Alphabetical Order

It's Friday Eve, the day/night before the best day of the week.  Anyone else feel that way?

I'm going to dedicate the next 2 days to a couple of literacy centers I love!  Today is all about ABC ordering.  A few years ago I was giving my students a list of 3-5 words and asking them to put them in ABC order.  I had modeled it, we had practiced it together and surely they wouldn't have any problem but a handful did.  They erased holes in their papers and I could see the frustration in their eyes.

I knew they needed something a little more kinesthetic.  An activity they could manipulate easily to ease the frustration and anxiety.  I made these ABC animal cards, one for each letter of the alphabet, laminated, and cut them out.  Finally those students "got it".  I wasn't sure if it was because the cards were revolutionary (which is what I'd like to believe :) or if it was because we had just finally done enough practice.

Last year I modeled how to put words in ABC order and started their practice with these cards during literacy centers.  After a couple weeks of manipulating the cards I gave out a list of 5 words and ALL students were able to correctly write them in alphabetical order!

 

This year I started out the same way and I'm hoping for the same results as last year!  Here is a picture of MB and DN.  They put them in ABC order then had extra time so they regrouped them.  Animals that live in water, animals that walk, and animals that fly.

I've seen cards like these on Pinterest lately and I'm sure they came from the blogs so I'm not trying to step on anyone's feet, I just wanted to share something that has been really effective for me for the past few years.  You can grab a free copy of ABC Ordering Animals from my TpT store!