1-2-3 Come Do Some Animal-Themed Alphabet Activities With Me

Summer's a great time to visit the zoo.  It was also my favorite field trip with my first graders.  With fond memories of special animals and outings, I decided to design some animal-themed alphabet activities. 

Woo hoo! After an entire week of "playing", I just finished my  "Wild About the Alphabet" packet. Animals are a hot-button for children, so I think these will grab their attention and keep them focused.

Whether assessing to see where your kiddos are at for the beginning of the school year, or learning and practicing upper and lowercase letters throughout the year, I think you'll find some unique and useful activities here.

The packet includes the following:

An ABC Emergent Reader: “My Animal Alphabet Booklet” (Black & white plus color copies). Students read, write, trace & color.

ABC Cards: There are 5 different sets in various sizes for upper and lowercase letters; in color plus black and white, with blank templates to program with whatever.

Word Cards: Since part of learning the alphabet, is associating the letters with sounds and words, I've also included 26, mini-animal word cards, that match the emergent reader booklet, plus 26 more, with additional animals that include those on the Dolch noun list.

8 Games: "Mischievous Monkeys" a wall-display game; "Monkey Business" a hidden-letter game; "I Spy!" plus "Feed the Alpha-gator and Lion" game.

Along with a 4-page tip list to explain the card games: Memory Match, I Have; Who Has?, Kaboom, Speed and What's Missing. 

2 Center/Station Activities: Animal-print, strip puzzles for the uppercase letters, plus a Clothespin Clip game.

23 Worksheets for both upper and lowercase letters. "Monkey Mess", "Zooey Zoo", and "Bonkers Barnyard"  to name a few, which include colorful answer keys. 

I've included "trace & writes", "missing letters", matching, word finds, a Venn diagram, scrambled words, alphabetical order, a poem, Elkonin boxes, plus "cut & glue".

3 Craftivities: Gg Is For Giraffe Letter Slider, which can also be used as a fun way to whole-group assess.

Animal-Print Initials, (Make extra strips out of the animal-print paper:snake, leopard, zebra, giraffe, alligator & tiger used for the puzzle center.)

Children create their first initial to make a personal letter puzzle, or glue the strips down. 

For that finishing touch, add their school photo and make a "Wild About Kids, Learning & Letters" bulletin board.

"Feed the Animal" Kleenex-box craft.  I've included black and white templates for both the lion & alpha-gator.

As well as the B&W alphabet cards, (snack crackers), so that children can make their own "Hungry for the Alphabet" game, for a fun way to practice at home. 

10 Posters: Color, plus black & white. Use the B&W ones, as worksheets.

There are also 26-large, uppercase, animal-print letter posters, to use in your puzzle center for little ones to lay the strips on.  These also make fun flashcards or anchor charts as well.

6 Assessments with recording sheets, so you can assess: uppercase, lowercase, sounds, &letter formation.

I've also included a quick & easy "note home to parents", with assessment results, which identifies letter difficulties, and enlists their assistance.

3 Bookmarks: Color, plus black & white. Use as a reference, reward or mini assessment tool.

2 Certificates of Praise: Black & white, plus color for upper & lowercase letters.

As always, there are also directions, samples and photographs.

You can see, I've packed in a little bit of everything you need to help make learning the alphabet less tedious and more fun. 

This big boy is a whopping 200-pages long and just $7.95 in my TpT store.  I truly enjoyed every minute of the zillion hours of work that went into it. Click on the link to pop on over. 

I haven't forgotten the FREEBIES either. You can get a color copy of the Animal Alphabet emergent reader, plus the matching poster, by clicking on the link.  

Can't visit a zoo? I've also put together another FREEBIE: A  Virtual Zoo Field Trip packet, click on the link to grab a copy and let the "ed-ventures" begin.

Well that's it for today.  Doing the happy dance that I finally finished this whopper, and can concentrate on knocking off some much smaller back-to-school projects.  Wishing you a carefree day.

 "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." -Anatole France

First Aid For the Alphabet!

 Are some of your students still struggling with a few of their letters?

Is identifying body parts a problem for some of your little ones too?  It’s a Y5 report card standard that some struggle with.

Boo-Boo Alphabet to the rescue!

This is a fun ABC booklet that I made out of Band-Aids!

Students trace the various words that start with that letter of the alphabet.

For added fine motor fun, make a trip to The Dollar Store, buy a few boxes of Band-Aids and have your students design their own boo-boo initial.

You could also make a boo-boo number line.  It’s currently on my long “To Do” list!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, have students cut a heart on the fold, tear it in half and then “mend” it with a Band-Aid.

Get the “wiggles” out by doing the Band-Aid Pokey with their hearts or Band-Aid initials.  Click on the link to view/print the Band-Aid Pokey.

You can also review and whole-group assess their body parts, by having students place their heart/Band-Aid initial on various parts of their body.

Reveiw spatial directions as well.  Have students place their Band-Aid behind, above, between, on, beside, to the left, to the right, under etc.

Click on the link to view/download The Band-Aid Alphabet Book

I hope this little booklet is the first aid that does the trick in getting your students over that learning hump!

You might find these Animal ABC cards helpful as well.  There are two different sets.

Print off a double set of each one; laminate them and make Memory Match games, or run off copies so that your students can make Itty Bitty Booklets that they will enjoy sequencing and sharing with their families.

You can also play: "I Have, Who Has?" with your students. 

You hold a letter card and show it to your students and then ask for a letter.  The child holding the "asked for" card shows that letter and then asks for another card, until you have gone through all the letters of the alphabet. 

This is a quick, easy and fun way to review letters that your little ones will enjoy. 

Click on the links to view/download the neon animal alphabet cards and/or the realistic animal alphabet cards.

Don't Break My Heart by not knowing your letters, is perfect for February too!

Sprinkle the puzzle hearts on the floor to match the number of students you have in class for the day. 

Students with the uppercase letter find the matching lowercase letter to mend their "broken heart."

This is a great way to partner off students for a game or lesson. 

You can also play Memory Match and I Have-Who Has? with these cards as well.  Run off a set for struggling students to take home to play with their families.

Click on the link to view/download Mend My Heart ABC Matching game.

Do you have a teaching tip you could share with us?  I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com OR... feel free to leave a comment here, especially if you use one of my ideas.  I so enjoy and appreciate feedback.  Thanks in advance and...

please pop in tomorrow for more fun ideas!