LESSON PLAN - Alphabet Soup

Theme – Developing Self

CAREER SKILLS – Developing Self

KEY SKILLS – Communication, Problem Solving, Working With Others, Improving Own Learning and Performance

WORK RELATED LEARNING – Learning For Work

COMPETENCIES – *ai, *aii, *bi, *ci, *cii, *di, **ei, **eii, **eiii, **eiv, **evi, ***fiv, ***kiv, ****li, ****mi

SUGGESTED SUBJECT AREA – Social Studies, English, Personal Development

Learning Outcomes

By completing this task students will be able to:

  • Identify with their loco-motor skills
  • Move in different ways
  • Identify with different job description. There is integration of core curriculum (spelling, letter recognition, word recognition)

Preparation and Materials

  • 2 or more sets of foam/paper alphabets or make your own out of carpet squares or paper with each individual letter on them.
  • Small Chalkboard or white board
  • Chalk or markers
  • Eraser

Method:

  1. Scatter letters around the room or gymnasium.
  2. Have children sit in their personal space away from any letters.

Directions:

There are three parts to this:

1.The way the students will travel around the room

2.The body part the students will use to touch the letters

3.The word that will be used to identify a job that they know.

Let the students know how they will be moving around the room.

Some examples are:

  • Walking
  • Skipping
  • Galloping
  • jogging
  • Various animal walks

Let them know what body part they will use to touch the letters which are scattered around the room.

Some examples are:

  • Head
  • Elbow
  • Fingers
  • Knee
  • Bottom
  • Foot
  • Wrist

Write a job on the board.

These will be words you associate with different jobs that people do within the community. (If you are doing this lesson around the time of any end of grade testing then you could use words the teachers need their students to be aware of for the testing.)

Some examples are:

PE Teacher
Policeman
Secretary
Janitor
Lawyer / Singer
Athlete
Surgeon
Baker
Post man / Librarian
Nurse
Fireman
Musician
Hockey Player / Ice cream maker
Farmer
Electrician
Mechanic
Plumber / Shop Assistant
Teacher
Dentist
Butcher
Dress Maker
  • You have a couple of options when you first start this game. For the older students the letter they land on in the gym they have to act the job out they choose without speaking and the rest of the class have to identify the job they are acting out. Example: If they landed on the letter B then they may act out a baker.
  • You may assign random ways for the children to move around the gym.
  • On your signal, (mine is music) the students will move around the room in the designated manner and touch the letters with the named body part. When they have finished they may sit back in their spots. When the music stops they have to come back to their spot regardless of whether they have found all of the letters or not.
  • This game presents a good opportunity for the students to become familiar with the different names of jobs in the community and what they do. You could also incorporate body parts of which the students have to touch the letters. So, after your students become familiar with them, you may say, "I want you to skip around the room and touch the letters with your cranium." Then you could ask if they know of a job where the person has to use their head etc.
  • Another option you have for small classes or special populations classes is to let them bring the letters up to the front of the room and lay them in order to spell the word you have written.