King George County Schools

Preschool Early Literacy Group Lessons

KGCS PreK Early Literacy Group Lessons • Alphabet Knowledge Alphabet knowledge includes the naming of capital and lower case letter forms as well as awareness of letter sounds in isolation. Students must be able to name the letters without hesitation and recognize letters in common font variations. Knowledge of the alphabet prepares students for reading instruction in kindergarten. Children benefit from proficiency using the terminology of print, including alphabet, letter, word, sentence, capital, upper case, lower case, name and sound. Use these terms frequently and prompt students to use accurate language when speaking about print. For preschool Early Literacy Groups, alphabet knowledge activities will progress through the components below as students demonstrate readiness.

Letter Sounds

Upper Case Letter Naming

Lower Case Letter Naming

Do not stay on a letter until mastery, but progress through the sequence as described in the lesson. Cycle back through the sequence as needed. Assessment of upper case letter recognition is recommended every 3 weeks. Once students know 15 or more upper case letters, repeat the lessons using lower case letters. Once students know 15 or more lower case letters, switch to the letter sounds lesson. Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

Alphabet Knowledge Lesson Alphabet Review (Use for all students.) 1. Sing the ABC song chorally. 2. Name the letters of the alphabet in order one at a time. Use a rhythmic signal to keep students responding chorally and to separate the letter names. Pay particular attention to the tricky parts (l-m-n-o). “Now we will tap the letters slowly. These are the letters that we use to read and write. Ready, (tap) A (tap) B (tap) C…” 3. Name and point to the letters of the alphabet using the alphabet strip visual. “Let’s look at the letters of the alphabet. These are the letters that we use to read and write. There are two shapes for each letter- an upper case (or capital) and a lower case. We will say the ABCs slowly while we point and look at each letter.”

Individual Letter Names (Use for upper- and lower-case students.) 1. Say goodbye to one letter. Give each student the letter that is to be “retired.” Remind them of the letter name, how the letter is formed, and the letter shape. “Remember the letter M. M starts with a tall line down, and then more tall lines, down-up-down. Say goodbye to M and put it in my bag. Make sure you look at the M and use its name.” 2. Introduce the new letter. “This is the letter T. Watch me trace it. I start at the top with a tall line down, and then a line across, like a flat hat! T makes the sound /t/. Its name is T; say its name.” 3. Find the Letter: Give each student the new letter and the other two letters in the sequence to practice letter recognition and naming. “Let’s look at our letters. Remember this is the letter T. Say its name. This is the letter S; say its name. This is the letter R; say its name. When I say a letter name, pick up the letter and say its name again.” Repeat 4-5 times. Ask students to look at each letter and name it as they put them back into the bag. 4. Guess the Letter: Ask each student to close his/her eyes and give them a letter to figure out by feeling the shape of the letter with their fingers. (Don’t worry if students need to “peek” to name the letter. As they gain awareness of letter shapes, this will fade.) Materials individual alphabet strips (fcrr.org); multiple sets of plastic letters, multiple sets of letter cards Corrections It is VERY important that students say the letter names many times in the lesson. If they name a letter incorrectly, state the correct letter name and have the student look at the letter and say the correct name. Sequence for Letter Naming Instruction Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

Move ahead in the sequence of instruction below EACH DAY. Do not be concerned with teaching each group of letters to mastery. Students will cycle through the alphabet using this sequence as needed.

MS, MSR, SRT, RTP, TPC, PCA, CAN, AND, NDG, DGF, GFL, FLH, LHI, HIB, IBK, BKO, KOW, OWX, WXV, XVJ, VJE, JEY, EYQ, YQE, QEZ, EZU Letter Sounds (Use in place of letter naming for students that can name 15 or more lower-case letters.) Practice letter sounds. Give each student letter cards as directed in the sequence of instruction. “We will look at some letters. These two letters are Mm. Point to the Mm. These two letters are Ss. Point to the Ss. The letter Mm makes the sound /m/, like in moon. The letter Ss makes the sound /s/, like in sun. I’m going to say a word, and you will repeat the word on my tap. Then point to the letter that makes the sound at the beginning of the word.” Notes: Modify the prompt by presenting a picture with the target beginning sound in addition to stating the word orally.

