The ABC’s of…

Students create an alphabet book to share knowledge they have learned, organizing their writing using the ABC’s.

Engage

This lesson serves as a performance task you can use to evaluate student comprehension of information they have learned during a unit of study.

As you complete the unit and introduce the performance task to your students, share a few examples of Alphabet-style informational texts.

If you are creating an informational ABC book as an entire class, assign each student a single letter to complete. Depending on your topic, you may be able to differentiate through intentional letter assignments. If your class has less than 26 letters, challenge your advanced learners to take on an additional letter.

If you want students to complete an entire Alphabet book on their own or in small groups, provide students with an organizer they can use to brainstorm ideas for each letter of the alphabet: A is for __________, B is for __________, and so on.

Create

Outline your expectations for the content students need to include. Each page needs to include the letter, but do you expect that every page will have the same style heading, such as “A is for ________,” at the top? This consistency will be helpful if each student is creating a single page for a class book.

Expectations can be generalized to give students more creative freedom as well as require them to think about how they can best share their content. For example, you could simply state that each page must include:

• the Letter of the alphabet it addresses.
• a 2-3 sentence description about the topic.
• an illustration that helps engage the reader in the content.

If your learners are ready, ask students to help develop evaluation criteria for the content of the pages. When you ask students what content each page should include, it gives them more agency over the process, requires them to think and reflect, and makes them an equal partner in the evaluation process.

Assign the ABC Book template. If you have developed criteria for the content of each page, include this information in the instructions panel of the template. If you are sharing the file digitally, be sure to have students record narration for the page to make the book more accessible to young learners.

ABC Book Template

Share

If students worked individually or in small teams, share their work in printed form or share digitally by exporting their work as a PDF or ePub.

If you worked on a class ABC Book, print out each student’s page and bind them together to create a printed version you can keep in your classroom library. If students created individual pages using Wixie, combine them using the Project Wizard feature.

Standards

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts - Grade 3-8

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2, 4.2, 5.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.4, 4.4, 5.4
With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2, 7.2, 8.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.4, 7.4, 8.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.