Maggie’s Merry Milkshakes
                                                                              
                  
                                                                                                 By: Megan Lowery
 
 
Rationale
It is important for children to learn the letters of the alphabet and their sounds to become a successful reader and writer. The letter-sound-relationship is vital because it is the core of learning and knowing how to read and write. The children need to understand what phonemes are and that they are essential in reading and writing. The lesson will be focused on the letter /m/. The children will recognize that the letter /m/ makes an mmmmm sound. They will also learn how to write the letter /m/ and choose words that start with that letter.
Materials
pencils
paper
poster with pictures of words that begin with m such as muffin, mouse, money, man, monkey, mop, marshmallow
Matt Will Not Mop book
poster with tongue twister Maggie made many merry milkshakes using mud.
worksheet with pictures of /m/ words and non /m/ words.
Procedure
1.      Introduce the lesson by telling the class that they will be learning about the letter /m/. Ask if anyone knows what sound the letter /m/ makes. Tell the class that the letter /m/ makes an mmmmm sound just like mmmmm that taste good. Let’s practice making the sound that /m/ makes while we rub our stomachs.

2. Now lets try a tongue twister to help you better understand the sound /m/ makes. I want you to look at the poster and say the tongue twister together. Ready?  Maggie made many merry milkshakes using mud. Wonderful! Now let’s do it again and when you hear the mmm sound I want you all to rub your stomach as if you are enjoying something delicious.
3. Have the students get out paper and pencil and try writing the letter /m/. Say Let’s try writing the letter /m/. We start out at the fence and go straight down to the dirt, then go back up that straight line and near the top of the line go out and touch the fence and make a little hill, go down to the dirt and then make another little hill just like you did before. Wonderful! Now try writing the /m/ by yourself five times and I will come around and see how you are doing. If you have done it correctly, I will give you a check mark but if not you need to try again a couple more times until you get a check mark.
4. Teacher will use the poster of words. Teacher will call on a student and ask what the word is. Teacher will model the first  word. Can you hear the mmm in mop? Let's sound it out. mmm-ooo-ppp. mop. 
5. Call on different students to choose the word that has the /m/ sound.

Do you hear /m/ in the word mouth or space? Muffin or table? mouse or rat? moose or deer?

5. Read Matt Will Not Mop and ask questions about the story. Next, read it again and have the students rub their stomachs when they come upon words that begin with /m/. After reading the story the second time, have students raise their hand and share some of the words they found that started with the letter /m/.
6. For assessment, pass out a worksheet with pictures that start with the letter /m/ and some that do not. Have the students carefully evaluate them and put stars next to the pictures that start with /m/.

 
Reference: Eldredge, Lloyd J (2005).  Teaching Decoding Why and How, 29-30.


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