Ms. Littleton's Lesson Designs 2018
Brooke Littleton
Zebras of the Zoo
Emergent Literacy Lesson Design
Rationale: Today's lesson will help children identify /z/, the phoneme represented by z. The students will learn how to identify /z/ in spoken words through a representation (zebras of the zoo) with the letter symbol Z. The students will practice finding /z/ in different words, and apply phoneme awareness using /z/ in phonetic cue reading through distinguishing words that rhyme from beginning letters.
Materials: Primary paper and pencil: a chart with “Zack the zebra zoomed zig-zag in the zoo”; drawing paper and crayons: Dr. Seuss’s On Beyond Zebra! (Random House, 1955); word cards with ZIP, ZOOM, TAP, HERO and ZERO; assessment worksheet that is identifying pictures of /z/ (URL below).
Procedure:
1. Say: Our special written language is like a secret code. The funky part is learning what letters stand for, our mouth moves as we say words. Today we’re going to work on spotting the mouth move /z/. We spell /z/ with letter Z. Z looks like the top and bottom wood piece on a fence connected to the middle diagonal wood piece on the fence. Z sounds like what you hear when a bumble bee is buzzing.
2. Let’s pretend to gallop like zebras, /z/, /z/, /z/. [Pantomime galloping with the zebras]. When we say /z/ our teeth are touching and our tongue goes to the top of our mouth, and then we blow air through our teeth.
3. Let me show you how to find /z/ in the word maze. I’m going to stretch maze out in super slow motion and listen for the buzzing bumble bee sound. Mmm-a-a-aze. Slower: Mmm-a-a-a-azze. There it was!! I felt my tongue touching the top of my mouth and air blow between my teeth. I can feel the zebra /z/ in faze.
4. Let’s try a tongue twister [on chart]. “Zack the zebra zoomed zig-zag in the zoo.” Let’s all say it four times together. Now say it again, and this time, stretch the /z/ at the beginning of the words in the sentence. “Zzzack the zzzebra zzzoomed zzzig-zzzag in the zzzoo.” Try it once more, and this time break it off the word: “/z/ ack the /z/ ebra /z/ oomed /z/ ig - /z/ ag in the /z/ oo.”
5. [Have student take out primary paper and pencil]. We use the letter Z to spell /z/. Capital Z looks like the top and bottom wood piece on a fence connected to the middle diagonal wood piece on the fence. Let’s now write the lowercase letter z. Begin by starting on the fence and make a line across the fence. Then, cross from the end of the line on the fence to below the start of the line on the sidewalk. Then make a line that goes along the side walk going back in the direction of the point where you crossed earlier. Now, I would like to see everyone’s z. Once I place a sticker on your page, please make five more that look just like it.
6. Call on a student to answer and tell how they knew: Do you hear /z/ in zebra or snake? zap or cat? zipper or color? zoo or too? zest or less? Say: Let’s see if you can spot the mouth move /z/ in some of the words. Gallup like a zebra if you hear /z/: The, fast, zebra, zoomed, through, the, zoo, with, the, other, zesty, animals.
7. Say: “Let’s look at an alphabet book. Dr. Seuss tells us all about a lot of words with /z/.” Read some pages and then draw out /z/. Ask the children if they can think of words with /z/. Ask them to make up a funny animal name that can be part of the zoo like zooma-zelly-zip or zinkle-zeffer-zin. Then I will have each student write out their silly name with invented spelling and draw a picture of their funny animal. Finish off by displaying their work.
8. Show ZIP and model how to decide if it is zip or lip: The Z tells me to gallop like a zebra, /z/, so this word is zzz-ip, zip. You now try some: ZOOM: zoom or broom? TAP: tap or zap? ZERO: hero or zero?
9. For the assignment, I will distribute the worksheet. Students are going to complete the partial spellings and color the pictures that begin with Z. Call students over individually to then read the phonetic cue words from step #8.
References:
Emma Wall, Zip up Your Coat With Z.: https://ecwall2014.wixsite.com/lessondesign/emergent-literacy-design
Example Eldesign: file:///C:/Users/Brooke/Downloads/ExampleELDesign-1.pdf
Tongue Ticklers Reading Genie: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/ticklers.html
Assessment Worksheet: http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/z-begins2.htm
