Zippy the Zebra Zooms
Through the Zoo
Emergent Literacy
Lesson Design
Rational: This lesson will help students recognize
the phoneme /z/ which is represented by the grapheme z.
Students will learn to listen for the phoneme /z/ by associating
it with a hand gesture that signifies Zippy the zebra zooming past them.
They will also learn how to write the letter
z.
This lesson will also allow student to learn how to listen for
the sound in spoken words and recognize it in written words.
Materials:
Primary paper
Pencil
Dry erase board or chalkboard
Picture of a cartoon zebra (Zippy)
http://coloringpagesforkids.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/zebra%20coloring%20pages%206.gif
Chart with the tongue tickler "Zippy the Zebra Zooms through the Zoo"
written on it.
Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing
Alphabet Book! Random House,
1996, 24 pp.
Flashcards zoom, zip, and zany
Assessment worksheet with pictures of words that start with
z (zebra, zipper, zoo) on it along
with words that do not start with
z (apple, cat, tree)
Procedure:
1. Say: "Today we
are going to learn about a new letter." Then
write a z on the chalkboard.
"Can anyone tell me what letter this is?"
"That's correct. It's a
Z!"
2. "In order to
listen for our new letter z we are going to meet Zippy
the zebra. Zippy the zebra likes to zoom
through the zoo. For us to show how fast
he runs we are going to point to him as he zips past us, and we are
going to make the /z/ sound."
3. "Watch and
listen to me as I point at Zippy as he zooms through the zoom.
Did you feel how your mouth moves as you
make that sound? Now I want you to try it!"
4. Hold up the
chart with "Zippy the zebra zooms through the zoo."
Read the tongue tickler aloud and draw out every /z/ sound while
doing the hand motion. "Zzzzippy the
zzzzebra zzzzooms through the zzzzoo."
5. Have the class
repeat the phrase and use the hand motion whenever they hear the /z/
sound.
6. Ask the students
if they hear the /z/ sound in sip or
zip,
zany or
rainy,
zoom or
boom,
daze or
dog,
lucky or
lazy.
Remind them to use the hand motion when they are answering.
7. Book talk: "Now
we are going to read the z page in
Dr Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book.
This page has the /z/ sound in it a lot of times, and I want
y'all to listen really closely and see if y'all can hear all of them!"
Read the page through once and draw out the /z/ sound while
using the hand motions. "Now I want y'all
to read it with me and show me Zippy zooming by whenever you hear the
/z/ sound."
8. "Now we are
going to learn how to write the letter z."
Either pass out primary paper or ask student to get a piece of
primary paper and a pencil. First model
how to write an uppercase Z on the board by telling
the students that, "The z zigs across the rooftop,
zags down to the sidewalk, and zooms across the sidewalk to the right." Have the students repeat this saying as they
practice the uppercase
Z with you.
9. Have the
students write 10 uppercase Z's on their own will you
walk around the room and examine their work.
10. Show student
how to write a lower case z by saying it "Zigs across
the fence, zags down to the sidewalk, and zooms across the sidewalk to
the right."
11. Model writing
the lower case z a few times, and then have students
write it 10 times on their own.
12. "Now I am going
to show you a few words, and I am going to ask if it is one of two
words."
Show the words and ask, "Is this
boom or zoom?"
"Is this slip or
zip?" "Is this
zany or
rainy?"
13. To assess what
the students have learned I will pass out a worksheet that has various
pictures on it. Some of the pictures will
start with the letter z, and others will not. I will tell the students that I want them to
color all of the pictures that start with the letter
z.
Reference:
Rauschenberg,
Cabray. "Zipping Through the Zoo with Zebra."
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/rauschenbergel.html
