BBBBear and DDDDogs All Around!

dog
Grace Jensen
Emergent Literacy



Rationale: A child needs to be able to recognize all letters and their phonemes instantly.  Lowercase b and d look very similar, and many children have a hard time distinguishing which letter is which.  This lesson focuses on helping children recognize the correct letter, the characteristics that make each letter distinctive and the phoneme that it makes.

Materials:
1. The Bernstein Bears in the Dark, by Stan and Jan Bernstein.  Random House c1992
2. Yellow flash cards with the letter b on them
3. Green flash cards with the letter d on them
4.Pictures with things that start with b and d
        ~B: Bears, bugs, baby, bubbles, bags
        ~D: Dogs, door, doughnut, desk, dress
5.    Writing paper
6.    Pencils
    
Procedures
1.    We will first begin talking about the letter b.  I will hold up a yellow card with the letter b and ask the students if they know what letter I am holding.  After we discuss that it is the letter b I will ask if anyone knows what sounds the letter b makes, and when they get it, I will say, "Very good knowing that the letter b makes the /b/ sound.  Let's all do that together three times.  /b/ /b/ /b/."   Next, I will ask them if they can think of anything that starts with the letter b.   "Yes! Bugs start with the letter b!"  Then I will show them the different pictures with the items that start with b and we will discuss the sound we hear at the beginning of each word.  "Bears.  Let's say that sound at the beginning of bears- /b/. Great and what letter is that?"

2.    After they have learned the letter b we will work with the letter d.  I will hold up the green card with the letter d and discuss how sometimes, it is easy to confuse it with the letter b.  I will ask them if any of them can tell me what sound the letter d makes.   "Sometimes the letters b and d can be a little confusing.  Can anyone tell me what sounds the letter d makes? Great job! The letter d makes the /d/ sound. Let's all say that together three times. /d/ /d/ /d/."  Then I will ask if they can tell me something that starts with the letter d.  Then I will show them the pictures of the items that start with the letter d and we will discuss the sounds that we hear at the beginning of the word.   "Doughnut! Great! What sound do you hear at the beginning of doughnut?"

3.    After we have discussed b and d and their differing sounds, I want to make sure they can distinguish the differences between the two letters.  We will work with phoneme recognition to make sure they can see the differences.  The student will hold up either the yellow card with the b or the green card with the d depending on what sound they hear.
a.    Do you hear /b/ in bat or dad?
b.    Do you hear /b/ in bear or dare?
c.    Do you hear /b/ in bat or date?
d.    DO you hear /d/ in dog or bin?
e.    Do you hear /d/ in dragon or basket?
f.    Do you her /d/ in dream or blame?

4.    Next, we will work with writing our b's and d's.  "To write your b I want you to start at the rooftop and come all the way down to the sidewalk.  Then, bounce up to the fence and around" (I need to demonstrate on the board).  "Next, we will work with the letter d.  I want you to write your little c and then connect a line from the rooftop all the way down to the sidewalk" (Also, demonstrate this on the board).

5.    "Now we are going to do some really fun (and maybe hard to say) tongue twisters!! I am going to say it first while you just listen to what I say.  Then you repeat after me.  A box of biscuits, a batch of mixed biscuits.  Great Job! Now let's do another one.  Double bubble gum, bubbles double.  Did everyone hear their /b/ and /d/ sounds?"

6.    We will read the book The Bernstein Bears in the Dark.  The students will use their cards again for this part.  Throughout the book, I will stop and ask if a certain word has the /d/ sound or the /b/ sound.  "Does boom start with b or d? Great! And is that the /b/ or /d/ sound?"

Assessment: I will assess the students throughout the lesson by noting their participation in the tongue twisters, the practice writing of b and d, and other activities that we do.  It will be important for me to also note their ability to correctly write and read b and d, and not confuse one for the other.

Reference:
1.    Megan Powell. Butterflies and Dragonflies. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/voyages/powellel.html.
2.    Andrea Shelton. Bubbling B and Doodling D. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/encounters/sheltonel.html.
3.    Murray, Bruce. Teaching Letter Recognition. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/letters.html.
4.    Berenstain, Stan and Jan. The Berenstain Bears In the Dark. New York: Random House, 1982. 30 pp.

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