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Learn All Year Long

Learn All Year Long

Learn All Year Long

Kids and teens should read and write even when they are out of school. Why is this so important?

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Parent & Afterschool Resources

ReadWriteThink has a variety of resources for out-of-school use. Visit our Parent & Afterschool Resources section to learn more.

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Activity

Write Summer Alphabet Books

 

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Write Summer Alphabet Books

Grades K – 2
Activity Time 20 to 30 minutes (can be done over different days)
Publisher International Reading Association
 

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What You Need

Here’s What To Do

Glossary

 

What You Need

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Here’s What To Do

Before beginning this activity, read aloud and enjoy a few alphabet books with the child (see Alphabet Books and Websites for some suggestions). You may want to help the child keep track of all the books you read using the I'm a Reading Star chart.

1.

Working together with the child, make a summer word list. This list can include:

  • People or places the child has visited

  • Favorite summer foods

  • Fun things he or she likes to do when it is hot out

You can write the words or ask the child to do it depending on his or her writing ability.
2. Once you have a list of words, ask the child to underline and say the first letter of each. Emphasize the initial letter sound as well.

3. Using the online Alphabet Organizer tool, help him or her type the words under the letters (the most words you can enter for one letter is three).
4. Print using the Letter Pages option. You will get one page for each letter with all of the words you have typed listed at the top in large letters.
5. Have the child draw a picture for each letter page. (See the sample summer ABC book page featuring the words sun and swim for the letter s.)
6. An older child can also use the word or words in a sentence at the bottom of the picture. Have him or her underline the letter illustrated. For example, for the letter c, the sentence might read I love to eat corn on the cob.
7. Make this an ongoing project all summer long by adding new letter pages as the child does new things or learns new letters. Challenge the child to have all 26 letter pages by the end of the summer. Note that the book does not need to be written in alphabetical order. The child can choose letters that fit his or her story.

8. Once the alphabet book is finished, have the child design and decorate a cover, staple the pages together, and read it aloud to you or others.

Visit the Alphabet Organizer page for more information about using this tool.

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Glossary

Phonemic Awareness

  

Knowing that spoken words are made up of individual sounds (also called phonemes). This knowledge is not something children need to learn how to speak and understand a language, but it is important for learning how to read.

Theme

  

A major idea, message, or lesson that is told in a story or conveyed in a piece of art. A theme may be stated directly or not, but clues to the theme can usually be found when the ideas or messages are repeated.

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