Emergent Literacy
The Icky in Sticky
Alyssa Williams

Rationale: This lesson will help inform students that letters stand for phonemes, which later help map out words (written or spoken) by their spelling. By teaching the short "i" phoneme, students will learn the specific sound that goes with this specific letter.  Children need to know phonemes before they can make meaning out of words. At the end of this lesson a child should be able to recognize the phoneme i in spoken word and written text.

Materials:  Primary paper and pencil. Chart with "Hurry, pick and lick the sticky popsicle before it goes icky"; letter boxes and laminated letters for phoneme spelling exercises (phoneme 3- pick, lick, tick, icky; phoneme 4- sticky); Icky Sticky Inchworm (Educational Insights); picture worksheet with pictures such as: mittens, kit (first aide), hit, sit, lit, kitten.

"Ok boys and girls, we have already learned two very important letters and their short vowel sounds. (Ask children what they are- a and e). Today we are going to learn another short "i"! The "short "i" can be heard in the word icky. Can you hear the "i" in icky?". Point around the room at different things that have the short "i" in them, write words on the board: kit, mitt, inch, sitting (point at a child and ask what he/she is doing), Mississippi (just as a fun word). Extend the "i" sound in each word so the children can hear it.

"Now lets all try a tongue twister with the short "i" vowel sound". Write tongue twister on the board and point at the words while saying it through one time first. "'Hurry, pick and lick the sticky popsicle before it goes icky' Can you hear which words have the short i sound? Can I get a volunteer to come up and circle one of these words?". (Ask several volunteers to come up until all words with short I are found).

"I want us to practice saying the circled words with exaggeration. That means I want to be able to hear all short "i" sounds in this sentence. Ok lets all say the tongue twister together. 'Hurry, p/i/ck and l/i/ck the st/i/cky popsc/i/cle before /i/t goes /i/cky.' Great job!".

Ask students to get out their primary paper and pencil. "Now I want you all to watch me write the letter "i". Ok, now I want you to follow along with me as I write it again. Start at the middle dotted line and make one line straight to the bottom line like this." (model) "Ok now let's not forget to dot our i's". Have students practice more while you walk around the room". After a few minutes do another model in front of the class. "You are all doing so well, I'm very proud of you!".

"Ok, now I want your pods (students will be seated in groups of four in the classroom already) to get out your letter boxes and letters. Please place them in the middle of your desks and wait. Ok, I want your pod leader to get out the following letters: p, i, c, k, l, t, y, s. Ok, now I am going to call out some words and I want your pod to work together in deciding how to spell these words. Ok, let's start with 3 box words." Go through each word and then move to 4 box words.

"Ok class, great job! Now I want to read you a story. This is a short story called Icky Sticky Inchworm. I want you all to pay very close attention. Every time you hear me say the short "i" sound, I want you to put your pointer finger on your nose. Are you ready?" Read the short story and watch for children to respond. Practice another time so that children get practice hearing the letter in the middle of text.

"Ok, now I am going to pass out some worksheets. These works sheets have pictures on them. All of these pictures have the short "i" sound in their spelling. I want you to work very hard and I will be around to check your work." Pass out handouts, monitor class.

Assessment: Collect all handouts after completion.

Teaching and Decoding in Holistic Classrooms. Eldredge, J. Loyd (1995). Merrill/ Prentice Hall, 86.

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