- Between the Lions alphabet chart
- construction paper labeled “My Alphabet Chart” (one for each child)
- glue
- old magazines
- scissors
- alphabet
- build
- tool
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Literature/RL.PK.MA.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about a story or a poem read aloud.
English Language Arts/Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.1 With guidance and support, demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of printed and written text: books, words, letters, and the alphabet.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Alphabet Knowledge Recognizes that the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.
Literacy Knowledge/Book Appreciation and Knowledge Asks and answers questions and makes comments about print materials.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7 Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 6 Listen to a wide variety of age appropriate literature read aloud.
Read Together: Alphabet Under Construction #2
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Different materials are useful for making different structures and different parts of structures
ELA Focus Skills: Alphabet Awareness, Concepts of Print, Listening and Speaking, Letter Recognition
Educator Prep: Print out the Between the Lions alphabet chart or create an alphabet chart on chart paper.
Before You Read
Ask a child to come to the alphabet chart and touch the first letter of the alphabet. Ask, What is the name of the first letter of the alphabet? Then ask another child to touch the last letter of the alphabet. Ask, What is the name of the last letter of the alphabet? Remind children that when we say or sing the alphabet, we always start with the letter “A” and end with the letter “Z.”
As You Read
As you point to each letter, invite children to say the letter name with you. Encourage them to read as many words as possible along with you. Ask children to identify any tools they’ve used this week to make their buildings and homes. Pause at the letter “M” to talk about all the things they’ve measured this week and how.
After You Read
Help children create their own alphabet chart with letters they cut from magazines. Assign a letter to each child and cut out the rest of the unassigned letters yourself.
- Designate a space on the wall at children’s eye level. Say, We are going to begin our chart here and go this way as we construct our alphabet. What letter should we start with? Who has the letter “A”? What a beautiful letter “A!” Who has the letter “B”? Let’s put it next to the “A.” Have children say the name of the letter with you as you construct the alphabet chart.
- After you construct the alphabet, ask each child to locate the letter that he or she cut out. Have them say the name of the letter and tell what tools they used to cut it out.