Unbelievable ABC's - reading activities - Brief Article

ABC Pop-Up Books

Practice the ABC'S by making pop-up books! Each day, as you present a new letter to the class, have students brainstorm words that begin with that letter, and write the words on the board. Ask each student to choose a word to illustrate on regular white paper; then color and cut out for the alphabet page. For example, if O is the letter for the day, children might draw an orange, an orangutan, or an octopus. While they are working on their pictures, pass out premade construction-paper pop-up pages. To prepare the pages, fold a piece of construction paper in half (see illustration at right). Using an Xacto knife, cut two parallel slits two-inches long to make a tab. Each student will paste his or her illustration onto the tab, so that when the page is opened, the illustration pops out. Then have them write the corresponding letter and word on the page. Each day the children can see the books grow as they glue on a new page. When the pages are finished, kids can make covers for their books and protect them with clear contact paper. Students will love reading each other's pop-ups.

Patty Rouse, Roseburg Junior Academy, Roseburg, OR

ABC'S Around the World

ABC poster boards are a great way to help your students organize their exploration of a new topic such as countries around the world Finding numerous facts to record under each letter encourages them to pay attention to each word they read and to push their research further Divide students into groups and ask each group to explore the geography and culture of a particular country Students can us eglobes or an atlas to locate the country its neighboring countries and topographical features. Then, ask each group to explore its country using books, encylopedias and the Internet. Each group should prepare carefully written facts on Post-it notes underlining the word that begins with the chosen letter. Each group can take the class on a tour of the country it explored, and soon the whole class will be world travelers.

Jon Gray Palmer Elementary School, Baldwinsville, NY

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