FIRST DAY/WRITING
ABC Book

Submitted by: Jennifer Smith
From: SLC, Utah
Date Submitted: April 24, 2001

An easy way to get kids working through the writing process on the very first day of school is to create their own class ABC book. To introduce the assignment choral read various "tongue twisters" and discuss the concept of alliteration. Read various ABC books that demonstrate the concept of alliteration. Then divide up the letters of the alphabet among the students. An easy way to make this assignment is to use previously die-cut letters and have each student draw one out of a large envelope. (Depending on the size of your class, some students may need to do more than one letter or more than one student may need to work on the same letter.)

Once letters have been assigned the next step is pre-writing. Ask students to create a list of at least 10 words that start with their assigned letter. They may use dictionaries if they get stumped. After they have created a list of words to work with, they must put them together to create an interesting sentence or two that includes at least 5 words that begin with their assigned letter. This is their rough draft.

Editing and revising takes place next. With a simple rubric, students can edit each other's by answering questions such as, "Does each sentence start with a capital and end with a period?," "Are all of the words spelled correctly?," and "Are there at least 5 words that start with the assigned letter?" You as the teacher may want to do a final edit before students begin their final draft.

Finally, each student uses their die-cut letter to create a final page with an illustration and their alliteration. Collect all the pages together, add a title page, bind them together, and share. Lower grade "buddies" or classes make good audiences.

NOTE: Before letter assignments are made, it may also be helpful to model this entire process together as a class, especially with younger grades.