Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Language Arts Themed Alphabets

Happy Hump Day All!
To those of you that are off galavanting around Vegas this week for the TpT Conference, I hope you are having such a blast! Wish I could be there, but alas, instead I am wading through all of the hubby's and my stuff that we have accumulated over the past goodness knows how long and trying to purge and combine household items before our upcoming move. Wanna trade ;)?

In the midst of it all (and in order to keep my sanity), I did, however, create some new packs that I am sooooo incredibly excited about.

Some of you who have been following me for awhile may remember a few years back when I came out with my "Second Grade Spanish Alphabet". I had tied the alphabet along with content vocabulary across subject areas for this specific grade level.

While I loved the idea behind that alphabet, with my move to 3rd grade this year, I was looking to update the alphabet to be cursive instead of print as well as looking to tweak the vocabulary to make it appropriate for my new students!

I am happy to say, I accomplished this and more!

I started by creating this gem. Exactly what I needed!


And then thought, well maybe some still would prefer the print.


And that led me of course to think, maybe some would prefer an English Alphabet instead.


And you know what is coming next, an English cursive alphabet of course.


And when all was said and done, four new packs were born!
English/Spanish, Cursive/Print.
(All can be accessed by clicking on the image of your choice.)

And here is the best part. To streamline the alphabets a little more so that they could be used across a variety of grade levels (including with my new 3rdies), I utilized key language arts vocabulary (many of which came straight from the CCSS) to correspond with every letter instead of bouncing around subject areas with vocabulary truly only tied to second grade. (Note: For those that have my Second Grade Spanish Alphabet (and use and love it), feel free to continue using it, or download the updated version with the language arts vocab instead by clicking on the "Spanish Alphabet Print Version" above.)

For our language learners especially, it is so important that we that we are constantly facilitating their ability to make connections and draw meaning from vocabulary and concepts. By utilizing these alphabets, every time they look up at a letter, they will be reminded of key academic vocabulary they are using all of the time in their classrooms!

Here are some examples in both Spanish and English of what these 1/2 page cards look like:


All include a picture example along with a corresponding LA vocabulary term.


As well as of course, an example of how to form each letter of the alphabet and highlighting within the key LA term to show where this key letter is found, which in turn helps with sound reference.

I must admit, I found some words to be kind of tricky in either language. Thus, as you can see in the second example, some of the words may contain the letter in the middle or end of the word, in place of the beginning. (Which is why I may add that this product is probably best suited for students who already have an understanding of their basic sounds. Ie. 2nd-4th grade) Also, please note that while English and Spanish have many cognates, which enabled me to keep many of the words the same, some are different, simply due to the differences in letters/vocabulary available in the language! 

I cannot wait to get these up and refer to them throughout the year to build the vocabulary development of my students. What do you guys think? Is this something that you would or could use? Which pack would you choose?

2 comments:

  1. If I were returning to second grade, I would have bought the print Spanish set, but I am moving to first. : ( I agree that they need to see the traditional letter to begin the word. I will show this to the other teachers at my school though in 2/3 grades.

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    1. Thanks, Alyssa, that would be wonderful. And I definitely agree, that while some 1st graders may do well with it, it is geared more toward 2nd and up :).

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