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Snake

Emergent Literacy design:

/s/ Sssslither Like a Snake 

By: Laney Powell 

 

Rationale: This lesson will help children recognize /s/ and learn the graphemic representation

of the phoneme spelled with the letter s. Students will recognize /s/ in spoken words after

they learn a sound analogy /s/ /s/ /s/ the sound a snake makes and will use their hands together to slither like a snake when hearing the sound! They’ll listen and practice saying /s/ in a tongue tickler, recognize it in spoken words, and then use the letter s as a signal to decide if it’s in a written word. They will also listen for the sound in a short story and learn to write it on primary paper.

 

Materials: A short video of the letter S sound with a snake moving. Primary paper and pencil. Poster with the tongue tickler “Sally Saw Sam Sledding in Snow.” Phonic cue word cards: SIDE, MAD, SING, FUN, SOCK, SLOW. Eric Carle “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly” said the Sloth (World of Eric Carle, 2007) Crayons and coloring sheet. 

 

Procedures: 

  1. Explain: English can be a difficult language to learn so we have to learn the special code that will help us learn to read! Today we are going to learn the letter S and how our mouth moves to make this sound. We're also going to learn how to spot /s/ in spoken and written words. 

  2. Review: The letter S makes the sound /s/, is shaped like a snake, and makes the sound a snake makes when they slither. (Now show the short video of the snake). Write the letter S on the poster board. 

  3. Model: To find /s/ in a word, we must think about what our mouths are doing to make this sound. Let's pretend we are all snakes slithering to find food. (Model movement of a snake using hands together moving up and down in an S motion). Notice that our teeth are together and air is being pushed through our teeth! When we say /s/ the air moves through our teeth to make this sound without us using our voice! Let me show you how to find /s/ in the word pets. First we're going to stretch the word out (make the movement of stretching something sticky horizontally) and listen for our snake. Pp-e-t-sss. Can anyone hear the snake? Let’s say it slower- Ppp-e-e-ttt-sss. It's at the end! I can feel my teeth together and the air blowing through. Snake /s/ is in pets! 

  4. Oral Practice: Now let's look at a tongue tickler and listen for the sound /s/ as I tell the story. One winter morning, Sally sprung out of bed to see if snow had fallen. To her surprise, a snow storm had come during the night! Sally put on her socks and shoes and ran outside to meet her friend Sam. Sam beat Sally to the snow! Sally Saw Sam Sledding in Snow! Let's all say the tongue twister together and when you hear  /s/ make a snake with your arms: Sally Saw Sam Sledding in Snow. Now let's say it again but this time let the snake slither a bit longer!: SSSally SSaw SSam SSSledding in SSSnow. 

  5. Listening Practice: Now that we can make the /s/ sound, lets practice finding it in words! Listen to the words I say, and make our snake shape if you hear /s/. Do you hear /s/ in Sun or Fun? What about in Sack or Pack? Pick or Sick? 

  6. Writing Practice: Give each student a piece of primary paper and a pencil. Model how to write S on the board, starting just below the rooftop, making a C shape stopping at the fence, and making a backwards c from the fence down to the sidewalk. I want to see everyones S! I'm going to come around looking at everyone’s S and once I put a sticker on your paper I want you to make five more! 

  7. Phonics cue cards: Now that we can hear /s/ and write the letter S lets try some reading! On the cards I will show you I want you to look for the letter S and listen for the sound /s/. (model this first with the card SIDE. Is this word side or ride? Lets stretch it out {make the same movement as stated in #3}! SSS-iii-ddd-e-e. I hear the snake! So this word is Ssside!) NOw you try some! Is this word MAD: mad or sad? SING: ring or sing? FUN: sun or fun? SOCK: sock or rock? SLOW: fast or slow? 

  8. Connect phoneme with a book: Let's look at a book that uses /s/. I am going to read “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly” said the Sloth by Eric Carle. Have you ever had someone rush you to get ready or maybe eat breakfast? The sloth knows exactly how you feel. All of the forest animals are always asking the sloth why they move so slow and why they are never in a hurry. Let's listen to the story and see why the sloth loves to take things slow! (read the story) Now, let's read the story again and every time you hear /s/ I want you to very quietly make the sound /s/ and slither like a snake! 

  9. Assessment: (pass out coloring sheets of different pictures of items that start with s or do not. Using this sheet, determine if the students are grasping the phoneme /s/ based on which pictures are colored)  Now that we have learned how to write the letter S, listen to the letter S, and find /s/ in words I want you to look at this sheet and find all the pictures that make the /s/ sound and color them in with your favorite colors! I also want you to Write the letter S next to each picture that makes the /s/ sound. 

 

Reference:

Carle, Eric “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly” said the Sloth https://tufnellpark.islington.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Slowly-Slowly.pdf 

Buckles, Natilie “Seven Silly Seahorses” https://ngb0012.wixsite.com/w-ebsite/blank-page 

Murray, G Reading Genie Website “Tongue Ticklers for Practicing Phoneme Awareness” http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/materials/ticklers/ 

Assessment Worksheet https://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/s-begins2.htm 

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