The A-Z of a Successful Classroom | My Alphabet Project Part 1

In the first year of school (we call it Reception in SA but you may know it as Kindergarten, Preschool, Prep, etc) we spend a lot of time teaching the alphabet. This can be done with a variety of literacy approaches and I'm always looking for fun ways to link it in across the curriculum.

Through a couple of blogs I follow I stumbled upon the Alphabet Project. The basic idea is that bloggers will post something to the theme of each letter of the alphabet on a weekly basis. This lovely blog is doing a character series targeted at parents of young children. I loved the idea, but am about three months too late to keep up with the rest of the blogging world. So I'm doing mine all in one go! I have two projects going - one for school age children and one for toddlers. I planned to include both finish products in the one post but I couldn't wait and wanted to publish my first one.

So I call it "The A-Z of a Successful Classroom". Please 'pin it' if you like it and help me get it circulating around the Pinterest world!

made by me using canva

I tried to think of key words that would inspire students to DO their best and BE their best. Many key words are from particular programmes that our school adopts such as Program Achieve, Habits of Mind and Play is the Way. Also, I should note that I teach at an Christian School so you'll notice that I included "J is for Jesus and Joy" so as to cater for all. You could introduce one a day with your class or one a week if you start early enough. The children could also come up with their own class alphabet project! Here's my list again in plain text (with elaborations).

My A-Z Alphabet Project for School Aged Children

A is for Accuracy (Check and edit your work.)
B is for Brave (Stand up for what's right and take responsible risks.)
C is for Confident (To speak or perform in front of others.)
D is for Discussion (With peers, teachers, parents.)
E is for Empathy (Understand how others are feeling.)
F is for Friendly (You don't have to be best friends with everyone in your class - but you do need to be friendLY.)
G is for Grateful (Take a moment to be thankful for all that you have.)
H is for Humble (Be proud, yet modest in your achievements.)
I is for Imagination (Be creative, think outside the square.)
J is for Jesus and Joy ("Nothing Without Joy" - Reggio Emilia.)
K is for Kindness (A kind classroom is a happy classroom.)
L is for Listening (What does a good listener look like?)
M is for Motivation (Children who are motivated to learn will be more likely to succeed.)
N is for Neatness (Apply your best effort to your work.)
O is for Organised (Daily routines and manage your time.)
P is for Persistence (Try and try, don't give up.)
Q is for Questioning (Think before you ask. Is it a relevant and thoughtful question?)
R is for Resilient (Is it really a big deal? "Oh well, doesn't matter")
S is for Senses (How can you use all of your senses to learn something new?)
T is for Thinking (Be a critical and creative thinker.)
U is for Understanding (How can you show me your understanding?)
V is for Values (What's important to our school community?)
W is for Wonderment (Take a moment to appreciate the amazing things in our world!)
X is for eXcited (Be excited about learning!)
Y is for YOU (You are the most important person who can influence your learning.)
Z is for Zest (Be enthusiastic about what you do.)

I once again owe the ability to create such an awesome graphic to canva (which is the site I used for my blog header and profile pic). I created each image individually, exported the whole lot and created the collage using Pic Monkey. (Pic Monkey is the best collage website I've seen that lets you put a large number of images in the one collage. Fotor, my usual program only lets you have 9. Ribbet is another good site but is more limiting than Pic Monkey). I love to give out little tips every now and again and I must say that I am really loving learning new things on this blogging journey. I really feel like a life long learner. And isn't that what we teachers are encouraging our students to be?

Now that I've written this post, I think it was a good idea to do them in two parts! Stay tuned for the next stage in my Alphabet Project - the A-Z in the life of a Toddler.

Lauren