B-B-Brrrrr Says the Bear
Emergent Literacy Design
By: Jamie Storey
Rationale:
Letter recognition is an important step in
helping young children learn to read. In order to learn how to
read and write, children must be aware that spoken words have
phonemes that are embedded in them and difficult to detect. It
is important for students to understand the relationship between
those sounds and the letters that represent them. Today's goal
for the students will be to identify the /b/ in spoken and
written words, practice the mouth movement for the letter b,
and write its letter representation. By having students practice
with the letter
b and its vocal gesture /b/, they will be better able to
recognize it which can lead, ultimately, to reading achievement.
Materials:
Primary writing paper; Pencil; Drawing paper;
Crayons; Picture of a bear Cue Card with upper and lower case b
on it; Chart paper with this tongue twister written on it: "Bill
and Betty baked brown bread for Barbara's baby."; Paper with the
following pictures on them: baby, backpack, ball, bus, van, tub,
band, boy, pants and bear; Pictures with the following items
containing: boy/girl, ball/net, tub/shower, above/under,
bear/lion, book bag/purse (found in magazine or online); Big
Book The Three Bears by B. Barton (Harper Collins, 1991);
Letter B worksheet
Procedure:
1. Introduce lesson by explaining that we will
be learning about the letter b.
Today we are going to learn about the letter b. Hold
up picture of the bear with b on it. Does anyone
already know the sound that the letter
b makes?. . . That is wonderful; it says /b/ (make
sound). /b/ is in a lot of different words, like baby,
bus, and even about. Now let's say some of these words
together. What is your mouth doing as you say /b/? When I
say /b/ my lips come together and then a puff of air comes
out. Is that what happens to you too? Now let's make /b/ and
see what our mouths do. Allow students time to make
proper mouth move. Good job, I think we've got that down.
2. Practice the tongue twister. Okay, I have a tongue
twister here that has a lot of words that begin with the
letter b. Display the poster with the tongue
twister. I am going to say it first and then we will all
say it together. Say tongue twister, "Bill and Betty
baked brown bread for Barbara's baby."
"Now let's say it together...great job. Let's say it faster
this time. Now, I want us to stretch out the /b/ every time
we say it. Really emphasize the /b/. Say tongue twister
stretched out together "BBBBilly and BBBBetty bbbbaked
bbbbrown bbbbread for BBBBarbbras bbbabby."
3. Next, students will practice writing letter b. Pass
out the primary writing paper. Now we are going to learn
how to write the letter b. First I will show you how
to write it and then I will let everyone practice. To make
the lowercase b, start at the rooftop, and go down
to the sidewalk. Draw a little tummy now instead of a big
tummy. Allow students to practice letter b with
their primary writing paper. Now we are going to learn how
to write uppercase B. I'll show you first. Start at
the rooftop and go straight down the sidewalk, around for
his big chest, and around for his big tummy. Allow
students to practice writing B.
4. Allow students to practice finding /b/ in words. Now
that we can write
b and we know how to say it. Remember, my lips are
going to come together and then I let out a puff of air. I
want to see if we can pick out /b/ in words that we say. I
am going to ask you if you hear /b/ in two different words.
Okay, do you hear /b/ in boy or
girl?. . .great!
Net or
ball? . . .you
guys are so smart! …Tub
or shower?…Fabulous.
Last one, Bear or lion? . . .great! This helps me to
determine if the students understood the lesson and have
learned the letter b.
5. Read the book, The Three Bears by B. Barton. Give a
book talk.
Deep in the woods lived a family of bears - Papa Bear, Mama
Bear, and Baby Bear. One day Mama Bear fixed her family some
porridge to eat, but it was too hot to eat. So, they all
decide to go for a walk to give time for the porridge to
cool. While they were gone a nosy girl named Goldilocks
comes to the house and goes inside, even though no one was
home. What do you think will happen? Will the bears come
home while Goldilocks is still in the house? While
reading, students will silently rub their belly every time
they hear /b/.
6. Last, students will get primary writing paper and write
their own version of the three bears using invented spelling
and color a picture to go with it. They will share them with
the class after everybody is done if they would like to. By
allowing students to share their stories it gives the students
a reason to put effort into it.
Assessment:
Students will be given a worksheet with pictures of items that
begin with the letter b. There will also be words
that no not start with the letter b. They are to color
only the items that begin with the letter b.
Reference:
Barton, B. (1991). The Three Bears. New York: Harper
Collins
Bear Bonanza by Kathleen Wheat
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/encounters/wheatel.html
Bouncing B's by Candace Goodwin
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/passages/goodwinel.html
Home School Helper's Printables. DoodleDog Designs, LLC. www.homeschoolhelperonline.com