Introducing ABC Order to Littles

Today I introduced my firsties to ABC order.  While they had briefly touched on this in Kindergarten, most of them didn't remember what to do, so this proved to be a great first lesson.  I began by copying the jumbo word cards on colored card stock.  These matched the word cards on their worksheet and gave them a large visual of the entire process since I placed them in a pocket chart as we discussed them.

Next, I had students cut out their word cards only and place them randomly across their desk.  Then I asked them to highlight the first letter of each word in yellow.  I wanted to solidify the concept of looking at that first letter.  A few days ago, I had them sort alphabet cards into ABC order.  Now, it was time to move to words!

I used my jumbo cards each step of the way.  We read the words together, then looked for A words.  None.  B words?  Yes--bus!  So as I put bus at the top of the pocket chart, I instructed them to glue the word bus on the number 1 spot.  We proceeded through the alphabet and by the time we got to "M" they had caught on!  

Then we discussed the importance of alphabetical order and how people use it in real life...dictionaries, phone books, filing, and more.  I love seeing the light bulb go off as they make connections and learn new things!  This was a great hands-on way to introduce abc order.  If you can use this resource, you can download it as a FAN FREEBIE on Facebook.  Click the picture below to go to my facebook page.  It'll be part of a packet I'm working on for down the road, but you can have this particular page for free! :)  Enjoy!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a beautiful classroom decor set from Barker Creek.  Enter {HERE}.