Rationale: In order to learn to read and spell words, children must be able to dissect the sounds of individual phonemes.  However, these phonemes are thoroughly blended within the syllable (Adams 54).  It is especially difficult for beginning readers to recognize consonants at the end of words than the beginning (Adams 56).  This lesson will help beginning readers identify /s/ at the beginning and end of words by learning a meaningful representation and then practice finding /s/ in words.

Materials:

-  Silly Sally by Audrey Wood

- Picture page with bus, snake, kiss, sun, vase, sidewalk, house, scissors

- Pencil

- Crayons

Procedures:

1. Introduce the lesson by explaining to the children that they are going to learn a new mouth move.  ãToday we are going to learn a new mouth move /s/. You can make this mouth move by relaxing your tongue at the bottom of your mouth and closing your teeth together, not biting down, and blowing air out your mouth.ä

2. Ask students: Do you know what sound a snake makes?  Letâs make the snake sound together. [when you say /s/, model for students the hand gesture by striking down two fingers for the fangs of a snake].  Letâs pretend to hiss like a snake when we make the sound.  Everyone make the snake fangs while saying /s/ sound. 

3. Now, letâs say a silly sentence together: ãSilly Sally spies the sneaky snake swimming in the swamp.ä  When we say ãSilly Sally spies the sneaky snake swimming in the swampä we start with /s/.   Letâs say it one more time but this time stretch out the /s/ at the beginning of the words: ãSssilly Sssally ssspies the sssneaky sssnake ssswimming in the ssswamp.ä  Not letâs try another one: ãGross Gus makes a mess on the bus.ä  When we say ãGross Gus makes a mess on the busä we stop with /s/.  Letâs say it one more time, but this time stretch out /s/ at the end of the words. ãGrosss Gusss makesss a messs on the busss.ä 

4. Now Iâm going to say a word and you repeat it after me: slimy.  Do you hear /s/ at the beginning or the end of slimy?  Letâs say it one more time to make sure: ssslimy.  Okay letâs try some more.  How about the word: class.  Letâs say it together: class.  Do you hear /s/ at the beginning or the end of class.  Letâs say it one more time to make sure: classss. 

5. Divide the students into two groups. Explain the practice activity to the students: Iâm going to read you some words and I want you to tell me if /s/ comes at the beginning or the end of the words.  Group 1 you raise your hands if you hear /s/ at the beginning of the word, like in sssslimy.  Group 2 you raise your hands if you hear /s/ at the end of the words, like in classss.  Give words (sail, press, toss, sit, skip, miss) to students one at a time and always have the students repeat the word to double check where /s/ is in the word.

6. Read the story Silly Sally by Audrey Wood to the students.  Talk about the story.  Read it again and have the students make say /s/ and make their hand gesture every time they hear /s/.

7. For assessment, give each student a picture page and help students name each picture.  Ask each student to circle the pictures whose names have /s/ at the beginning and color the pictures whose names have /s/ at the end.

References:

Adams, Marilyn Jager (1990). Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print, A Summary by Steven A. Stahl, Jean Osborn, and Fran Lehr, Urbana, IL: Center for the Study of Reading.

"Sammy the Snake." http:www.auburn.edu/rdggenie 

Eldredge, J. Lloyd (1995). Teaching Decoding n Holistic Classrooms.  Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merill.

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