Growl with R
Emergent Literacy
Rationale: This lesson will help students identify the /r/
sound, the phoneme represented by R.
They will also learn to identify the /r/ sound in spoken words by associating it
with a meaningful gesture (growling while placing hands up in a scaring
position) and the letter symbol R.
Students will also learn how to find /r/
in words and apply phoneme awareness with /r/ in phonetic cue reading by
distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.
Materials: Primary paper and pencil; chart tablet with "Round
and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran."; drawing paper and crayons;
Corduroy by Don Freeman; word cards
with ROSE, RING, RAIN, FIVE, DROP, and FAR; assessment worksheet
identifying pictures with /r/ (URL
below).
Procedure:
1. Say: The things that we write are like secret codes. Before we can break
those codes, we must first know what the letters in our code stand for. When we
say words, our mouths move in different ways. Today, we are going to work on
spotting the mouth move /r/. We use the letter
R to spell /r/. R looks like a big bear, and /r/ sounds like a growling
bear.
2. Now, we are going to pretend to growl like a bear, /r/, /r/, /r/. [hands are
like the claws of a bear in an upward position] Notice where the back of your
tongue is? When we say /r/, the sides of our tongue touch our back teeth.
3. Let me show you how to find /r/ in the word
grab. I'm going to stretch
grab out in a really slow motion.
While stretching it out, I'm going to listen for my big bear. Ggg-r-r-a-b. This
time I'll go slower. Ggg-rrrr-a-a-a-b. That's it! I felt the sides of my tongue
touch my back teeth.
4. Now, we are going to try a tongue twister [on chart]. "Round and round the
rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran." Everybody, join in and say it three times
with me. Say it one more time and this time, I want you to stretch at the /r/ at
the beginning of the words. "Rrround and rrround the rrrugged rrrocks the
rrragged rrrascal rrran." Try it again and this time, break the
R off the word. "/r/ound and /r/ound
the /r/ugged /r/ocks the /r/agged /r/ascal /r/an."
5. [Have the students take out paper and pencil]. We use the letter
R to spell /r/. Capital
R looks like a big bear. Let's write
a lowercase r. Start at the fence and
go down to the sidewalk. From the sidewalk, go back up to the fence and make a
hook. Your hook will look like a c
that is turned sideways. I'm going to walk around and check everybody's
r. After I've checked yours, I want you make 5 more just like your first
one.
6. [Call on students to answer and tell how they knew.] Do you hear /r/ in
ride or
hop?
Shop or
rope?
Drip or
pan?
Time or
pride?
Pole or
break? Now, I will see if you can
spot the mouth move /r/ in some words. Let me see your bear claws and hear you
growl if/when you hear /r/ in: The,
little,
furry,
rabbit,
hopped, far,
and,
landed,
by,
the,
rocks.
7. Say: I'm going to read the book,
Corduroy, aloud. I would like for you to follow along.
8. [Give booktalk]
Say: Corduroy is a toy bear and he sits on a shelf in a toy department in a
large store. He wants someone to take him home, but nobody wants to buy him. One
day, a little girl comes along with her mother and asks to buy Corduroy.
Corduroy gets excited, but her mother refuses to buy him because they've spent
all of their money and because he's missing a button. What do you think will
happen? Do you think anyone will come along buy Corduroy?
9. Say: While we are reading, play close attention to the story. When you hear
/r/ or see the letter R, I would like
for you to growl like a big bear. Remember, I need to see your bear claws too!
After the story, I will have students to draw a picture of a growling bear.
10. Show ROSE and model how to decide if it's ROSE or NOSE: The
R tells me to growl like a bear, /r/,
so this word is rrr-ose, rose. Now, it's your turn to try. RING:
Ring or
Sing? RAIN:
Pain or
rain? FIVE:
Five or
jive? DROP:
Pop or
drop? FAR:
Far or
car?
Assessment
Distribute
the worksheet and mini-book. Students should trace and color the capital
R and lowercase
r on the worksheet. The students should also color the stickers on the
worksheet so they can be used to complete mini-book. The students should also
practice writing their R's in their
mini-books.
Reference:
Assessment worksheet and mini-book
http://www.first-school.ws/t/alpha1/r.htm
http://www.first-school.ws/t/alpha2/r1_nt.htm
http://www.first-school.ws/t/alpha2/r2_nt.htm