'Alphabetical order' tutor notes
The aim of the 'Alphabetical order' topic area is to understand the principles of ordering in texts such as a dictionary, encyclopaedia, phone book and any alphabetical index.
We recommend that students look at the Capital letters section of the site, before tackling this module.
How does this tie in with the curriculums?
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England
Rw/E3.4 - use first and second place letters to find and sequence words in alphabetical order
1. understand alphabetical order
2. understand the importance of the alphabetical order of letters within a word
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Wales
As England
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Northern Ireland
As England
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Scotland
See www.aloscotland.com for details of the Scottish curriculum.
Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.
In this Skillswise module you'll find...
Alphabetical ordering - game
This Dictionary designs game requires players to drag and drop the words into the correct alphabetical order. There is an easy and a hard option to try.
Please do tell us what you think of these games.
Alphabetical ordering - quiz
The learner can choose their level. Level A is the easiest and level C the hardest. Level A asks learners to spot the first or last words based on initial letters, level B asks learners to choose the first or last words based on first and second letters. Level C asks learners to choose from four words all beginning with the same initial letter.
The student can print out a certificate if they score 50% or more in the quiz. This will appear as a link on the results page - click on the link and the certificate will appear in a new window. Learners can write their name in once the certificate is printed.
Alphabetical ordering - factsheets
There is one factsheet in this section. This gives examples of texts where you will come across alphabetical ordering, stressing that even the best spellers use a dictionary. It invites learners to have a go at writing the alphabet in the correct order and gives examples of words ordered by first and second letters. Finally it suggests learners write down ten words, then try to find them in a dictionary, using alphabet order to help locate them.
Alphabetical ordering - worksheets
There are three printable worksheets with answersheets in this section. The first looks at ordering words by initial letter, numbers two and three look at ordering by first and second letters.
Technical help:
To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':
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Flash 7
The game in this topic section uses Flash 7. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
Find out more.
If you don't have Flash 7 the same learning points are covered in the quiz, worksheets and factsheets.
Please note: the flash game in this section is quite graphical. Please allow about 1 minute for the game to download. Download times will vary according to your connection speed and how busy the network is.
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Adobe PDF documents
Note that you will need the free Adobe Acrobat software on your machine to view PDF documents.
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FlashPapers
We have provided the worksheets and factsheets as both PDF files and FlashPaper files. For screenreader users you should choose the FlashPaper version as these are designed to be screenreader accessible. If you don't need a screenreader it doesn't matter which type you use.
If you want to print the factsheets we recommend you use the PDF version provided. However, if you do want to print a FlashPaper, you must use the print button within the FlashPaper window (top right). Your internet browser can't tell what size to print these kind of documents, so if you use the print option in the 'file' menu it may print out completely the wrong size.
If you are new to the web, why not take a look at WebWise. You can try the WebWise online course or be shown the basics by our Computer Tutor. It's free and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching. Get WebWise.
If you would like to get more help using Skillswise, check out the Help pages.
Taking it further:
With Skillswise:
Don't forget to check out the Skillswise Lesson plans and Teaching inspirations areas for more ideas about teaching alphabetical ordering.
Lesson plan worksheets:
There are 3 worksheets in the Lessons plans section, which can also be used for word processing by the learner to practise ICT skills: 1 Destinations; Destinations answers; 2 Towns; Towns answers; 3 Cities; Cities answers.
On the web:
Here are a few suggestions of other places on the web that you might find useful resources that you can adapt for teaching alphabetical ordering.
Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.
Do you know of any great online resources for practising alphabetical ordering? Tell us about them!
