Angela Atkins
Emergent Literacy
Materials: Computer (1 for every 2 students), TV or projection device for modeling, My First Incredible Amazing Dictionary CD ROM, variety of small plastic farm animals, template of pictures of farm animals with their corresponding letters. Access to Kidpix.com, primary paper, pencils, chalk, chalkboard.
Procedures:
(*This lesson should follow a field trip to a zoo or farm where students
can see the animals and the sounds they make for themselves.)
1. Create a classroom word wall using the words of the items they saw.
Have some students make word cards for the word wall. Have other
students make pictures to go on the word wall next to the words.
Play a matching game with the student created words and pictures.
2. On the projector/computer show students the farm template and model
using the moving van and magnet on kidpix.com to match the pictures and
words.
3. In small groups, have students work at the computer using the Kid
Pix farm template to match the pictures to the word. They will have
to use the moving van and magnet to move the picture under the correct
word.
4. Introduce this center to students by using a guess box with one
of the plastic animals inside. Give the students both phonemic and
conceptual clues about what is in the box. (Example A: Introduce the letter
b. "TODAY CLASS WE WILL LEARN THE LETTER B. B SAYS buh, B=/b/. CAN YOU
ALL SAY buh? ON THE COUNT OF THREE, LET'S ALL SAY B TOGETHER. 1, 2, 3,
buh, buh, B. (*B could stand for bear.) "OK, LET'S THINK ABOUT HOW
WE MAKE THE LETTER B IN OUR MOUTHS. PUT YOUR LIPS TOGETHER AND SAY BUH,
BUH, BUH. CAN YOU FEEL THE BEGINNING OF THE BUH ON YOUR CLOSED LIPS? KEEP
YOUR LIPS SLIGHTLY OPEN WHILE SAYING BUH, LIKE THIS." Model.
(Example B: Explain that all letters stand for a mouth movement of
sound, which is a phoneme. Today we are going to learn that the letter
h makes the /h/ sound. Sometimes when we laugh really hard we can make
the sound ha, ha, ha. Do you hear the /h/ sound? Let's see what kind of
mouth movement we will make to get the /h/ sound. Everyone make the laughing
sound ha, ha, ha. What kind of mouth movement did you make? I felt my jaw
move down. Now let's try putting our hand in front of our mouth and see
what happens. I felt air coming out of my mouth and blowing onto my hand.
(*H could stand for hippo.)
(Example C: Show the students the letter "R". Explain to them that
this is the letter "R." Demonstrate on the chalkboard the letter "R" and
tell the students that this letter makes the /r/ sound. Have the students
repeat this after you. The letter "R" says /r/. Then, have students look
at the picture of the frog . What sound does a frog make? Yes! A frog says
"ribbit, ribbit." Good job! Can anyone explain to me what your mouth
does when you make the /r/ sound? Do you lift your tongue? Do your lips
get in the "pucker" position? Let's all practice saying it together. Very
good!)
5. Model using the My First Incredible Amazing Dictionary CD
ROM to locate the animal in the dictionary and find out more about it or
validate what the students already know. Be sure to show the students
how you would like them to get started using the program.
6. Ask a student to pick a different animal from the basket
7. Have the class say the name of the animal and ask them to work together
to decide on the beginning sound and letter of the animal’s name.
8. Ask a different volunteer to come up and click on the first letter
of the animal’s name.
9. Ask a different volunteer to come up and find the picture of the
animal and click on it.
10. Explore the page together as a class to learn more about the animal.
11. Explain to the students that they will complete this center activity
with a partner. One student will choose the animal and be the "director",
the other student will be the "mouse driver". Then, hey will switch
jobs and do the activity again.
Have students read: Dr. Seuss’s A B C, The Kite is the Key, other letter books pertaining to the letter you are teaching.
Assessment: Use the student made word wall and compare it to the computer template for self and group checking to see if the words are correctly matched. Evaluate if students were able to correctly name items seen on the farm. Were students able to correctly match pictures to words? Observe students to see if they are able to identify initial sounds, locate a specific letter in the alphabet, and if they were able to follow multistep directions.
Reference: . Geisel, Theodore. Dr. Seuss's A B C. New York:
Random House, 1963.
Hill, Tonya. 2001. "The Kite is the Key"-
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/elucid/hillel.html
www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/yorkel.html
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/trageserel.html
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/pattersonel.html
www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/archive/lesson_farmcenter.htm
www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/archive/lesson_farmword.htm