Always
Zip Your Zipper.
Emergent
Literacy Lesson
Design
Rationale
Learning to
read and write all depends on cracking the
alphabetic code and become phonologically aware. Students
must understand that these strange
symbols are actual meaningful letters that tell us something. The goal for this lesson is for students
to
successfully identify the grapheme 'z'
and its associated phoneme. Students
will 1, learn to recognize the phoneme /z/ in spoken words by learning
a
meaningful representation (zipping a zipper).
2, Learn to identify the grapheme z
in written words by practicing finding the z
in given written words. And 3, students
will apply phonological awareness by adding the grapheme z
to the beginning of a word and pronouncing the word.
Materials
Picture of a
zipper with embedded z and tongue tickler “Zipper Zed
Zoomed to the Zoo.”
Primary paper
and pencil
Word cards
(step 5): buzz, school, PIZZA, sit, prize, HAPPY,
win, ZIT, zigzag
Word cards
(step 6): (z)oom,
(z)oo, (z)ebra, (z)ap, (z)ero, (z)ipper,
(z)innia,
and (z)one.
The Alphabet
from A to Y With Bonus Letter Z!
by: Steve Martin.
New York, New York. Doubleday. 2007.
Assessment
worksheet (URL provided below)
Procedures
Say: "The
alphabet is a tricky code that tells us what letter stand for. The different letters tell us how to move our
mouth. Today, we are going to work on
recognizing the letter z and how our
mouth moves when we say zzzz. The letter
z sounds like we are zipping up our
zipper."
Say: "Let's
pretend to zip up our zipper. Ready?
/z/ /z/ /z/. Very good. Did you notice that when we make the /z/ sound
that our teeth touch? Lets try it again
and make sure we make our teeth touch.
Ready? /z/ /z/ /z/. Awesome! Let's see if we can find the /z/ sound in the
word buzz. Hmm, if I say
it slow like b-b-b-u-u-u-z-z-z-z-z, I feel my teeth
touch at the end of the word. So the z must be at the end. Now
you try it. Do you hear /z/ in jazz?"
Say: "Okay,
look at this picture. What is it a picture
of? That's right, a zipper.
I have a fun tongue tickler I want you to
remember. Zipper Zed Zoomed to the
Zoo. Can you say that with me? Okay, try it by yourself.
Now we are going to see if we can tell which
of the words has the /z/ sound.
Remember, the /z/ sound makes us touch our teeth together like
we're
zipping our zipper. Lets say each word
slowly. If you hear the /z/ sound, I
want you to pretend that you're zipping your zipper.
If you don't hear the /z/ sound, I just want
you to be still. Now I want you to say
the /z/ sound then the rest of the word.
For example I would say /z/ ipper for the word zipper."
Say: "Now
that we know what sound z makes, lets practice writing
a z. I'm going to show
you,
then I want you to try. For a capital z,
we start at the rooftop and make a seven and then go back.
Let me see you make a row of capital z's.
To make a lowercase z, we start at the fence and make a seven
and then
go back. Let me see you make a row of
lowercase z's."
Say: "Let's
practice recognizing z's in a
word. I'm going to show you a word. If it has a z in it, I want
you to pretend to zip your zipper." Show
the student cards 1 at a time. Words will
be: buzz, school, PIZZA, sit,
prize, HAPPY, win, ZIT, zigzag.
Say: "I'm going
to show you part of a word and say it. I
want you to add a z to the beginning
of it and tell me what the word will be. For
example, if I show you oom, and say /oom/ I want you
to write oom on your paper, then add a z
to the front of oom so it looks like zoom
and then say /zoom/." Words will be
(z)oom, (z)oo, (z)ebra, (z)ap, (z)ero,
(z)innia,
(z)ipper, and (z)one. Make
sure students know what a zinnia is.
For
assessment, have students complete worksheet (the URL is
provided below). Students are to
copy
the word in the space provided and circle the z's.
In the last box, they will think of a word
that starts with 'z', draw it, and write it using invented spelling. Then the students will individually read
their words to the teacher, zipping their zipper each time they hear
the /z/
sound.
References
Rachel Williams, My Munching
Mouth http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/breakthroughs/rwilliamsel.html
Assessment
worksheet: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/abc/little/z/
The Alphabet from A to Y With Bonus Letter Z! by: Steve Martin. New York, New York. Doubleday. 2007.