Alphabet Soup

Jeff Hiner

PROCEDURE:

1. Split the class in half. Hand one student from each group a piece of chalk, and make it clear what order students will proceed in. Draw a vertical line dividing the blackboard in half.

2. While you're splitting the class up, think up a few sentences in English. The sentences should be long enough that each student has a chance to write a letter (explained below).

3. Whisper one letter to each of the first few students, spelling out the sentence; each student should get one letter. If your sentence is too long, cut it off. Avoid giving students more than one letter at a time.

4. When you give the signal, each student will write his or her letter on the blackboard and hand the chalk to the next student. The team which finishes their sentence first correctly, wins.

5. As students finish writing their letters and return to their desks, you can give them new letters to finish up the sentences.

6. Finally, when one or both teams finish, split up the whole thing into words using chalk of a different color, and show the students how to read it. Erase and repeat.

NOTES:

This is a quick activity that works well for students who are just starting out learning how to write English letters. The best part is that it is simple to explain and requires no preparation, and thus is ideal for situations where one is spontaneously asked without warning to fill 5 or 10 minutes.

As some students will forget their letters in the excitement of the moment, it's best to be on hand to remind them just in case.

Try to give words and sentences using many different letters, such as "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Use student names to get them involved. Be creative, and use this as an opportunity to teach new words!

This activity can be easily adapted so that each student gets a word instead of a letter, and the teams wind up writing out a whole story. In this way you could probably stretch this activity to cover 2nd and 3rd year JHS students.