M- map, man, mop, mitten, milk

L- lips, log, leg, leaf, lock

S- scissors, six, saw, socks, seal

H- horn, hook, hose, horse, house

R- roof, rabbit, rake, road, rain

B- bug, book, boy, belt, bird

T- towel, tub, tire, tie, two

K- kitchen, kangaroo, kitten, kick, kite

P- pin, pipe, pickle, pan, pail

W- well, worm, wing, window, witch

C- corn, can, cane, cow, candle

V- vest, vase, vacuum, vine, volcano

N- needle, nut, newspaper, nose, nails

J- jeep, jacks, jump, jacket, jar

D-dice, deer, desk, dive, dishes

Y- yoyo, yogurt, yawn, yard, yell

G- gate, gum, gas, goose, goat

Z- zebra, zoo, zipper, zero, zigzag

F- fork, fox, four, fence, fan

Sequence for Letter Sound Instruction MS, MSR, SRT, RTP, TPC, PCN, CND, NDG, DGF, GFL, FLH, LHB, HBK, BKW, KWV, WVJ, VJY, JYZ Pronouncing Letter Sounds Continuous (“stretchy”) sounds should be drawn out for emphasis (/ssssss/). Stop (“quick”) sounds should be pronounced without adding an “uh” at the end. Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

Continuous: m, s, r, n, f, l, h, w, v, y, z, and vowel sounds Stop: t, p, c, d, g, b, k, j Audio clips for pronouncing letter sounds http://www.freereading.net/index.php?title=Most_common_letter_sounds_%28audio_clips%29

Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

KGCS PreK Early Literacy Group Lessons • Phonological Awareness Phonological Awareness is the ability to perceive and manipulate the sound structure of words. It is the foundation on which sound-symbol relationships develop. Proficiency in phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics are a strong predictors of success in learning to read. Children who have difficulty in the area of Phonological Awareness are at risk for reading difficulties. However, there is a large body of research showing the significant positive impact of direct phonological awareness practice. In other words, early intervention in this particular area can reduce the risk of reading problems. For preschool Early Literacy Groups, phonological awareness training will focus on three early areas of development pictured below. Move to the next level when students demonstrate consistent mastery of the target component.

Word Comparison (same/different)

Rhyme Awareness

Syllable Awareness

The lesson activities feature a variety of every-student response techniques. This significantly multiplies the amount of practice in which students are engaged and allows the teacher to observe the performance of each child.

Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

Word Comparison (same/different) Develop awareness of same/different words. “I will say two words. Listen carefully. If I say the same word, turn your smile up. If I say two different words, turn your frown up.” Notes: The first few times that you use this activity, use picture cards to practice same/different words. Once students understand the game and the object, phase out the pictures and focus on the sound discrimination pairs such as the ones below: hit-hid

fan-van

sad-zag

bag-brag

bed-bet

sap-zap

wed-red

cap-camp

kit-cat

big-bag

chop-job

bark-barked

cat-cap

buzz-bus

cap-cup

see-seeing

Materials smiley face/frowny face response chips (one per student), object picture cards

Rhyme Identify rhyming words. Select five rhyming pairs from the photograph/picture cards ahead of time. Remind students, “Words rhyme when the last part of the word sounds the same. Hat and bat rhyme. Hat and pig do not rhyme. If the words that I say rhyme, turn your circle to green. If the words that I say do not rhyme, turn your circle to red. (Turn over two pictures.) My turn to say the words- cat, rat. Your turn to say the words- cat, rat. Do the words rhyme?” Notes: Do not ask students to generate rhymes. The focus of this component is recognizing words that rhyme. It is very important that students are repeating the word pairs after you so that they develop a “feel” for rhyming words. Alternate Activity: Odd Man Out Place 3 cards on the table (two rhyming and one oddball) and say the words. Ask students to repeat the words. Identify the word that does not rhyme. Materials rhyming photograph/picture cards, individual response circles (one per student) Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

Individual response circles: Cut out a red circle and a green circle of equal size. Glue them together such that one side of the assembled circle is red and the other side is green.

Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

Syllable Awareness 1. Segment words into syllables. Explain, “Long words have more than one part. Listen while I clap the parts in the word monkey (mon-key, 2 parts). I’m going to say some words, and we will clap the parts in each word and then say how many parts.” 2. Blend syllables into words. Explain, “Long words have more than one part. I am going to say some parts, and you tell me the word all together when I tap.” (Use two-syllable words below; compound words are easiest.) Notes: Select at least five words for segmenting and five words for blending. Modify the prompt for segmenting by presenting a picture in addition to stating the word orally. Increase/decrease difficulty for blending by adjusting the pause between syllables.

