MSU Extension Child & Family Development

BEFORE READING

• Show the children the front of the book. Asking them to guess what they think the book is about.
• Ask them what they see on the front cover.
• Ask them to count (our count with you) the buttons on the cover of the book.

WHILE READING

• Stop at any time if there is something you or the children would like to talk about.
• Ask them questions so that they can connect what is happening in the book to things they already know about. Try some of these ideas:
  • What letter does your name start with?
  • What did Mouse do to your letter?
  • What kind of things have you done like Mouse?

AFTER READING

• Spend some time talking about the story. Ask the children things like:
• What did Mouse do to the letter C?
• What was the silliest thing Mouse did to a letter?
• What do you think was hardest for Mouse to do?

Read this book several times to the children. Hearing the same story again and again helps them learn new words and understand the ideas they hear better. Each day, pick a different activity to do with the children after reading “Alphabet Under Construction”.

MATH AND SCIENCE

Go through the book page by page. Count each letter in the alphabet like this, “A is 1, B is 2, C is 3”, and so on.

THINKING SKILLS

Gather 5-10 kitchen utensils that are safe for the children to use. First, have the children guess what each of the tools is used for. Next, ask the children to look at the length of each tool and line them up from shortest to tallest. Then take them out of order and line them up from tallest to shortest.

MUSIC AND MOVEMENT

Sing the ABC’s very slowly with the children. After each letter has been sung, follow with something that starts with that letter. For A, B, and C you could sing…“is for apple” and “is for banana” and “is for cat” then continue with the other letters.

PRETEND PLAY

Pretend you and the children are construction workers. Find a hat and some old clothes to wear. Decide what you will build and for who. Remember to eat your lunch from the site!

READING READINESS

Have the children look at the cover of the book. Ask them what they think this book will be about. Have them pick one of the letters they see on the cover. Talk about what the letter is and what it sounds like. Have them copy the sound. Go around the house or classroom to find 4 or 5 things that begin with that letter.

MOTOR SKILLS

Build with the children. You can use building toys like blocks or Legos, but also think about using plastic bowls, toilet paper rolls, pillows, or cereal boxes. When they are finished, have them tell you what the structure is and what it might be used for. You can also chart the first letters of all the building materials that were used to build the structures.

ART

Use objects to make the letters in the children’s names. Use wooden spoons for straight lines, string or yarn to make curves or other things you can find easily. Build the letters on the floor together, and talk about how to make each of the letters in their name.

For more information, visit: MSU Extension early childhood development.