FUN WITH ABC BOOKS

[return to list of lecture notes]

I. Tomorrow's Alphabet by George Shannon. Greenwillow., 1998
"A is for seed, tomorrow's apple."
"B is for egg, tomorrow's birds."

Activity 1:
O is for acorn, tomorrow's oak tree.
What else can you put in this "change pattern?"
Look at the oak tree that grew from an acorn
Slowly, slowly from an acorn
In the forest it grew and grew
Look at the oak tree, it's looking at you.

Activity 2:
Take two of the words from this book and use them in this pattern:
Eggs are just eggs until they hatch and then they become birds.

Activity 3:
Create a Tomorrow's Cook's Alphabet.
Example: F is for potatoes, tomorrow's fries.

Activity 4:
Alphabet Order To Create A Poem (Read each line in abc order)
Flora milked the cow
Betty chased a rat
Dina found a cat
Alice picked tomatoes
Emma hoes the garden
Hannah fed the sow
Carla wore blue jeans
Gina rode a frisky horse

Activity 5:
Sing the Alphabet
S is the sound that starts these words
Soup, sock, sand
With an SS here and an SS there
Here an S there an S everywhere an SS
S is the sound that starts these words
Soup, sock, sand

II. Lookout, Letters Alive by Keith Polette, Pieces of Learning, 1999.

Activity One: Choose any letter. Form teams. In three minutes which team can list the most words beginning with that letter and associated with the illustration?

Activity Two: Using the words generated in Activity One, use all the words in ONE sentence to describe the letter. Add other words as needed.

Activity Three: Compare two letters using this pattern:
If I were the letter B
I would bend backwards on a breaking black bar
And I would be a burden borne by the two below me
But I wouldn't cling to the ceiling of a cracked cavern
Because the letter C does that.

III. Alphabet Pattern Books
Allison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel
The Hole by the Apple Tree by Nancy Polette
Albert B. Cub and Zebra by Ann Rockwell
Potluck by Ann Shelby

See also on this web site, literature guides for: Cat Up A Tree and The Wolf is Coming