Alphabet frieze
Overview
Purpose
To recognise and pronounce letters of the alphabet, and be able to teach at least one word to others.
Learning outcomes
To identify:
- letters of the alphabet
- combinations of letters, accents and punctuation
- sounds associated with the letters.
Skills used
- Listening
- Speaking
- Reading
Type
Individual, pair, group or class activity
Related units in ¡Sí! kit
- Unidad 1 ¡Hola!
- Unidad 2 ¡Adiós!
- Unidad 16 ¿Tienes animales?
- Unidad 18 ¿Te gusta el rugby?
Instructions
In this activity, the class makes an alphabet frieze for display in the classroom. The finished product not only acts as a constant reminder of the alphabet but also provides students with visual examples of a variety of vocabulary.
Materials
- A5-sized paper (half A4) – this is an ideal size for the letters in the frieze.
- Magazines containing suitable pictures (for students who can't draw).
- Letter template, which shows how the letter pages could be formatted. To download the template, select from the following Word or PDF formats:
Steps
- Allocate at least one word from the alphabet list to each student.
- Instruct students to draw a picture that depicts their word. If drawing is too difficult for some students, provide them with magazines to cut out pictures.
- Instruct students to write the word in Spanish below the picture.
- Working in pairs or small groups, students teach their word to others, using their picture as a prop.
- When they are confident, students teach their word to the whole class.
- Lead class in other fun activities, such as charades or hangman, to reinforce the vocabulary on the alphabet cards.
Tips
- Ask students to make their pictures fill all the space available, so that the image easily recognisable from a distance.
- Refer to list of cognates, or direct students to a dictionary to find them.
Variations
- Before putting the alphabet frieze on display, students enjoy seeing their work used as flashcards – fold the word behind the picture so only the picture is displayed, then ask the students what the word for the object is in Spanish.
- Cover the word and see which group or individual can correctly pronounce the word, then ask students to spell the word/s using the Spanish alphabet.
- To practice correct pronunciation, students could create an alphabet rap.
- As the students are introduced to new vocabulary, the words and pictures on the frieze could be changed.
Language to use
When using the alphabet cards as flashcards, use the following vocabulary:
- ¿Qué es?
What is it? - ¿Cómo se dice esta palabra en español?
How do you say that in Spanish? - ¿Cómo se escribe en español?
How do you write that in Spanish?