Chicka Chicka Boom Boom ABC’s

Rationale: To learn to read and spell words, children need to be able to recognize each letter and the sound that each letter makes. This lesson will help the children identify the sound that each letter makes. They will be able to match the beginning sounds of words to the corresponding letter.

Materials: book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Written by: Bill Martin, Jr. &John Archambault, Illus. by Lois Ehlert. Simon & Schuster Inc., New York, 1989.
       Letters (upper case B and R made out of felt)
       Picture Cards (bat, bone, ball, rabbit, ring, and rug)
       Picture page (with pictures of a bell, rake, bug, rainbow, rat)
       Pencils
      “Boom Board”- A felt display board with a coconut tree on it. There will be a letter on each side of the coconut tree. This display will be used to sort the picture cards according to the beginning sounds under the corresponding letter.

Procedures: 1.  Introduce the lesson by explaining that each letter of the alphabet makes its very own sound. We hear this sound when we say the letter.
2. Let’s say the alphabet together.
3. Now I am going to read a book about when all the letters of the alphabet climbed a coconut tree. Read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
4. Show the letter B. Let the students say the name of the letter. That’s right, this is the letter B. The sound that it makes is /b/. Say /b/. We can hear /b/ at the beginning of some words like bear and boy. Can you hear /b/ in the beginning of band or singer?
5. Now show the letter R. Let students name the letter. This is a R. The sound that it makes is /r/. Say /r/.  We can hear /r/ in the beginning of words like rainbow and rags. Can you hear /r/ in rusty or clean?
6. Put up “Boom Board”. Place the letter B on one side of the coconut tree and the letter R on the other. Ask students to say each letter and its sound together.
7. Hold up a picture card. I have a picture of a bat. I hear /b/ at the beginning, so I am going to put it on the same side of the letter B because B makes the /b/ sound. Hold up each card and let the students decide if the letter B or R makes the beginning sound.
8. For assessment, distribute a picture page and help students name each picture. Ask students circle the letter B or R according to the beginning sound the word makes.
9. Other letters could be introduced.

Resources:
 Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton. & Johnston, F. (1999). Words Their Way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill. (p124)  http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/curry/centers/pal/Pals%20web/3ccbbs.html

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