Rationale:
Phonemic awareness and letter recognition are needed for children who are learning to match phonemes to their letter spellings.  This lesson will teach children that the printed letter o goes with the sound /o/ in words.

Materials:
* chart paper with "On the top is Bob's dog."
* primary paper
* cards with the letter o on them
* the book "Doc in the Fog"
* assorted pictures, some with /o/ in them, some without (examples:dog, cat, frog, leaf, bucket,     mop, log, tree)
* pseudowords:

Procedures:
1.  Introduce the lesson by explaining that reading and writing is like using a secret code: that every letter we see has a certain sound that goes with it.  "Today we are learning the sound that goes with the short letter o.  The short o makes the /o/ sound.  It is kind of like when you go to the doctor and have to open up and say /o/.  Can everyone say the /o/ sound with me? /o/.  Good!  Let's try that one more time.  Okay, what letter tells us to make that mouth move and sound?  Good!!"
2.  "Now lets all say a tongue twister with the /o/ mouth move.  Everyone listen for /o/.  On the top is Bob's dog.  Everyone say it with me.  (Use the chart paper and point to the words) Good, now lets stretch out the /o/ sound when we come to it.  Ooon the toop is Booob's doog.  Good!"
3.  "Now I am going to hand out a worksheet with different pictures on it.  Under the picture the name of the object will be printed.  I want you to look at the picture and read the name of it and then circle the pictures that have /o/ in them and cross out the pictures that don't."
4.  Students will then practice making the lowercase o.  "Begin at the fence, curving down to the sidewalk, and then curve back up to the fence where you began making a circle."  Model it on the board for them to see.  "Good job!!  Now lets try making five more of those on your paper."
5.  Pass out cards with the letter o on them.  "Now we are going to read the story 'Doc in the Fog'.  Every time you hear the mouth move /o/ I want you to hold up your card with the letter o on it."
6.  For assessment give the children pseudowords to say out loud and check for the awareness of /o/.  (Pseudowords: bog, fap, frop, stobs, yain, gleet, proth, rim)

References:

"Doc in the Fog", Educational Insights, 1990
 

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