Alphabet Journals can be a new and fun ways to get kindergartners to write can be challenging. I have word lists, topic cards, books, and a dozen other ideas for topics. In spite of that, I hear:
What can I write about?
UGH! This is one way to curb the “I don’t know what to write about blues.” These alphabet journals combine decoding, illustrating and writing in a way that can be completely individualized.
I have always suggested teachers use the sound chart as a topic chart for writing, but whe I sat down to make a journal for that, I decided I could make the journal decodable.
4 Easy Steps
1. Decode.
Each page has a decodable picture.
MOST pages are cvc words (dig for d, log for l, pan for p).
The highlighted initial letter keeps the journal is alphabetical order.
Of course, the vowels were tricky because you obviously can’t have a vowel at the beginning of a cvc word. So, I have 2 options for each vowel.
Option #1 has a cvc word with the vowel highlighted in the middle. Option #2 is a two-letter or three-letter word starting with the vowel (ant for a and up for u).
2. Illustrate.
If you want a good story, give your students time to make a good illustration.
Each page includes a clip art picture for the decodable word.
Students are asked to draw the picture with a pencil and then add the colors with crayons.
Asking students to illustrate with a pencil will give you much better details.
Students will complete the picture. The picture above shows a boy digging on a construction site. Another student used the same picture to draw a garden scene and a third student drew a the boy digging with a pirate flag in the picture.
3. Write.
Of course, writing is the goal.
Students have to write about their picture.
The more detail in the picture, the more detail in the writing.
The empty page shows a gum ball machine in the illustration box.
The student choose to draw a gum shop! What a great idea.
“The gum is in the gum shop. The gum is min. The gum is dfrit culrs. The gum cums alt.”
For those that are not use to reading primary writing it says, “The gum is in the gum shop. The gum is mine. The gum is different colors. The gum comes out.”
4. Repeat.
This is a process/product center. The students are taught a process (write, illustrate, write) and each page is a new product.
Students can use this journal to create a book of stories.
If you’d like a FREEBIE Alphabet Journal Sample of this set, feel free to click the link or the picture below.
If you would like to visit my TPT store and check out Alphabet Journals, click the link or picture below.
