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The Dr Seuss One - The Sounds of Words
This was a half-day session I carried out at The TARDIS at Chapel Break Infant with two different classes. I had Year 1 for the morning - 9.15-12.10 plus a break in the middle, and Year 2 in the afternoon – 1.15 to roughly 2.30. The classes were of about 12 children and included some students for whom English was not their home language. While carrying out this session I had the support of the two staff members who usually work at The TARDIS.
There is an optional precursor which I had originally intended as extension work linked to the starting exercise on sounds in our names, but these bits could be put together as a separate session either before or after. (SEE BELOW) Have not tested it yet, however, as there was not enough time on the day I ran this session.
Aim: To improve students’ awareness of the sounds of words – both for the purposes of pronunciation and also to aid remembering of words. Also to increase their vocabulary.
Target Age: 5-7 (depending on ability)
Key Skills: language awareness – sounds of words, word generation, team-working, drawing and colouring.
Resources:
· Marvin K Mooney, Dr Seuss + cards with word ‘sounds’ e.g. ‘oo’ that are in the story.
· Horton Hears a Who, Dr Seuss + cards with word ‘sounds’ that are in the story.
(NB Horton Hears a Who is quite long – I would suggest reading an abbreviated version.)
· Objects that rhyme (groups of them), including words on pieces of paper and as many rhyming animals as possible, in a big bag, for sorting (cat, bat, rat, dog, log, owl, towel, mouse, house...).
· Large pieces of paper and pens for groupwork.
· Paper and pens, pencils etc for drawing.
· Example animal with rhyming words in a speech bubble.
· Example animal with rhyming sentence. (Extension work.)
· Example 50/50 animal e.g. girorse (half giraffe, half horse) – NB unlikely to get to this bit.
Steps:
1. Introduce myself and lesson theme – sounds of words. Words are made up of sounds, like my name (Ja-key).
2. Students go round in circle and say their names and they work out (with help from others if necessary) what they sounds are in their names and how many sounds their names are made up of.
3. Set task: I am going to read them Marvin K Mooney – hand out cards with sounds of words in. They have to listen for their particular sound and do thumbs up if they hear it.
4. Get the students to practise the sounds on their cards and could ask them to think of words with those sounds in as preparation.
5. Read MKM. (Go slow at first, then get faster.)
6. If time and if the students are still keen, repeat but with Horton Hears a Who.
7. Could briefly say how sounds of words are important in poetry.
8. Sorting task: children still in circle. One at a time they come to me and pick an object from the bag and put it on the floor (I put the first object down on the floor). Does the object/word on the piece of paper rhyme with one/some that is/are already on the floor? If so, put it with that one/those ones. (NB we found that it was important to encourage the other students to give the person deciding time to work it out themselves. Sometimes they liked to say all the words to help them work it out.)
9. Put class into 3 or 4 teams. Each team chooses one of the animals (could assign them/reduce the number of options). Each team has to think of and write down (with assistance from staff) as many words as they can that rhyme with their animal.
10. If time, could rotate the animals so that each group has a go with each animal.
11. Write the words onto a chart (and if each group has done all of the words, combine the words together).
12. Students pick their favourite animal – draw it and then fill in a speech bubble in which they write the words that rhyme. (Teachers need to support with this. Have an example or two to show them).
13. Extension work, OR for more able students, they could write down a sentence involving the animal and a word that rhymes e.g. The dog sat on the log. The giraffe liked to laugh.
14. Share sentences and show each other pictures.
15. Extension work/if have all day: put into pairs (must have chosen different animals). Show example of 50/50 animal. What would a combination of your two animals look like? Which bits would belong to which e.g. head of a cat, body of a bat, tail of a cat? What would it be called?
16. Share pictures and talk through which body parts are which animals.
NB 13-16 are also better for older/more able students/where there is enough support and time.
Pre- or Post-Cursor
Target Age: 5-7 (depending on ability)
Key Skills: sounds of words, pronunciation, drawing
Resources:
· Example card of sounds in your name e.g. Ja-Key. (Brightly coloured to show different syllables and e.g. fluffy material/soft colours if soft sounds in name, spicily drawn if hard sounds.) ALSO good to have more examples with names and other words.
· Card and colouring pens, plus craft stuff for making their own name sound-cards.
Steps:
1. Introduce concept of words being made up of sounds.
2. Give example from own name and number of sounds in it.
3. Students work out how many sounds in their name, and what the sounds are.
4. Talk about the quality of the sounds in your name e.g. long sounds/short sounds, hard sounds/soft sounds, cold sounds/warm sounds, spiky sounds/fluffy sounds.... and give other examples (pictures too).
5. Students in groups (monitor carefully, strict turn-taking – could do e.g. 3 minutes per person, time it and then say ‘now you can discuss person 2’s name sounds) decide what they think the sounds in their words are like. NB monitor to make sure no value judgements, only positive descriptions.
