Ah, April! An awesome and amazing announcement – aptly – AtoZ adventures! See what I did there? That’s my lead into the alliteration lesson plan I have in today’s post along with other stuff.

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In Actuality, Armadillos are Amazing!

Today’s prompt challenges to take inspiration from either this glossary of musical terms, or of art terminology, and write a poem that uses a new-to-you word. For (imaginary) extra credit, work in a phrase from, or a reference to, the Florentine Codex.

Since this is also my letter A post for the A to Z challenge, I looked for the ‘a’s in art and in the Codex, and here is what I ended up with.

Actuality, Ayotochtli
Watching the ayotochtli roll and curl,
Like an uncut reel set to unfurl.
A “rabbit like a gourd,” they say,
Armored yet free in its unique way.

That raw unedited version is what I see,
A shell in motion, unpolished and free.
No script, no retakes—just life as it flows,
A moment unvarnished, nature exposed.
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

• Actuality: an art term, referring to a nonfiction film, usually lasting no more than one to two minutes, showing unedited, unstructured footage of real events, places, people, or things.
• Ayotochtli: the Nahuatl word for the armadillo

A is for Alliteration Lesson Plan

Grade Level: 2nd – 4th

Objective of the Alliteration Lesson Plan

Students will explore alliteration while learning about animal behaviors, movement, and names. Through reading, brainstorming, and creative writing, they will identify alliteration and craft their own sentences and poems.

Concepts

📖 Poetry Focus – Alliteration (repeating initial consonant sounds)
🌿 Science Connection – Animal movement, behaviors, and names
📚 Book Suggestion – Animalia by Graeme Base

Materials Needed

• Animalia by Graeme Base
• Chart paper, whiteboard, pencils, crayons/markers
• (Optional) Tongue twister printouts, animal pictures

Lesson Activities

📖 Introduction – Read & Spot the Sounds!

• Read Animalia aloud and ask: What do you notice about the words?
• Discuss alliteration: “Words that start with the same sound make phrases fun and rhythmic!”
• Example: 🐉 Daring dragons dash down dark dungeons!

🔬 Science Connection: How do animals move? Describe them with alliteration!
(Ambling armadillos, Leaping lemurs, slithering snakes, waddling walruses!)

✍️ Explore & Create: Amazing Alliteration!

1️⃣ Alliteration Name Game (Icebreaker)

• Students pick an adjective for their name: Brilliant Ben, Jumpy Jake, Mighty Mia!

2️⃣ Animal Alliteration Brainstorm

• Choose an animal and create an alliterative phrase.
  • Artsy armadillos arrive!
  • Bouncy bears bathe in blueberry bushes!
  • Speedy squirrels soar!
• Create alliterative animal names: Artie Armadillo, Sammy Squirrel, Baloo Bear!

3️⃣ Alliterative Animal Art

• Draw the chosen animal and write the alliterative phrase underneath (or at the top).
• Display as an Alliteration Alphabet Zoo!

4️⃣ Science Fun – Animal Facts & Groups

• Discuss animal movement & habitats.
• Explore group names: A parade of penguins, a gaggle of geese, a mob of mongoose
  • a flamboyance of flamingoes is one of my favorites
• Create new ones! A “booming bunch of buffalo” or a “whirling wave of walruses.”

🎤 Bonus: Tongue Twister Challenge

• Create & share alliterative tongue twisters (with animals somewhere within, of course!)
• Play “Keep It Going!” – Start with a phrase (Silly squirrels…), and students add words!
• Try an animal name game: Pick a letter and list animals starting with that sound. (Remember: centipede and cat do not have the same sound, but cat and kitten do)

Wrap-Up & Assessment

✅ Quick Check (Younger Kids)

• Identify alliteration in sentences.
• Write a 3-word alliterative phrase (Jumpy jaguar jumps).

✅ Creative Work Check (Older Kids)

• Review alliterative sentences & artwork.
• Poetry Challenge: Write a 4-line alliterative poem using at least 3 alliterative words per line.

For more on alliteration, check out Alliteration: Alluring, Annoying Or Alright?

Points to Remember

• Alliteration is all about fun, so encourage playfulness!
• This alliteration lesson plan is designed for younger elementary school students, but you can adjust it for different grade levels by altering the complexity of the activities.

Note: I hope to be making a more detailed version of these lesson plans with printables and adding them on my blog at a later date.

A is for Animalia

Amazing Reads and More

You can also use any of these books for your lesson plan instead of or in addition to Animalia.

• ABC Animal Alliteration: An ABC Animal Walkthrough Using Silly Alliteration by Linda Beck Jones (Children’s Animal Books | 5 – 8 years, and up)
• Alligator Arrived With Apples: A Potluck Alphabet Feast by Crescent Dragonwagon and art by Jose Aruego (Children’s Animal Books | 5 – 8 years, and up)
• Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett with illustrations by Ronald Barrett (Children’s Animal Books | 2 – 6 years, and up)
• Animal Alphabet Alliterations: Wildlife Wordy Witticisms by Robert Giacomelli (Children’s Animal Books | 5 – 11 years, and up)
• Loving this 3D Armadillo puzzle. Pair it with a copy of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories which has one about The Beginning of the Armadillos or Lynne Cherry’s The Armadillo from Amarillo 
• And on an aside, as I talked about animal group names earlier, I gifted myself the awesome An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton this past weekend. Well, discovered it on my visit to the local used bookstore (right along one of my favorite walking paths!). You can also look at Packs: Strength in Numbers for younger readers.

“A” Poetry Books & Verse Novels: Foolproof Must-Reads!

For this week’s prompt over at ThatArtsyReaderGirl on April Fool’s Day.

• African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song edited by Kevin Young (Poetry Anthologies)
• Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Jason Griffin (12+ years)
• Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood and Greg Dawson (10 – 13 years)
• All of Me by Chris Baron (10 – 13 years, and up) 
• All the Fighting Parts by Hannah Sawyer (14 years and up)
• Alone by Megan Freeman (10+ years)
• And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems by Maya Angelou (Poetry)
• Animal Ark: Celebrating our Wild World in Poetry and Pictures by Kwame Alexander, Mary Rand Hess, and Deanna Nikaido with photographs by Joel Sartore (2 – 10 years, and up)
• Another Day as Emily by Eileen Spinelli with illustrations by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff (8 – 12 years+) 
• Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson (Love Poems)

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, hope you make use of this lesson plan at home or a classroom or simply to explore alliteration for yourself! Do let me know if there is any poetic form or concept you would like me to include for lesson plans for the remaining letters of the alphabet (I am still working on my lesson plans!). Which of the books would you pick first, or have enjoyed? And do recommend your favorite alliterative reads (poems, books, jingles, anything at all!).

I am linking up to A-Z, Blogchatter, UBC, NaPoWriMo. Also linking up to TTT.

And you can find all my A-Z posts (this year and previous years’ as well) here:

A to Z Challenge Posts