Reading Lessons
Slithering Snake with S
Advancement Index: http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/classroom/advancements/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
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Rationale: This lesson will help children identify /s/, the phoneme represented by S. The student will learn to recognize /s/ spoken in words by learning a sound analogy (hissing snake) and a tongue twister. The student will be able to identify the letter symbol S, find /s/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /s/ in phonetic cue reading.
Materials:
Primary paper and pencils
Chart with “Sally skates swiftly by the sparkling sea”
Cards with the words: SUN, KITE, SHARK, BALL, STOP, and SPEED
Book: You are (Not) Small
Sailboat worksheet and markers
Procedures:
1. Say: Our written language is a secret code. The hard part is learning what letters stand for. We have to learn how to move our mouths to make each sound. Today we are going to work on recognizing the mouth move for the sound /s/. The letter for /s/ is S. The /s/ sounds like a hissing snake and the letter S looks like a snake too.
2. Now lets use our hands to act like a slithering snake while saying /s/ /s/ /s/. Pay attention to what our mouth is doing when our snake moves. Our lips are spread slightly apart and our top and bottom teeth have a small gap between them. Our tongue is almost pressed against the back of our teeth while we blow air through our teeth.
3. Say: Let me show you how to find /s/ in the word vase. We are going to go slowly so that we can hear the hissing snake in /s/. vvv-aaa-sss-eee. Did you hear the snake? Slower: vvvvv-aaaaa-sssss-eeeee. That’s it! We can feel our teeth and tongue make the /s/ sound when we blow out air.
4. Say: Let’s try a funny sounding sentence called a tongue twister. I’ll say it first and then you repeat what I say. Whenever you hear /s/ show me your hands slithering like a snake. “Sssally ssskates ssswiftly by the sssparkling sssea.” This time try breaking off the /s/ sound off of the word. Like this /s/all /s/kates /s/wiftly by the /sparking /s/ea.
5. *Pass out pencils and primary paper while explaining that the letter s spells /s/. Remember, S looks like our snake. Let’s practice writing the capital letter S. We are going to start with its head at the rooftop of our line, then curve its body to the left making a sideways hump. Now we are going to keep moving down and make another hump but turned the opposite way, ending with its tail at the sidewalk. You try it! Now we are going to write a lowercase s. We do the same thing, except this time we start the head of the snake at the fence and go down to the side walk. Give it a try! Now write them both four more times.
6. Now we are going to play a little game. In this game I want you to listen for the /s/ sound in 2 words and try to figure out which one has the letter S. Do you hear /s/ in sand or band? Miss or mitt? Sock or rock? Great job. Now slither your snake if you see the letter S in a word. *Hold up word cards: SUN, KITE, SHARK, BALL, STOP, and SPEED.
7. Give a book talk for You are (Not) Small. A purple monster looks at the orange monster and says that he is big. The orange monster tells the purple one that he is small. They argue who is big or who is small. Will the two monsters figure out who is right and who is wrong? Read with me to find out. Whenever you hear me read the /s/ sound move your hands like a slithering snake.
8. Show SAD and model how to decide if it is sad or mad: the S reminds me of the slithering snake so I know that letter sounds like /s/ which means that that word is sad. You try some more. SET: set or bet? SAIL: sail or pail? SACK: sack or whack? SHARK: shark or park?
9. Assessment: Pass out the worksheet. Students should draw a line from the sailboats to the items that begin with the letter S. When they have finished that the students should color the items that start with the letter S. Call students over one at a time to read the phonics cue words in step 8.
Sources:
Reference: Ashley Kirkland. The Silly Slithering Snake. https://abk0020.wixsite.com/reading/emergent-literacy
Book: You are (Not) Small by Anna Kang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoGSu7kS7f0
Worksheet: https://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/s-begins1.htm
