Z: The Z was Zapped

Z: The Z was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg

What I Need:

The Z was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg
Alphabet Flashcards for Review (cut apart before class) (printable version here)
Letter Z handwriting sheet (printable version here)
Map of the World (optional, for review only)
Sheet with all books from the year on it (cut apart before class)
Scotch Tape or StickyTac

Finding a book to go with Z was a little bit of a task for me. I wanted a book that had Z in the title, that reviewed all of the letters of the alphabet, and that was a bit of a classic. I also wanted it to be one that could be slightly interactive, as this was going to be our last class of the year and I wanted something a little fun and unique. I actually spent a bit of time finding something that fulfilled all three of these. When I stumbled upon this 1987 classic by Chris Van Allsburg, I knew I finally had the right book.

(Dr. Suess’ ABC book is also a fun classic, but this one seemed lesser-known and even my big kids have fun with this one.) If you’re not familiar with Van Allsburg’s book, there are very few words … but each letter of the Alphabet is “doing” something to match its sound, which makes it great for review and great for a classroom read-aloud.

Introduce the Class

Tell the class this is the last class of the year. Do they know all their letters? Do they remember the story that goes along with each letter of the alphabet? Did they have a favorite?

REVIEW GAME #1

If you have time, and you’d like a fun way to review, you can use the ABC Flashcards. for this chalkboard Pictionary-style game.

Give each student one of the letter cards, but make sure they don’t show their classmates
Let each student go up to the board and draw something that starts with the letter on the card. If they can’t think of anything, have them draw the pictures they see on the card. Once everyone gets back to their seat, it’s time to guess.
Let the kids take turns guessing and revealing the answers until everything has been guessed. If you’d like to keep going, pass out another set of cards to everyone and play as long as you’d like

REVIEW GAME #2

There is no map needed for this story, but if you’d like to review the continents since it is the last class, this game would also be a fun one to conclude on. Hold up a picture of the book and ask the class if they can remember where this book took place? If they can, give them the picture of the book (with a little piece of tape) and let them attach it to the map. Use this sheet for book review pics

Read the Story

Tell the class that today’s story is called “the Z is Zapped” and emphasize that “Z” says “Zzz”

Explain that we’re going to read the story together, but that you are going to need help. Then on each page, before you read what that letter is doing, let the class participate…

Do you know what letter this is?

What is “letter” doing?

Then, after they guess …. read the sentence that explains what that letter is doing.

There’s no plot to this story, but it’s fun for review.

Handwriting Sheet

Remind the class to start our letters at the top. If you collected/saved their letter sheets through the year, don’t forget to add this one to the end before giving the final product to the parents.