Teaching Day-by-Day: The Alphabet
These explorations into the world of our alphabet are a great way to kick off a year of successful learning with your students.
Where did our alphabet come from? Do some research on the Internet and in library reference books to find out.
Find out what calligraphy is. Buy or borrow a calligraphy pen and practice the upper and lower case alphabet letters. Make it fancy!
How many consonants are there in the alphabet? How many vowels? Why do we usually learn consonants first?
Pick a page in the dictionary and look at the words and their meanings. How many words have more than one meaning? How many words come from other countries or languages? What did you learn about English?
Play the game Scrabble Jr.™ with a friend or family member.
in the dictionary and notice the words in bold at the top. They are called "guide words." Look closely at them and the words on the page and see if you can figure out why. In Canada the letter "z" is pronounced "zed." Look at the "zed" words in the dictionary and see if you can learn three new words.
Find an ABC book in the library and read it. Read it again and be an "Art Detective." Notice where the pictures are and where the print is. How are the colors used? Does the illustrator have a special style or use a format that makes the book look inviting?
Compare two ABC books such as, Into the A.B. Sea by Deborah Rose (Scholastic, 2000) and A Big and Little Alphabet by Liz Rosenberg (Orchard, 1997). How is the artwork different? Where are the pictures on each page? Look at the size and color of the font.
Begin reading The Z Was Zapped: A Play in 26 Acts by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin, 1987). Develop your prediction skills by figuring out what each picture is before you read the print on the next page. Why do you think Van Allsburg created the book this way?
Read A Book of Letters by Ken Wilson–Max (Scholastic, 2002). This book has "lift–the–flap" paper and envelopes for every letter of the alphabet from A to Z. Why do you think books like this are popular?
Show a friend what you learned about your ABC books by looking closely at the artwork and print. Help your friend be an "Art Detective" and discover some things about the ABC book he or she read.
Gather all the ABC books you can from the library. Give everyone in class a book he or she can read.
Read an ABC book to a young child. Does he or she know the letters of the alphabet? Teach the child to print the letters of his or her name.
Write a review of one of the ABC books you read last week and share it with your teacher and fellow students.
Create your own personal Word Wizard Dictionary. Staple 26 pages together and label a page with each alphabet letter. Add a wallpaper cover and put the title on the cover with your name. Write new or difficult words in your dictionary with their definitions.
Make your own ABC book of clothing or food. Use the Word Wizard Dictionary definitions.
Make a book called The ABC's of My Family and Me. Ask family members to help you think of special traditions and things your family does. Put all these things in your book. Share it with your grandparents or cousins.
With a friend, do the first draft of a book called The ABC's of My School. Read and revise it. Then, ask your teacher to look it over before you make a final copy. Make sure your book has a cover and title page. Share it with your classmates and principal.
With two friends, do the first draft of an ABC book about a topic or unit you are learning about in science or social studies. Revise it and ask your teacher to look it over before your make the final copy. Make sure it has a cover and title page.
With your two friends, read your science or social studies ABC book to your class. Tell them the process you used and offer to help anyone who wants to make their own ABC book.
What is Morse Code? Do some research to find out who invented it and why. Find out if it is still used today and for what purpose.
List all the reference books you can think of that contain words listed in ABC order. Then go to the reference section in the library to see what you can add to your list. (You should have at least five.)
Make an acrostic from your name. Write the letters of your first and last name in a line down the left margin of a piece of paper. Then think of a word that describes you for each letter of your name and write it after that letter.
Look at the telephone book. What are the yellow pages for? The blue pages? The white pages? What other interesting things does the telephone book hold?
How many words can you make out of "September" by rearranging the letters? Hint – try words with two letters first, then words with three letters, etc. There are at least 20 smaller words.
Find the meaning of acronyms like GPS, NASA, NATO and many others at www.acronymfinder.com.
What is Braille? Read a biography of Helen Keller or look her up on the web to find out who invented Braille, why and how it is used today.
Remember the ABC song from kindergarten? It was probably the way you first learned about alphabetical order. Teach a young child the ABC song.
Word processing (typing the ABC's on a computer keyboard) has given some words new meanings. What do these words mean today: cut, paste, copy, spell check, scroll?
Week One – Appreciating the ABC's
Week Two – Reading ABC Books
Week Three – Creating with ABC's
Week Four – Exploring Other ABC's
Week Five – More ABC's
Karen Bromley is a Professor of Literacy in the School of Education and Human Development at Binghamton University in Binghamton, NY where she teaches graduate courses in literacy, language arts and children's literature.
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