Freddy’s Feet

Emergent Literacy Design

Jacklyn Schuler

Rationale: 

v     To learn to read and spell words, children need the alphabetic insight that letters stand for phonemes and spellings map out the phonemes in spoken words. 

Materials: 

v     Chart paper

v     Cards of the letter f

v     Four Fur Feet by Margaret Wise Brown

v     Worksheet with pictures

v     Letter f to display

Procedures:

v     Introduce the lesson by explaining to the students that our language is a secret code.  " HAVE YOU EVER SEEN AND ANGRY CAT?  WHAT KIND OF SOUND DOES AN ANGRY CAT MAKE?"  Have the students raise their hands and give their answer.

v     Hold up a lowercase f that has been cut out of using the dye cutter.  "TODAY, WE ARE GOING TO LEARN ABOUT THE LETTER F.  THE LETTER F MAKES THE SAME SOUND THAT AN ANGRY CAT MAKES.  TO SAY THE LETTER F, PUT YOUR TOP TEETH AGAINST YOUR BOTTOM LIP, AND BLOW.  NOW LET’S ALL TRY TO MAKE THE SOUND THAT THE LETTER F MAKES.  WHEN YOU MAKE THE SOUND, PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND PRETEND THAT YOU ARE SCRATCHING AT SOMETHING LIKE AN ANGRY CAT WOULD DO. "

v     Write a tongue twister on chart paper.  "NOW I’M GOING TO SAY THE TONGUE TWISTER “FREDDY’S FOUR FURRY FEET ARE FREEZING.”  NOW I WANT YOU TO SAY IT WITH ME.  LET’S SAY IT AGAIN.  OKAY THIS TIME LET’S STRETCH THE /f/ SOUND AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH WORD:  “FFFREDDY’S FFFOUR FFFURY FFFEET ARE FFFREEZING.”  THIS TIME WE ARE GOING TO SAY THE /f/ SOUND BY ITSELF AND THEN SAY THE REST OF THE WORD.  READY?  HERE WE GO…”/f/  REDDY’S /f/  OUR /f/  URRY /f/  EET ARE /f/  REEZING. “

v     "WE USE THE LETTER F TO SPELL /f/. Have the students take out a sheet of primary paper.  NOW TO MAKE THE LETTER f         START TO MAKE A LITTLE C AT THE TOP OF YOUR PAPER.  COME STRAIGHT DOWN AND TOUCH THE SIDEWALK.  CROSS YOUR f AT THE FENCE.  AFTER I GIVE YOU A SMILY FACE ON YOUR LETTER f, I WANT YOU TO MAKE TEN MORE JUST LIKE IT. "

v     "LET ME SHOW YOU HOW TO FIND THE /f/ IN FEET.  IM GOING TO SAY THE WORD IN SLOW MOTION.  F-E-E-T.  F-F-F-F, THERE IT IS, I FOUND IT! "

v     Call on students to answer and tell how they knew:  "DO YOU HEAR /f/ IN FRANK OR IN BANK?  IN KIND OR IN FIND?  IN DAD OR IN FAD?  IN FAT OR IN CAT?  Pass out a card with the letter f on it to each student.  SCRATCH LIKE THE ANGRY CAT WHEN YOU HEAR /f/.  FREDDY’S FOUR FURRY FEET ARE FREEZING. "

v     Read Four Fur Feet by Margaret Wise Brown.  Talk about the story.  Read it again and have the students raise their letter cards when they hear /f/.  Write the student’s words on the board.  Have the students trace their feet onto a sheet of paper and write a message about them using invented spelling.  Display their work.

v     For assessment, distribute the picture page and help students name each picture.  Ask each student to circle the pictures whose names have /f/.

Resources:  
    Brown, Margarte Wise.  Four Fur Feet.  Hyperion Books for Children.   1994. New York.

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