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Rafe Esquith: Five Tips to Help Children Develop Their Natural Gifts

#1864. Puritan ABC's

Language, level: Senior
Posted Wed Jul 26 20:45:05 PDT 2000 by Karen Sherrill (krushsh70@hotmail.com).
Riverside High School, Greer, SC
Materials Required: Pencil, paper, markers, decorations (if desired)
Activity Time: 1 class period, homework

Begin the lesson by introducing the New England Primer. This ABC book, used by the Puritans, teaches the alphabet by introducing concepts important to Puritan life or beliefs. For example A = "In Adam's fall, we sinned all," and so on through to Z.
The student's assignment is to create a modern primer. Set it in your community, in your time, and create an appropriate ABC book. Just as the Puritans did, each letter must introduce concepts important to the life and beliefs of your community. It will surprise you to see how different they can be from student to student.
Let students take these home and decorate them as a children's book.