Vicky
the Vulture Vacuums Vans
Emergent
Literacy
By: Lauren Keasal
Rationale:
The
purpose of this lesson will be
to help students learn to identify the phoneme /v/, represented by the
letter "V".
It is important for students to, "…become aware of the sounds of
language, to enjoy those sounds, and to use this knowledge as a tool in
becoming literate" (Pinnell & Fountas, 1998, pp.3) They will learn
to
recognize /v/ in spoken words by learning the sound, a physical
representation
of the sound (driving a go cart) and looking at a picture. Each of
these will
help the students find /v/ in various words and will help the children
distinguish this sound through their reading at the end of the lesson.
Materials:
Primary paper, pencils, chart with "Vicky the Vulture Vacuums Vans",
chalkboard, chalk, eraser, drawing paper, crayons, Violet's Music (Dial
Books for Young Readers, 2004), and word cards with: VAT, VALLEY,
MANILA, VASE,
MAIL, and VOTE.
Procedure:
1. Begin the lesson by explaining that it is important to understand
that
letters correspond to specific sounds. Explain that by understanding
this, it
helps us learn to read and communicate with others. Today we will
learn how
to spot the mouth move /v/ in words. At first you might not be able to
hear it
but after we learn how to listen for it you will be able to. We spell
/v/ with
the letter "V".
2. Let's
pretend to drive a go
cart, /v/, /v/, /v/. (Mimic driving a go cart by moving your hands
like
they are on a steering wheel) Can you feel where your teeth are?
They touch
your bottom lip and then let go. When we say /v/, we touch our
teeth to our
bottom lip and then when our teeth let go air comes out.
3.
Let me show you how to find /v/
in the word have. I will stretch have out in slow
motion, make
sure to listen for /v/ sound. Hhh-a-a-ve. Now slower: Hhhh-a-a-a-vvvve.
I can
feel the go-cart /v/ in have.
4. Here let's practice a tongue twister (on the chart). "Vicky the
Vulture
Vacuums Vans". Everybody let's repeat it together 3 times. Now let's
stretch out the /v/ sound in the tongue twister. "Vvvicky the
Vvvulture Vvvacuums Vvvans". Now let's try it again and this time
separate
the /v/ sound off of the beginning of the word. "/v/ icky the /v/
ulture /v/ acuums /v/ ans".
5.
Now we will take out the primary
paper and pencils to practice writing the letter "V". I will
model to the students how to write a uppercase and lowercase "V"
on the chalkboard. We use the letter "V" to spell the sound /v/.
First we will practice writing the letter "V" first as an uppercase
letter. Start at the rooftop then down to the sidewalk and back up to
the
rooftop. Next we will practice writing a lowercase letter "v". To
write this letter, start at the fence and trace down to the sidewalk
and back
up to the fence. Raise your hand after you finish one of each and I
will come
put a check next to it. The class will then write both upper and lower
case "V"
about 7 times unless more times are necessary. Each student will then
pick and
circle his or her best uppercase and lowercase letter.
6.
Next, call on the students to
answer the following questions and tell them to explain their answer:
Do you
hear /v/ in violin or trumpet? vest or coat ? veggies
or fruits? van or car? vine or branch?
Say: See if
you can spot the mouth move /v/ in the following words. Make sure to
drive the
go-cart if you hear /v/: very, happy, whale, save, flew, pumpkin,
village,
pick, live.
7.
Read "Violet's Music"
by Angela Johnson. Every time they hear the /v/ sound have the students
pretend
to drive the go-cart. Say: Ever since Violet was a baby she only
wanted to
play music. When she goes to kindergarten she sees that everyone is
involved in
different activities, but none of her friends love music like she does.
She
really wants to play an instrument but she is too young. We will have
to read
to see if she ever learns how to play an instrument!
8.
Show VAT on the chalk board. Then
model how to decide if it is vat or hat: The "V"
tells me to drive my go-cart, /v/, so this word is vvv-at,
vat. Now I will
let you all try some words. You try some: VALLEY: sally or valley?
MANILA:
vanilla or manila? VASE: vase or base? MAIL: mail or veil? VOTE: vote
or mote?
9. Say: Now we are going to make a class book. Everyone needs to
come up with
a sentence that has at least one word that starts with "V", /v/.
After you finish writing your sentence raise your hand and I will come
around
look at what you wrote. When I give you a check mark I will give you a
piece of
paper where you will write your sentence again. Then you will draw a
picture
that shows what you said in your sentence. After everyone is done
you
should laminate the book, punch holes in it and string a piece of yarn
through
each hole to keep the book from falling apart. Finally, call each of
the
students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step 8.
References:
Pinnell,
G.S., and Fountas, I. Word
Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in the Reading/Writing
Classroom.
Portsmouth, NH. Heinemann. 1998. pp.79, 306.
Johnson,
Angela. Violet's Music.
New York. Dial Books for Young Readers. 2004. pp. 1-32.
Murray,
Bruce. "Brush Your
Teeth with F: Emergent Literacy". http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/sightings/murrayel.html
Harris,
Katherine. "Penelope,
the Precious Pig: Emergent Literacy". http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/voyages/harrisel.html