Rationale:

This lesson will help children identify /s/, the phoneme represented by S. Students will learn to recognize /s/ in spoken words by learning a meaningful representation (slithering like a snake) and the letter symbol S, practice finding /s/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /s/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.

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Materials:

• Primary paper and pencil

• Poster with “Sam says sneaky snakes slither super silently”

• Printer paper and crayons

• Dr. Seuss's ABC (Random House, 1963)

• Word cards with SIT, SEAL, SAIL, SMALL, SNUG, SNOW

• Worksheet identifying pictures with /s/ 

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Procedures:

1. Say: When I was your age, I used to make up secret codes with my friends. We would sometimes write each other letters in our own made up language and laugh because nobody else could understand it. Do you guys ever write in secret code? *wait for response* Well, can I tell you guys a secret? We all write in a secret code.  Our written language is a secret code of its own! The hard part is learning what letters stand for—the way our mouth moves when we say letters and words. Today we're going to work on spotting the mouth move /s/. We spell /s/ with letter S. What do you guys think the letter S looks like? *wait for response* The letter S looks like a slithering snake and S makes the sound /s/, which sounds just like a snake.

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2. Say: Let's pretend to slither like a snake, /s/, /s/, /s/. [Pantomime slithering snake—students will put hands together and move hands back and forth in a way similar to how snakes move] Lets think about what is going on in our mouth when we say /s/. Notice where your teeth are? (point to teeth with slightly open mouth). When we say /s/, our top and bottom teeth are pressed together, and we are blowing air out through them. Where is our tongue? Do you guys feel it near the upper front of our mouth and touching our upper teeth, but ONLY on the sides?

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3. Say: Let me show you how to find /s/ in the word 'desk'. I'm going to stretch the word 'desk' out in super slow motion and listen for my ssssslithering sssssnake. Dd-eeess-k. Slower: Ddd-e-e-e-sssss-k Did you hear it that time? I felt my teeth closed together tightly as I blew air through my teeth! The slithering snake /s/ is in the word desk!

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4. Say: Let's try a tongue tickler (on chart). Sam is a boy knows a lot about snakes, some call him a snake expert. Sam loves to tell people all about these reptiles. Sam always tells people this tongue tickler to help them remember some things about snakes: “Sam says sneaky snakes slither super silently”. Now, let’s all try and say that tickler three times. Great job! Let’s say it again, and this time, we will stretch out the /s/ sound at the beginning of the words. "Sssam sssays sssneaky sssnakes ssslither sssuper sssilently." Try it again, and this time break it off the word: "/S/ am /s/ ays /s/ neaky /s/ nakes /s/ lither /s/ uper /s/ ilently.”

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5. (Have students take out primary paper and pencil). Say: We use letter S to spell /s/. The letter S looks like a snake. Let's try to write the lowercase letter s. Start at the fence and make a little c and then swing a curvy line down and around. I will come around to look at everybody’s slithering snake letter S. If you write it correctly, I will put a star sticker on your paper and then I want you to make nine more just like it. Are you ready to try?

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6. (Call on students to answer) Say: Do you hear /s/ in seat or feet? moon or sun? mask or mat? paper or scissors? hard or soft? Say: Let's see if you can spot the mouth move /s/ in some words. Slither your hands like a snake you hear /s/: star, soccer, dog, spider, snail, sick, spider, cold, summer, kite

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7. Say: Let's look at an alphabet book. Dr. Seuss tells us about a funny boy named Sammy Slick who drinks way too much soda.” Have you ever had too much soda to drink? What do you think happens to Sammy Slick? (Read page 38, drawing out /s/) Ask children if they can think of other words with /s/. Ask them to think of another word that starts with the letter S that Sammy Slick might have drank too much of to make him sick. (Hand out blank printer paper, pencils, and crayons). Tell students to write down what they think Sammy drank too much of and draw a picture. Work will be displayed in hallway.

8. Show 'sun' and model how to decide if it is sun or fun: Say: The S tells me to slither like a snake, /s/, so this word is sss- uun, sun. You try some: SIT: sit or bit? SEAL: feel or seal? SAIL: sail or pale? SMALL: small or ball? SNUG: snug or hug? SNOW: snow or blow?

9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students color the pictures that begin with S. Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8.

 

Reference:

Kirkland, Ashley, "The Silly Slithering Snake with S" https://abk0020.wixsite.com/reading/emergent-literacy

Reading Genie: http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/

Assessment Worksheet: https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics-beginningsounds/letter-s_WFNND.pdf?up=1466611200

Dr. Seuss's ABC Book: Seuss. Dr. Seuss's A B C. Random House, 1991.

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Click here for a link to the Reading Genie's Communication Index.