Words for Segmenting Syllables (Clapping) 1

2

2

3

4

cake

lion

carrot

octopus

alligator

fish

pretzel

lettuce

banana

motorcycle

spoon

cookie

playground

hamburger

macaroni

drum

marker

soccer

lollipop

watermelon

desk

teacher

winter

tomato

pepperoni

friend

sister

summer

piano

caterpillar

beach

crayon

yellow

bicycle

television

rain

purple

jacket

computer

helicopter

blue

rabbit

baseball

kangaroo

green

pizza

circle

popsicle

Words for Blending Syllables airplane

homework

car-pet

win-dow

fin-ish

barefoot

inside

cos-tume

num-ber

pi-lot

bathroom

daylight

den-tist

but-ton

ro-bot

baseball

mailbox

gar-den

kit-ten

car-toon

birthday

outside

hel-met

lad-der

sil-ver

popcorn

playground

in-sect

Fri-day

ba-con

doorbell

rainbow

mor-ning

mu-sic

tur-key

Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

eyebrow

snowball

pen-cil

traf-fic

pump-kin

fireworks

toothbrush

prob-lem

yel-low

con-test

footprint

upstairs

thun-der

for-get

mon-ster

Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

KGCS PreK Early Literacy Group Lessons • Print Concepts As time and attention allow, finish up the Early Literacy Lessons by sharing a nursery rhyme book (readinga-z.com). The goals of this part of the lesson are to familiarize students with common nursery rhymes, sensitize students to rhyming words, and introduce print/text features.

Read the first time for enjoyment while pointing to the words. Reread the text 1-2 times, allowing students to provide missing rhyming words at the end of each line. Use additional print awareness prompts throughout the lesson.     

Where is the title of the book? Point to the words while you say the title of the rhyme. Find the letter ___ (familiar letter). Let’s count the words on this page. Find the word ___ (first or last words are easiest).

Interacting with books is the foundation for development of concept of word. Concept of word is a critical literacy skill and a reliable predictor of first grade reading achievement. It acts as a bridge between letter-sound knowledge and early reading. Concept of word includes accurate voice to print match in memorized text with at least one two-syllable word. A firm concept of word also includes using letter sounds and memory of the text to identify individual words in and out of context. Although this word recognition is usually temporary until words have been encountered many times, it is a good indicator of a child’s readiness for beginning reading instruction. Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

The Concept of Word component on the next page replaces nursery rhymes for mature PreK students and all kindergarten students.

Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

Concept of Word Daily Message: Level 1 (Tracking Print) Print Concepts- Tracking Memorized Text- 5 mins. Here is a message I wrote for you. It says __________. Say it with me. Say it on your own. Now let me show you how to read it. I look at each word, and then I say the word out loud and touch it with my finger. Watch me. (Give each student a copy of the message.) Let’s read the message together. Practice whisper reading it on your own. Let’s count the words. Read it again. Take turns reading it to a partner. Word ID in Context: Point to the word _____. OR What word is this (while pointing to a word)? To identify individual words, students should be prompted to (a) use “voice pointing”, rereading the sentence until they get to the target word, and (b) use beginning consonant sounds as a clue. NOTE: Students MUST be able to say the message from memory before you present the print copy. Avoid turn taking. Students can whisper read several times as you listen in or take turns reading their sentence to a partner.

Concept of Word Daily Message: Level 2 (Cut-Up Sentences) Print Concepts- Cut-Up Sentence- 10 mins. Here is a message I wrote for you. It says __________. Say it with me. Say it on your own. Now let me show you how to read it. I look at each word, and then I say the word out loud and touch it with my finger. Watch me. (Give each student a copy of the message.) Let’s read the message together. Practice whisper reading it on your own. Read it again. Take turns reading it to a partner. I will cut the sentence apart into words. Let’s count the words. 1. Put it back together and read the sentence to check that you’ve got it right. 2. Mix it up again, put it back together, and read it to me (or to a partner). Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]

3. (with sentence assembled) Point to the word _____. 4. (with sentence assembled) What word is this (while pointing to a word)? 5. ADVANCED- Line up your words out of order to make a list. Practice reading each word on the list. 6. Put it back together one more time and read it. Remember to point to each word.

Created by Laura Jo Darcy, Division Reading Specialist King George County Schools [email protected]