LESSON DESIGNS

Slither like a Sneaky Snake with S

Emergent Literacy Design

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 (slither like a sneaky 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.  

 

Materials: 

• Primary paper and a pencil

• Chart with “Slither like a Sneaky Snake through the Sand” 

• Drawing paper and crayons

• Dr. Seuss's ABC(Random House, 1963)

• Word cards with SAT, SNAP, SNAIL, SONG, CART, and STAR

• Assessment worksheet completing words with /s/ and coloring pictures (URL below).

• 10 item phonetic-cue reading assessment worksheet

 

Procedures:

1. Say: Our written language is a secret code. The tricky part is learning what letters stand for—the mouth moves we make as we say words. Today we're going to work on spotting the mouth move /s/. We spell /s/ with letter S.Slooks like a slithering snake, and /s/ sounds like a snake when they say “ssss.” We also have a hand motion we can use to help us remember S. Use one of your hands and make it slither like a snake while saying “ssss.”

 

2. We are going to practice how to make the /s/ sound. Notice where your tongue, lips, and teeth are when you say /s/. Your teeth are together and your tongue is pressed against the back of your teeth. You can feel the air going in between your teeth. 

 

3. Let me show you how to find /s/ in the word grass. I'm going to stretch .” Ggg-raa-aa-sss. Slower: Ggg-rra-aa-a-ssss. There it was! I felt my teeth come together and my tongue press against my teeth. grassout in super slow motion and listen for the snake sound “ssss

 

ssssssneakyLet's try a tongue tickler [on chart]. (Read) Tickler Tale: There once was a sneaky snake named Sally. Sally loved to slither around in the sand. She would do this every single day without anyone seeing her. Sally was one sneaky snake. (Say): Now let's say the tongue tickler. I will say it once and then let’s say it together.“Slither like a sneaky snake through the sand.” Let’s say it one more time. “Slither like a sneaky snake through the sand.”Now let’s break it down and stretch out the /s/ sound it each word. “Ssssslither like a 4.sssssnake through the ssssand.” Now let’s find the /s/ sound in each word “/S/lither like a /s/neaky /s/nake through the /s/and.

 

5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. We use letter Sto spell /s/. Capital S looks like a snake. Let's write the lowercase letters.Start just below the rooftop. Start to make a little c, then make a backwards little c all the way down to the sidewalk. I want to see everybody's s. After I put a smile on it, I want you to make nine more just like it.

 

6. Say: Let's see if you can spot the mouth movement of /s/ in some words. Slither like a snake and say “ off?pat or sat6. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: Do you hear /s/ in ssss” if you hear /s/.cupor stop? sand or black? dressor

 

7. Say: "Let's look at an alphabet book. Dr. Seuss tells us about a little boy named Sammy who is thirsty! What yummy drink is Sammy drinking? We’ll have to keep reading to find out” Read the page with letter S, drawing out /s/. The book says “Sammy’s sipping soda pop.” Say: “Let’s reread that sentence but be slithering snakes when we read it this time. Pull out your slithering snake hands and sounds and get ready to read! Sssssammy’s ssssssipping sssssoda pop.” (while reading drag out the “s” sound and make a slithering snake motion with your hand to help students remember)

 

8. Show SAT and model how to decide if it is  tells me to slither and sound like a snake “ssss”, /s/, so this word issss-at, sat. You try some: SNAIL: snail or mail? SONG: song or long? STAR: star or car? CART: cart or part? SNAP: snap or map?sator mat: TheS

 

9. To assess the students on the sound /s/ and the letter S, I will give them a work sheet. The students will color each picture and have to complete the word by writing S in the beginning of the word. I will walk around to see if anyone needs any help. Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8 and a 10-item phonetic-cue reading test.

 

 

References: 

Dr. Seuss, ABC BOOK

Courtney Walker: The Slithering "S" https://courtneyslessondesigns.weebly.com/emergent-literacy.html

 

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

 

 

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Email me: tnh0015@auburn.edu