Rationale:  Letter recognition is an extremely important ability for emergent readers to attain.  Identifying the letter i will be the primary focus of the this particular lesson.  Through the activities within this lesson, students will develop the ability to recognize the letter i in print and its corresponding phoneme /i/ in spoken language. 

Materials:
Sheila Cushman's book entitled, Tin Man Fix-it
Large cut-outs of the letter i (one in lower case form and one in upper case form) for a visual aide of the letters
Small cut-outs of the letter i for each students to raise on their own during the Tin Man Fix-it activity
Primary Paper
Pencils
Crayons
Class Board
A worksheet with pictures of animals with the short i sound in their names that are mixed with pictures of animals without the short i        sound in their name

Procedures:
1.  Introduce the lesson by stating the following: "There are twenty-six letters in the alphabet.  Each of those letters make different sounds!  It is so important that we learn what each letter looks like and what sound they make.  Today, we will learn about the letter i.  Listen carefully and watch my mouth as I make the sound of the letter i!"  [Model how to pronounce the short i sound]

2.  "Now let's see if you can make the sound of the letter i.  Let's try all together! [Practice the short vowel i sound with the students]  Can you feel what your mouth is doing to make the i sound?  It almost tickles at the top of your mouth doesn't it?"

3.  "Now that you know how to make the letter i sound, listen to the words I say and tell me when you hear the i sound by raising your hand.  Do you hear the i sound in "pig" or "pen?"  [When saying the words to the student, stretch out the pronounciation of each word to emphasize the phonemes that each contain.  For example, say "p-p-i-i-i-g-g" and "p-p-e-e-e-n-n."]  "Now how about "tin" or "ton?"

4.  "Since you did such a great job, let's see if you can see this tongue twister.  I am going to say it once by myself.  Listen carefully for the i sound!  Say: "Sid hit Tim's hip while digging in the kit."  Now I am going to write the tongue twister on the board for you to help you say it with me.  [Write tongue twister on board]  Now let's say it all together.  "Sid hit Tim's hip while digging in the kit." 

5.  "Now let's say the tongue twister very slowly and stretch out the sounds in the words like this: [Model for students how to stretch out the sounds]  "S-i-i-i-d h-i-i-i-t T-i-i-i-i-m's  h-i-i-i-p w-h-i-l-e  d-i-i-i-i-g-g-i-n-g  i-i-i-n  t-h-e k-i-i-i-t."  Now let's stretch out the tongue twister together!  [Repeat saying the stretched out version of the tongue twister with students]  Excellent!"

6.  "Now that we know the sound that the letter i makes, we are going to learn how to write the letter i on paper.  [Model how to write the letter i for students during the following explanation] For the itty bitty lower case letter i, we start at the fence and go down to make a body.  Don't forget to put a dot on top for the head!  Let's practice writing the lower case letter i.  [Repeat directions of how to write the letter and continue to model how to write it for the first few times. After a couple of tries, observe each student's ability to write the letter i on their own.]  Now for the upper case letter I, we have to make a ceiling, a floor, and a wall in the middle to connect the house!  Now let's try writing the upper case letter I!  [Repeat the modeling and observing procedure performed during the lower case letter i instruction.]

7.  Pass out copies of Sheila Cushman's book entitled, Tin Man Fix-it to the class.  Read the title emphasizing the short I sounds.  Before beginning to read the book, pass out paper cut-outs of the letter i.  Tell students that they have to listen carefully for the i sound because everytime they hear the i sound, they must raise the letter i cut-outs high! 

8.  For a follow-up activity, distribute worksheets to the class featuring pictures of animals with the short i sound in their names that are mixed with pictures of animals without the short i sound in their name.  Have students circle the animals that contain the short i sound in their name.  When students have completed circling the animals, they can color their animals with crayons.

References:
Allen, Margaret. Dr. Maggie's Phonics Learning Centers.  Creative Teaching Press, Inc. California: 1999.

Murray, Bruce. Mouth Moves and Gestures for Phonemes.  The Reading Genie Site

Cushan, Sheila. Tin Man Fix-it.  Educational Insights, California, 1990.


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