strategic approach to work.”

She continues, “And at the end of the year, they’re just so independent and they’re really little functioning humans that have so many skills and are ready to soar in terms of academics, but also in terms of like organizing their life and feeling like they’re on top of things and know their schedule,” she shares.

“It’s really, really cool to see that growth and I always have a huge awakening going back to the beginning of the school year of these little babies that come to me. And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys are gonna learn so much and grow so much this year.'”

source: people.com