A teacher in an East Tennessee elementary school observed after a year of kindergarten that her students had a hard time recognizing their letters based on the Brigance Test. She taught one letter a week by thematic instruction, and she was concerned her students would not be ready to read if they did not know their letters. A study was conducted to determine whether or not theme-based instruction with added tactile instruction would improve their letter recognition. Only four students from one kindergarten class participated as subjects because students were not to recognize the letters before they were taught. In the first phase, four students were taught by thematic instruction for two letters. In the second phase, the students were taught by thematic instruction with added tactile instruction for two different letters. The four students served as the control group for theme-based instruction and the treatment group for theme-based instruction with added tactile instruction. Treatment involved having students practice the uppercase and lowercase letter tactilely through various media four times weekly; students also vocalized the letter name while tracing it. The control group did not receive any tactile instruction. At the end of instruction, students were tested on their recognition of those letters that were taught by showing them flashcards of uppercase and lowercase letters. A paired sample t-test revealed no significant difference in general mean score between those who had tactile instruction and those who did not, suggesting that the use of thematic instruction with added tactile instruction did not improve students' recognition of upper or lowercase letters. (Contains 2 tables and a 44-item bibliography. Appended are approval forms.) (NKA)