Jose Ram, Os

 
 
When I do ABC order to 1st graders, I do it with book titles.  I put books on the
tables and then explain how we do ABC order.   This reinforces finding titles and
ABC order.  I recently did an ABC order introducing biographies and the same
activity, where they had to put president biographies in order.  I make it into a
timed game and give them so many minutes to get them done.  Whenthe time is up we
move to another set of biographies at another table and start again.  It is lots of
fun

A fun activity is to have the kids line up by their letter of their first
name, and if they know it, by their last name.  They love it, and it's a fun
way to burn those last few minutes lining up...

One of the activities I do with my Kindergarten class to introduce ABC
order is "Q isFor Duck" by Mary Elting. they have to guess why that item
applies to that word. I then hand out cards with the alphabet on them and
they have to line up in the proper order.
I then do a second class and read another ABC type book and my students
have to line up in ABC order by the first letter of their first name. then
their last name. This takes them a while to get but they like it becausethey're up and about and moving (my kindergartners can't sit still very
long). I followed up the activity with a coloring page where they all
coloring ina letter and drew something that started with that word and I
made a little ABC book for the class. Of course with all this I made sure
to show and explain that ABC order is throughout the library. With my 2nd
graders ( I don't teach 1st inany of my schools) I also have them line up
at the end of class in ABC order by the call numbers on their spine.

Hope that helps!

When I am talking to 1st grade about Fiction being shelved in ABC order by
author's last name, I have them make a spine label for a book (about index
card size)that they have written and them have them line them selves up in
ABC order. They are usuallysurprised when it's their normal order.
Larnette

The lower grade students are in line order whenever the teacher takes them
out of the room.  Line order equals their place in the list of students for
the class.  Students learn who goes before or after them just like books on
a shelf in the library. I have maps in the automation system that will take
a student to the right set of shelves in thelibrary.  I expand on the
arrangement order of the shelf. 

When I had an elementary library, I loved to do this with first graders. It's a
project that lasts a couple of sessions. We looked at book covers and noted that
they had title, author's name and usually a picture. Then they did an art activity
on another day where they designed the cover of a book they would like to write
someday.Nice big writing. Title and author and a picture and each child was the
author on his own book cover. Then I would stand up one kid holding book cover in
front of them. Call up next kid and have the group figure out whether this one goes
before or after by ABC order.  With first graders you might do small groups-- 8 or
10 at a time and YOU choose who goes up together so the kids are onlyalphabetizing
by first letter.  Like, don't put up Handley and Hannigan in the same group. Later
if you think they can do it, they can figure out where their "book" goes on the
actual library shelves.  Book covers make good displays or can
be used as shelf markers.

I have no ideas for March, but my first graders have fun with an
apphabetical order game I have designed for them. 

I printed inlarge clear Arial text words that the students could use to
practice ABC order. In the first set of cards for a pair of kids, I had
cards with words beginning with different letters.  If the students put
those correctly in order, I gave them two sets of cards (of course with 2
different sets of words) and they had to put the cards in order--this time
going to the second letter.  (I call...