Considering creating personal alphabet books with your students? Here are some tips to help keep it manageable!
Preparation:
- Get the book ready ahead of time, with a page dedicated to each letter, and the upper and lower case version of that letter written on the page before beginning the activity
- Have ready access to a large collection of images (photos, clip art, flyers, coloring books, stamps, stickers etc), or be prepared to do some drawing! It is helpful to have a photo of the child, mom, dad, siblings and a pet prepared ahead of time (the updated version of My Personal Alphabet Book comes with hundreds of line art images to prepare yourself with, and things run very smoothly when they are easily accessible – that is my index card box pictured above!)
- Materials such as scissors, glue stick and markers should also be handy
Planning:
- making a book takes time, and it will take a number of different days, even weeks, to create this very personal alphabet bookĀ
- the first letters to do are the ones the child knows best, perhaps his or her name, then some others. I often start off with this fun flip bookĀ activity and transfer a copy of the picturesĀ the child has selected for this activity over, once I have confirmed that s/he does, in fact, still have the same letter / object association
- when the child sees the letter, or hears that letter sound, the word that pops into his or her head right away is what the picture should show (if the child does not have any ideas for a particular letter, it is best practice to review what is known, sing and point your way through alphabet books and do fun, multi-sensory alphabet activities to develop awareness until a link is established)
- this book will be special because no one else’s books will match exactly –Ā the pictures are individual to the child who creates the bookĀ
Production:
- the pictures that go into the book have to match the sound of the letter on the page (for vowels, the short letter sound, avoiding combination sounds and exceptions) *Note: The pictures need to be instantly recognizable, and the student consistently saying the same word for that picture (i.e. be cautious with frog / toad, burger / hamburger, bunny/rabbit etc.)
- once all known letters are finished (or it’s ‘enough’ for one period), it is time to reviewĀ the completed pages by pointing to the letter(s) on the page and the object (i.e. “‘mmmm’, ‘mmm’, mom!”)
Following the initial creation of the alphabet book, the adult and child will read what is in the book, and select another one to three pages to add a picture to each day. There may be a letter that is too difficult, or unrecognizable to the child at that time. Name that letter and sound for him, give a couple of quick examples, then leave it for another day.
Children learn best when they are happily engaged in what they are doing, and when they have their own sound alphabet that they have created from the words and names most meaningful to them. They gain confidence in their memory of letter sounds and using these sounds, with and later, without, their alphabet book.Ā
A letter learning book filled with photos of family members, stamps, stickers and drawings of oneās favorite things, can you think of a more fun and meaningful way to learn about letters?
Do you remember letter learning from your own childhood? How are things different for your own child(ren)?
Brand new:
seksitreffit says
I hope you can use this to create your very own alphabet book with your child!
Conchessa Mulligan says
Thank you for your information. I am a reading recovery teacher and would like to know what is the best package to buy from teachers pay teachers as I am starting up independent writing in the early years
Regards
That Fun Reading Teacher says
Hi Conchessa,
Thank you so much for you question!
I think the route to the best solution for you depends on a couple of factors:
1) If you are solely teaching Reading Recovery and creating personal alphabet books within the lessons framework, and do not anticipate a use for the digital component, then the Alphabet Book kit was created for exactly that purpose.
2) If you are doing #1, but also like to provide classroom teachers, parents etc, with a visual reference for your students to use that is consistent with his/her alphabet book, easy to update from time to time, and removes the risk of losing the one and only alphabet book youāre working on, the bundle is a great solution. It also allows continuation during home instruction should more school closures occur, and can carry on as a quick reference page once the child has been discontinued from RR.
A number of school administrators have purchased licenses for these resources for their schools through TpT School Access, if you would like to send information to yours, here is the link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/TpTSchoolAccess/Administrators
The benefit of a school license, is that the kindergarten teachers could be starting these with students who show readiness – even if it’s only with a few letters, and the book / chart travels with them through kindergarten into early primary. That is my practice. It really helped to have that in place when we were suddenly in lockdown last Spring.
I am trying to find out if TpT for Schools still exists, because many licenses were also purchased that way. I believe Access may be the new name for TpT for Schools, as the site keeps redirecting me! If that is not the case, I will either edit my response, or include it in the blog post your question has inspired. Thank you.
Best wishes to you, your loved ones and school community,
Ida Mae