Mm
RATIONALE
This lesson will help children identify /m/, the phoneme represented by M. Students will learn to recognize /m/ in spoken words by learning a meaningful representation (making a mountain) and the letter symbol M, practicing finding /m/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /f/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.
MATERIALS
Primary paper and a pencil; poster with M and m written in large letters, cat sock puppet (or cat cutout glued to popsicle stick), marker to write on white board, Mike the mouse made muffins on Monday written on white board; handout with M on it, colored pencils; M is for Meow: A Cat Alphabet (Wilbur, L. Helen, Sleeping Bear Press, 2013); word cards with MUG, MAN, MEET, MASH, MUD; assessment worksheet identifying pictures with /m/ (URL below).
PROCEDURE
1. Say: Our written language is a secret code. The tricky part is learning which letters make which sounds. We can find out what letters stand for by the way our mouth moves as we say words. Today we are going to work on discovering the mouth move and sound for /m/! [Display poster with M and m] We spell /m/ with the letter m. I asked a very special friend here to come in today and help us learn her favorite letter- m! I want all of you to give a very warm welcome to my friend, Miss Mittens! [pull out cat puppet/popsicle stick puppet]
2. Say: Miss Mittens is only speaks kitty cat. So I want you all to pretend to pet a kitty and saw meow! [Pantomime petting a cat]. Now you try! [Let students respond with meow and pretend to pet cat]. Whoa! Did you hear that Miss Mittens!? I think I heard /m/ which is spelled with the letter m! Watch my mouth when I say the /m/ in meow. Mmmmmeow. Notice how my lips are closed but there is still a sound? Now you say it very slowly and notice how your mouth feels when you say the beginning of the word meow. I want you to say it with me very very very slowly. Mmmmmm- eeow. Did you feel that? When our lips are closed tight and we feel that hum in the back of our throats, that’s our mouth move for the letter m! Very good! Now instead of saying it very slowly, I want you to break off /m/ from the word like this: /m/ /m/ /m//m/ eow! You try. Very good! Now everyone show Miss Mittens how you pet your kitty while you say /m/. [wait for students to respond, have them say it 5-7 times]. I think they are ready to learn more about the letter m don’t you Miss Mittens? [have puppet nod]
3. Let me show you how to find /m/ in the word family. I’m going to stretch family very slowly and I want you to listen for the /m/ and watch my lips. Ff-aa-mmmm-ily. Slower: Fff-aaa-mmmmm-ii-ly. There it was! I’m going to do it one more time and when I hear the /m/ I’m going to pretend to pet a kitty. Fff-aaa-mmmmm [pantomime petting cat]-iii-lllyyy.
4. Say: Now that we have ‘mmmm’ sound down, lets try a tongue tickler [written on board]. ‘Mike the mouse made muffins on Monday.’ I will say it one more time then I want everyone to say it together three times. Now say it again, but this time I want you to stretch the /m/ out. “Mmmmmike the mmmmouse mmmmmade mmmmuffins on Mmmmmonday.” Excellent! Try it one more time, but this time we are going to break the /m/ off the rest of the word: /m/ ike the /m/ ouse /m/ade /m/ uffins/ on /m/ onday.
5. [Have students take out primary paper and a pencil.] Say: So now that we all know the mouth move for /m/, we need to learn how to write the letter M! First we are going to practice writing a lowercase m. I need everyone’s eyes up here. [model how to write lowercase m on white board] First you are going to take your pencil and start at the fence and draw a straight line down to the sidewalk. Next we will draw two humps side by side; so from where you ended down at the sidewalk, go back up to the fence again and then back down to the sidewalk making your first hump. Now do that same thing one more time. I want everyone to try this on your paper now. Once I have come by and given you a check mark, I want you to draw your lowercase m nine more times.
6. Say: Next I am going to say two different words and I want you decide which one you hear /m/ in. I will give you a second to think and when you think you know raise your hand. [Call on students to answer and tell how they knew]: Do you hear /m/ in moon or sun? man or boy? move or stay? melon or berry? milk or water? Say: Now I am going to read aloud a sentence. Let’s see if you can spot the mouth move /m/ in some words. Pet your kitty cat when you hear the /m/: The, manatee, danced, the, mamba, and, moved, around, majestically, under, the, moon.
7. Say: Lets look at this alphabet book, M says Meow. This book shows all the letters of the alphabet used in words that kitty cats like! There are lots of words that start with the letter m! I want you to think of something that starts with the M, and I am going to give each of you a sheet of paper with the letter M on it. I want you to fill in the rest of your word next to the M, and then use colored pencils to draw a picture of it. [Display their work.]
8. Show MUG and model how to decide if it is mug or rug. Say: The M tells me to pet the kitty cat and hold my lips together tight and make the hum sound in my throat, /m, /m/, so this word is mmm-ug, mug. You try some: MAN: man or fan? MEET: feet or meet? MAKE: make or bake? MASH: mash or cash? MUD: mud or thud?
ASSESSMENT
9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students are to complete the partial spellings and color in the images that begin with M. While students are completing the worksheet, call up students individually to determine phonetic cue words from step #8.
REFERENCE
Katy Moore, “Mmmmm for Muffins”
https://sites.google.com/site/katymooreresearchbasedreading/emergent-literacy
Assessment worksheet: http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/learning-letters/m.htm
Book: M is for Meow: A Cat Alphabet.(Wilbur, L. Helen, Sleeping Bear Press, 2013)
Miss Mittens Says Meow!
