5-Minute Film Festival: Literacy Starts with the Alphabet

I'll admit, as the mom of a toddler I may be excessively preoccupied with the alphabet. But truly, letters are the building blocks of the English language and early literacy. Since November is National Novel Writing Month, I indulged in sharing a few of my favorite ABC videos. I started this playlist just for fun, and quickly found that the constraints of the 26-letter sequence provide a great framework for engaging lists of all kinds. As an exercise for your students, little and big, ask them to use the letters of the alphabet as a structure to get creative around a topic -- just see what they come up with!

Video Playlist: Alphabet Soup

Watch the first video below, or watch the whole playlist on YouTube.

1. Alphabet of Nations - They Might Be Giants (02:15)

   Quirky rockers They Might Be Giants have released several albums for kids around educational themes. The band collaborated with The Global Fund For Children to make this geography video; it includes crowd-sourced photos from around the world!

2. Zellers "Everything from A to Z" (00:31)

   A catchy Canadian commercial for a department store that shows letters built from objects that start with that letter. I could see this as a fun video production project to assign to younger kids.

3. Elephabet (09:03)

   A portmanteau is a new word made from two other words -- and this adorable stop-motion film by artist Hilary Pfeifer is filled with them. Check out the precious Elephabet Flickr group, where admirers can share their own pachyderms made with her downloadable template.

4. Refraction - The Alphabet (02:31)

   I had to include this one for sheer coolness factor -- this filmmaker used oil and water to refract images of letters through a lightbox, and then mixed it with hip music and Richard Pryor reciting the ABCs. Whoa.

5. Ministry of Letters Alphaphonic Orchestra (01:32)

   While there are a million apps designed to teach phonics to little ones, Ministry of Letters is my absolute favorite. Youngsters can make the snappily-dressed letters sing various jazzy combinations of their sounds.

6. The Human Alphabet (04:56)

   Inspired by a book of photographs of the amazing dance troupe Pilobolus, students from the Maywood Fine Arts program in Maywood, Illinois performed acrobatic feats to become a human alphabet.

7. The ABC of Architects (01:38)

   Studying design? Architecture buffs will rejoice at this beautifully animated alphabet of the most important international architects with their best-known buildings. Produced by Ombu Architecture.

8. Sesame Street: Madrigal Alphabet (01:33)

   No list of alphabet videos would be complete without an offering from Sesame Street. Hard to choose, but I was captivated by this charming vintage animation from 1973. Search for more Sesame ABCs here.

9. ABCinema [Ep1] (00:59)

   This is the first in a series of five animated segments by Atlanta-based motion graphics artist Evan Seitz, designed to test your movie knowledge. How many films can your students identify? (Hint: Full list here.) Caution: some of the audio clips contain profanity, preview before using in the classroom.

10. ASL Alphabet (01:24)

    Simple but powerful, this covers the alphabet in American Sign Language. There's actually a treasure trove of pop song videos interpreted creatively in ASL hidden on YouTube, if you do a search for ASL songs.

More Resources for Learning About the Alphabet

Whether you're teaching preschoolers the basics, or working with English-language learners (ELLs) who might need different and engaging ways to connect with a new language, you can find loads of resources out there for alphabet activities. I tried to find a variety of angles to explore below, from the history of the alphabet to code-breaking lessons that connect the alphabet to mathematics. A novel starts with a single letter -- it's as easy as ABC!

• Exploring the Alphabet, topic page from Sesame Street
• "The Best Sites For Learning About The Alphabet," by Larry Ferlazzo, from Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day
• "Top 10 Pinterest Boards that focus on the ABCs," from Scribble, Doodle and Draw
• "Back-To-School: 6 DIY Alphabet Projects," by Mari Richards, from Handmade Charlotte
• "Phonics Instruction for Middle and High School ELLs," by Kristina Robertson, from Reading Rockets
• "Why H Is The Most Contentious Letter in the Alphabet," by Michael Rosen, from The Guardian
• "The Origins of ABC: Where Our Alphabet Came From," from I Love Typography
• Lesson Plan: Calligraphy, Handwriting and the Alphabet, from Oregon Public Broadcasting
• The Alphabet is Historic, four lessons from EDSITEment
• The History of the Alphabet [PDF]," by Judy Ross (Free E-book)
• "Activity: The Secret World of Codes and Code Breaking," from NRich Mathematics
• "Simple Alphabet Codes to Solve: Printouts," from Enchanted Learning