An Alphabet Guessing Game

This is a book I read to a first grade class this week.  It was an alphabet book that helped students practice their letters, but the format is what intrigued me.  

You see, as the title of the book suggests, "Q is for Duck."  Whereas most ABC products would inform us that "D is for Duck," this book actually challenges students to make an association between a letter and a seemingly unrelated word.

An example may be "P is for Flamingo."  The student has to think a little more deeply and connect their knowledge of flamingos ("flamingos are pink") with the letter provided ("pink begins with 'p'").

This was a really enjoyable read because, in between each page, the students were eagerly providing guesses as to what the associating word would be.  They were very excited when they were right!  There were even a few pages that they guessed incorrectly, even though their words began with the correct letter.  It was good practice for them and we got a chance to discuss other ideas for each word.

I'd recommend this book for elementary teachers looking for a different type of challenge with the alphabet.  Perhaps after reading, the class can make their own flipbook where they make their own word associations with the alphabet.