﻿ PPP pop the balloons PPP

PPP pop the balloons PPP

Emergent Literacy Design

Meg McWhorter


Rationale: This lesson will help children identify /p/, the phoneme represented by P. Students will learn to identify /p/ in spoken words by learning meaningful representation (their hands moving like a balloon popping) and the letter symbol P, practice finding /p/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /p/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.


Materials: Primary paper, pencils, flashcards of words, worksheet, chart with "Pop the balloon!", Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, word cards: play, pack, post, pull



1. Say: Today, we are going to talk about a new letter, P! Let's think about how our mouth moves as we say the letter P. We will look at how our mouth moves and listen for the /p/ sound made with the letter P. P sounds like popping a balloon!


2. Let's pretend to blow up a balloon and then pop it, /p/, /p/, /p/. Pretend your fingers are the balloon and flick them as it pops. Can you feel the air coming out of your mouth? Like the air coming out of the balloon? When we say /p/, our lips are pushed out and we blow air out. No sound, just air.


3. Let me show you how to find /p/ in the word snap. I'm going to stretch out snap in super slow motion and listen for the ppppop sound. Sss. Ssnnn. Sssnnnaaaa. Sssnnnaaappp. Snap! There! At the end of the word, I felt my lips come together then push out when I blew out air at the end of snap!


4. Let's try a tongue twister! "Paul, please pause for proper applause!" Let's all say it together three times. Be sure to stretch out the words to listen for the /p/ sound at the beginning of the word! Try it again, this time break it off the word, "/P/aul, /p/lease /p/ause for /p/roper a/pp/lause!"


5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil.] We use the letter P to spell /p/. Capital P looks like a man with a big chest. First, draw the man and then his chest. Lowercase p looks like a backwards c and then a line from the top of the c to the basement.


6. Next, ask students to identify words with /p/ in it. Do you hear /p/ in pat or dog? Rest or place? Face or lip? Say: Let's see if you can spot the mouth movements in /p/. Pop your balloon if you hear /p/: Peter picked up his paper proudly.


7. Say: Now, we are going to read a great book about a little mouse named Lilly. Lilly has a purple plastic purse that she takes everywhere. But until one day when her teacher takes up her purse! Will she get it back? What will happen to Lilly? We will have to read to find out! But while I read, I want you to listen for that /p/ sound that the letter P makes. Make the motion of your balloon popping whenever you hear the sound the letter P makes!


8. Show PLAY and model how to decide if it is play or stay: The P is like that balloon popping: play. When we seep, it tells us to make the balloon popping sound. Look for the letter P in the word you see and listen for the /p/ in the words I say to decide what the word is. [Show notecards: PACK: pack or back? POST: lost or post? PULL: tug or pull?]


9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students are to color in the pictures that begin with the letter p. Call on students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step 8.


Reference: Geri Murray "M…m Good!" Design; http://auburn.edu/~murrag1/MurrayEL.htm

Citations: Tongue Twisters- http://www.twisterking.com/p.php

Assessment Worksheet: http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/p-begins2.htm

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