Lesson: A-B-C Searching (K-2)

CHOOSE one of the following sites to explore as a class. Have students go to the site, or project the site onto a screen for students to view together.

• Enchanted Learning
• Giraffian Picture Dictionary

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary term search. Explain to students that one way to search for things on the Internet is by using the alphabet.

POINT OUT the alphabet displayed across the top of the page. Tell children that to search for pictures of things whose names begin with that letter, they need to click on the letter.

CLICK on the letter A to find pictures of things whose names begin with that letter. Demonstrate how to scroll down the first A page and go to other A pages. (The Giraffian site has subsequent pages numbered at the bottom, while Enchanted Learning has links to other A pages: Aa-Af, Ag-Al, etc.) Have students identify some things by their pictures and, when possible, by their names.

INVITE the class to choose a picture from the A pages. Click on the name to go to the page for the selected picture. Print a copy of the page.

EXPLAIN to students that the class is going to make its own picture dictionary, and this picture will be on the very first page.

DISTRIBUTE copies of the Our Picture Dictionary Student Handout, one for each student. Students can work in groups to share computers as they search for and print their pictures, but each student should complete his or her own picture dictionary page.

ASSIGN each student a letter of the alphabet, B through Z. If your class has more than 25 students, you may assign the same letter to two students; if your class has fewer than 25 students, volunteers can make a second dictionary page to complete the alphabet.

INVITE students to visit the website you have chosen from Teach 1, and guide them through the following steps:

1. Search for pictures by finding your letter and clicking on it. (Have students locate their assigned letters on the site’s home page.)
2. Choose a picture and click on it. (Once they click on their letters, students will see pictures and names of several things that begin with that letter. Ask students to choose any one of the pictures and click on it to go to the page for that picture.)
3. Print out your picture. (Help students take turns printing the pictures they have selected. Alternatively, you may have students make drawings of their pictures.)
4. Write down your letter and the name of the thing in your picture. (Ask students to turn to their Our Picture Dictionary Student Handouts. Have students write their names on their pages. Then have them write their letters and copy the names of the items in their picture at the top of their pages.)
5. Cut out your picture and paste it onto your handout. (Have students make their pictures smaller so that they will fit on the lower part of their Our Picture Dictionary Student Handouts or on their sheets of paper.)
6. Decorate your page. (After they paste the picture onto their handouts, students can color and embellish their pages as they like.)

ARRANGE students into three groups according to their letters: A – I, J – R, and S – Z. Have groups work together to put their pages in the correct order.

CREATE a display of the full alphabet on a classroom bulletin board. Help groups to hang their pages in alphabetical order. Have volunteers create a title page that reads “Our Picture Dictionary” to place at the beginning of the display.

Note: If you wish, later you can gather the pages together to make a book, using a three-ring binder or report cover. Display the picture dictionary along with the other books in your classroom.

You can use these questions to assess your students’ understanding of the lesson objectives.

ASK: How did you find pictures of things whose names begin with your letter?
Students should be able to explain that they located the letter of the alphabet and clicked on it to search the site.

ASK: How can you use the alphabet to search for things on the Internet?
Students should understand that looking for things whose names begin with a certain letter is one way to search the Internet.

ASK: Do you think there are other ways to search for things on the Internet?
Volunteers can share what they know about other types of searches, such as keyword searches.