Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. That was yummy! Learning M with Miss Maggie.
Emergent Reading
Rationale: This lesson will teach children that M says /m/. Students will begin to recognize /m/ in spoken words through the gesture of rubbing your tummy after a yummy meal and saying /m/. Students will practice recognizing the phoneme /m/ in spoken words by breaking the words down. Student will also be able to identify the letter M between two written words.
Materials: primary paper and pencil; paper and crayons, chart with tongue tickler “Megan made marshmallows on Monday with Meredith”; “Eating the Alphabet” by Lois Elhert (Houghton Mifflin, 1993); words cards: MINT, LINT, MOOSE, LOOSE, MOP, TOP, MAKE, BAKE; assessment drawing a line to the object that makes /m/ worksheet (URL below).
Procedures:
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Say: To understand our written language, we must know the code. It is important to know that each letter stands for a movement that our mouth makes. The sound /m/ comes from the letter M (teacher draws M on the board). I make the sound /m/ after I eat yummy food.
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When I eat yummy food, I go “mmm, mmm, mmm, that was yummy!” and I rub my tummy. Let’s all try that together. [students and teacher motion rubbing their stomachs while saying /m/ /m/ /m/] See, when I say /m/, my lips are pushed together and I make a deep sound directed toward my mouth.
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I will show you how to find /m/ in lamp. I will stretch out lamp very slowly so I can hear each sound. ll-aa-mm-pp. Again but slower: lllll-a-a-a-mm-ppp. I found it. As I said lamp, I could feel the /m/ when my lips were together and I sent a deep vibrating sound to the front of my mouth.
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Now we are going to look at a tongue tickler together [use chart]. “Megan made marshmallows on Monday with Meredith.” Megan was trying out new recipes to make for her family. She had some trouble making the marshmallows so she had her friend Meredith come over and help her. Megan made marshmallows on Monday with Meredith. Everybody say it together three times. [Students state tongue tickler] Now let’s say it and stretch out the beginning of all the m-words. “Mmmegan mmmade mmmarshmallows on Mmmonday with Mmmeredith.” Now let’s say it and break off the first /m/ sound. /m/egan /m/ade /m/marshmallows on /m/onday with /m/eredith.
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[Now have the students take out the primary paper with their pencils as well]. The letter M spells out /m/. Capital M looks like this [draw on whiteboard]. It almost looks like it has big pointy ears. Let’s write the lower case m on our paper. Start at the fence and draw a straight line down to the sidewalk. Then draw a hump up to the fence and back down to the sidewalk, and then draw another hump up to the fence and then back down to the sidewalk again. I will walk around and look at everyone’s m. After you get a sticker on your paper, please draw 10 more m’s just like it.
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Now we are going to play a listening game. Make sure you listen for /m/. Do you hear /m/ in ball or mat? In mark or catch? Bump or cart? Sit or ram? Talk or blame? Now we are going to change it up a little. If you hear /m/ I want you to rub your tummy like you just ate some yummy food: The, mouse, made, a, hole, in, my, mat.
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Say: (Book talk)- “Now we are going to read a book. What is your favorite food to eat? Let’s read all about the yummy foods we can eat in this alphabet book. Read the “M” page of “Eating the Alphabet.” Now have the students write down a food or drink that starts with an M. have the students write it out and draw it with crayons on their paper. When they are done, you can hand the artwork out in the hallway or in the classroom.
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Show MINT and model to the class how you distinguish mint from lint: the M says to make my /m/ sound and rub my tummy, so I know that my word is mint. See, mmmm-int. Now you try some class, MOOSE: moose or loose? MOP: mop or top? BAKE: bake or make?
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For the assessment, pass out the M worksheet. On this worksheet, student will draw a line to match the “m” with the object that starts with the /m/ sound. Once they have drawn their line, they can color in the object. Also at this time, call over students have them read the phonetic cue words from step 8.
Reference:
Elhert, Lois, Eating the Alphabet, Houghton Mifflin, 1993, pgs. 28
Kidzone, Kindergarten Worksheets, http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/m-begins1.htm
Kerr, Heartbeats with B, http://klk0024.wixsite.com/design/emergent-literacy-design
