Rationale: Understanding phonemes is essential for children to decode. This lesson will help children identify /t/, the phoneme represented by T. Students will learn to recognize /t/ in spoken words by learning meaningful representation (ticking clock finger) and the letter symbol T, practice finding /t/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /t/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.
Materials: Primary paper and pencil; chart with “Tommy tricked Tim and took his train off the track.”; Why did the Chicken Cross the Road? Jon Agee. (Dial books, 2006).; word cards with TAG, FEET, TOP, TORE, and TAG.; assessment worksheet with crayons
Procedures:
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Say: Our written language is a secret code. The tricky part is learning what letters stand for-the way our mouths move as we say words. Today we’re going to work on spotting the mouth move /t/. We spell /t/ with letter T. T looks like a tall clock, and /t/ sounds like a ticking clock.
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Let’s pretend to check the time by tapping our watch /t/, /t/, /t/. (Pantomime tapping wristwatch) Notice what your tongue does as you say /t/, our tongue touches the roof our mouth as we blow out air.
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Let me show you how to find /t/ in the word I’m going to stretch out in super slow motion and listen for my ticking tock. Sss-ttt-o-p. There it was! I felt my tongue touch the roof of my mouth and blow air. Ticking Clock /t/ is in
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Let’s try a tongue tickler (on chart). Tim has a train. It is a brand new train, and he is worried his friends might break it. So he keeps it on the track. But, Tommy really wants to play with the train, so he tricks Tim to go get another toy from the other room. Here’s our tickler: “Tommy tricked Tim and took his train off the track.” Everybody say it three times together. Now, say it again, and this time, stretch the /t/ at the beginning of the words. Ttttooommmy tttricked Ttttim and tttook his tttrain off the tttrack. Try it again, and this time break /t/ off of the word: /t/ommy /t/ricked /t/im and /t/ook his /t/rain off the /t/rack.
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Okay, now let’s take out our paper and pencil. We use letter T to spell /t/. Capital T looks like the top of a tall grandfather clock. Let’s practice the big /T/ first. Go from the rooftop to the bottom of the sidewalk. Then add a line at the top. Now, we are going to draw a lowercase t. Start just below the rooftop and go to the sidewalk, then add a flat line right at the fence.
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Now, let’s play a game! I am going to say a word and you tell me if you hear /t/ in the word. If you hear /t/, start tapping your watch (motion example). Do you hear /t/ in look or tug? Tiger or lion? Out or off? Stand or jump?
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Show TAG and model how to decide if it is tag or bag. The T tells me to tell the time on my clock, /t/, so this word is ttt-a-g. tag. Now it’s your turn!: FEET: beep or feet? TOP: top or drop? TORE: tore or shore? TAG: bag or tag?
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Say: “Let’s read a book together. This book is about a chicken who always seems to be crossing the road. We are going to have to read to find out why!” I’m going to read the book aloud and every time you hear our ticking tock T, make your ticking clock /t/ motion.
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For assessment: I am going to pass out a worksheet with different pictures on them. I am going to say what each picture is. If I read a picture that has the sound /t/ in it, circle the picture. Great job listening with finding our T.
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References:
Bryant, Lauren. Ding Dong! D is at the Door! https://laurenbryant2.wixsite.com/mysite-2/emergent-literacy
Griffith, Jaima. Tick Tock with T. https://jaimagriffith.wixsite.com/jaima-griffith/emergent-literacy-guide
Murray, Bruce. The Reading Genie. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/.
https://bonlacfoods.com/worksheet/i-spy-letter-t-worksheets-22.html
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