[FionaVB]

This is way too late for you, but someone else might read it...
I write the alphabet on the board - vertically - and ask the students to give me a job for each letter. I and U can be tricky: I usually end up suggesting icecream maker/seller and umbrella-maker, although just now as I typed this I remembered undertaker! And I usually end up teaching them Optometrist for O. But it's surprising how involved the whole class gets in such a simple activity.