6. The students make ‘name cards’ for themselves using colours, shapes, sizes, types of fabric to try to visually represent the qualities of the sounds in their name.
7. Extension work – repeat for their favourite word/favourite animal/the longest word they know!
There is an optional precursor which I had originally intended as extension work linked to the starting exercise on sounds in our names, but these bits could be put together as a separate session either before or after. (SEE BELOW) Have not tested it yet, however, as there was not enough time on the day I ran this session.
Aim: To improve students’ awareness of the sounds of words – both for the purposes of pronunciation and also to aid remembering of words. Also to increase their vocabulary.
Target Age: 5-7 (depending on ability)
Key Skills: language awareness – sounds of words, word generation, team-working, drawing and colouring.
Resources:
· Marvin K Mooney, Dr Seuss + cards with word ‘sounds’ e.g. ‘oo’ that are in the story.
· Horton Hears a Who, Dr Seuss + cards with word ‘sounds’ that are in the story.
(NB Horton Hears a Who is quite long – I would suggest reading an abbreviated version.)
· Objects that rhyme (groups of them), including words on pieces of paper and as many rhyming animals as possible, in a big bag, for sorting (cat, bat, rat, dog, log, owl, towel, mouse, house...).
· Large pieces of paper and pens for groupwork.
· Paper and pens, pencils etc for drawing.
· Example animal with rhyming words in a speech bubble.
· Example animal with rhyming sentence. (Extension work.)
· Example 50/50 animal e.g. girorse (half giraffe, half horse) – NB unlikely to get to this bit.
Steps:
1. Introduce myself and lesson theme – sounds of words. Words are made up of sounds, like my name (Ja-key).
2. Students go round in circle and say their names and they work out (with help from others if necessary) what they sounds are in their names and how many sounds their names are made up of.
3. Set task: I am going to read them Marvin K Mooney – hand out cards with sounds of words in. They have to listen for their particular sound and do thumbs up if they hear it.
4. Get the students to practise the sounds on their cards and could ask them to think of words with those sounds in as preparation.
5. Read MKM. (Go slow at first, then get faster.)
6. If time and if the students are still keen, repeat but with Horton Hears a Who.
7. Could briefly say how sounds of words are important in poetry.
8. Sorting task: children still in circle. One at a time they come to me and pick an object from the bag and put it on the floor (I put the first object down on the floor). Does the object/word on the piece of paper rhyme with one/some that is/are already on the floor? If so, put it with that one/those ones. (NB we found that it was important to encourage the other students to give the person deciding time to work it out themselves. Sometimes they liked to say all the words to help them work it out.)
9. Put class into 3 or 4 teams. Each team chooses one of the animals (could assign them/reduce the number of options). Each team has to think of and write down (with assistance from staff) as many words as they can that rhyme with their animal.
10. If time, could rotate the animals so that each group has a go with each animal.
11. Write the words onto a chart (and if each group has done all of the words, combine the words together).
12. Students pick their favourite animal – draw it and then fill in a speech bubble in which they write the words that rhyme. (Teachers need to support with this. Have an example or two to show them).
13. Extension work, OR for more able students, they could write down a sentence involving the animal and a word that rhymes e.g. The dog sat on the log. The giraffe liked to laugh.
14. Share sentences and show each other pictures.
15. Extension work/if have all day: put into pairs (must have chosen different animals). Show example of 50/50 animal. What would a combination of your two animals look like? Which bits would belong to which e.g. head of a cat, body of a bat, tail of a cat? What would it be called?
16. Share pictures and talk through which body parts are which animals.
NB 13-16 are also better for older/more able students/where there is enough support and time.
Pre- or Post-Cursor
Target Age: 5-7 (depending on ability)
Key Skills: sounds of words, pronunciation, drawing
Resources:
· Example card of sounds in your name e.g. Ja-Key. (Brightly coloured to show different syllables and e.g. fluffy material/soft colours if soft sounds in name, spicily drawn if hard sounds.) ALSO good to have more examples with names and other words.
· Card and colouring pens, plus craft stuff for making their own name sound-cards.
Steps:
1. Introduce concept of words being made up of sounds.
2. Give example from own name and number of sounds in it.
3. Students work out how many sounds in their name, and what the sounds are.
4. Talk about the quality of the sounds in your name e.g. long sounds/short sounds, hard sounds/soft sounds, cold sounds/warm sounds, spiky sounds/fluffy sounds.... and give other examples (pictures too).
5. Students in groups (monitor carefully, strict turn-taking – could do e.g. 3 minutes per person, time it and then say ‘now you can discuss person 2’s name sounds) decide what they think the sounds in their words are like. NB monitor to make sure no value judgements, only positive descriptions.
6. The students make ‘name cards’ for themselves using colours, shapes, sizes, types of fabric to try to visually represent the qualities of the sounds in their name.
7. Extension work – repeat for their favourite word/favourite animal/the longest word they know!
