Rationale: Before
children can match letters to phonemes, they have to recognize phonemes
in spoken words. This lesson focuses on /s/. Visual
representations provide support, as they are a reminder of the letter
at hand; therefore, the students will learn to associate /s/ in spoken
words with a meaningful representation. In addition, learning to
print is a powerful means of developing letter recognition
skills. Students will practice print and find /s/ in words.
Materials:
Procedures:
1. "When we speak,
letters stand for the mouth moves we make as
we say words. Today, we are going to focus on the mouth move
/s/. With practice, you can notice /s/ in lots of words."
2. "Have you ever heard
air escaping from a balloon say
/s/? That is the mouth move we are looking for in words
today. Let's imagine we are balloons letting out some air and say
/s/. (Let out some air!) Notice that your tongue sits
behind your bottom teeth while your lips are apart just enough to let
the air blow out. Try it again. Terrific!"
3. "I have a friend to
help us today; he is Sid the Silly
Slow Sloth.
(Write his name on the board.) Say his name with me while I point
to it on the board. Good! Now, would you like to see
him? (Show them the big picture.) Sid the Silly
Slow Sloth will only
help us if you call his name very slowly and stretch out the /s/ at the
beginning of each word in his name. Listen as I demonstrate how
to call him: SSSid the
SSSilly
SSSlow SSSloth.
Altogether, call him three times in
a row. Call him again, and this time break the /s/ off each word:
/s/id
the /s/illy /s/low /s/loth."
4. (Have students take
out primary paper and pencil.) "We
can use the letter s to spell
/s/. As I write on the board, I want you to write on your
paper. Start up high and begin to make a c, when you get to the middle line,
loop back around with a tail. Let me look at your s. When I give you a picture
of that means you are ready to make nine more Sid the Silly
Slow Sloths's the same
way. When you
see the letter s alone in a
word, it is time to say /s/."
5. "Raise your hand
when you can tell me the answer: Do you hear
/s/ in sock or rock? Ham or Sam? So or no? Sit or hit? Lick or sick? Get out your pictures
of Sid
the Silly Slow Sloth.
When you see the mouth move /s/ in words, hold up your picture of Sid the Silly
Slow Sloth.
(Say words one at a time.) When
Sid the Silly Slow Sloth went to town to shop, he stopped to act silly
in the street."
6. Read "Slowly,
Slowly,
Slowly," said the Sloth
by Eric Carle and talk about the
story. Read it again, and have the students hold up their
pictures of Sid the Silly
Slow Sloth
when they hear words with /s/. Make a word wall with their
words. (Pass out drawing paper and crayons.) Using invented
spelling, each student should write about his or her favorite animal
from the story. After they illustrate, let them share and display
their work in the room.
7. For assessment, pass
out the worksheet. "Listen as I say
all of the words at the top of the page; circle the words that have /s/
in them."
References:
Adams, Marilyn Jager.
(1990). Beginning
to Read: Thinking and
Learning about Print.
Center for the Study of Reading.
Bice, Bethany. "The
Slimy, Scaly, Slithering Snake." Auburn
University. 2003. http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/discov/biceel.html
Carle, Eric.
(2002). "Slowly,
Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/twentieth_century_fox/ice_age/iceage14.jpg
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