1. Can you keep the cat from clawing the couch? It's creating chaos.

2. Dan's dog dove deep in the dam, drinking dirty water as he dove.
3. Tim took tons of tools to make toys for the tots.
4. While walking wearily home I wondered where Wally was.
5.

I saw an ol' gnome

Take a gknock at a gnat
Who was gnibbling the gnose of his gnu.
I said, "Gnasty gnome,
Gnow, stop doing that.
That gnat ain't done gnothing to you."
He gnodded his gnarled ol' head and said,
"'Til gnow I gnever gnew
That gknocking a gnat
In the gnoodle like that
Was gnot a gnice thing to do

Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew. While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew.
Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze. Freezy trees made these trees' cheese freeze.
That's what made these three free fleas sneeze.

SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Share one or more of Pamela Duncan Edwards' alliterative picture books (see Alliteration Booklist).

2. After you have read several pages aloud, ask students to define alliteration. (They will soon realize
that alliteration is the repetition of words with the same beginning sound.)

3. Show a page spread that the students have not yet seen, making sure to cover the text. Ask
students to quickly write one or two alliterative sentences to accompany the illustration on the
spread. Have a few students share their sentences with the class.

4. Explain that alliteration is commonly used in advertisements, headlines, jingles, lyrics, poetry,
jump rope rhymes, alphabet books, and tongue twisters. Lead a class discussion about why
alliteration might be used in these sources.

SESSION 2: ALLITERATION IN ACROSTIC POETRY

1. Share Alligators All Around by Maurice Sendak. Point out how the author uses alliteration in word
pairs to describe the activities of the alligators. Inform students that they will use the same
alliterative style when writing their own acrostic poems.

2. Explain that an acrostic poem uses letters from a word written vertically to begin each line of the
poem. Ask each student to think of a word with at least six letters that begins with the same first
 letter as his or her name. For example, Becky might choose "bubbles" for her word.

3. Brainstorm a model word with the class and write it vertically on the board or overhead as such:
"Bubbles" by Becky
B
U
B
B
L
E
S

4. As a class, think of two words for each line of the poem that describe the topic word and begin with
the same first vertical letter. Our model "Bubbles" poem becomes:
"Bubbles" By Becky
Beautiful balls
Usually up
Best blowing
Before bouncing
Lift lightly
Easily elevated
Sometimes slippery

5. Lead students to the classroom computers or computer lab, and introduce them to the Acrostic
Poems interactive tool. Model again how to create an acrostic alliterative poem using this tool.
Show students how for each letter of the vertical word, they should think of two words beginning
with the same letter that describe the topic word.

6. Have students generate their own acrostic alliterative poems using a topic word of their choice. The
Acrostic Poems tool provides students with sample words for each letter on the writing screen. You
may also want to have a few dictionaries on hand to help students identify words for their poems.

7. Circulate among students as they are writing their acrostic poems and provide assistance as needed.
At this time, you can also assess each student's ability to define alliteration using the class
assessment provided on page 2 of the Alliteration All Around Rubric. Place the appropriate number
from the rubric next to the student's name to indicate his or her level of understanding.