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Emergent Literacy:

Gulping Gatorade with G!

RATIONALE:

This lesson will help children identify /g/, the phoneme represented by G. Students will learn to recognize /g/ in spoken words by learning a sound analogy (Gulping Gatorade) and the letter symbol G, practice finding /g/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /g/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.

MATERIALS

-  Primary paper and pencil

-  Chart with "Greg’s gulping glasses of Gatorade"

-  Drawing paper and crayon

-  Dr. Seuss's ABC (Random House, 1963)

-  Word cards with GET, GIVE, GO, LET, GREASE, and GAS

-  Assessment worksheet identifying pictures with /g/ 

Download the Poster with this PDF

White Checkered with Juice Vector Drink

PROCEDURES
1. Say: Our written language is a secret code. The tricky part is learning what letters stand for—the mouth moves we make as we say words. Today we're going to work on spotting the mouth move /g/. We spell /g/ with letter G. G looks like the side of a mug, and /g/ sounds like gulping water.f


2. Let's pretend to gulp some water, /g/, /g/, /g/. [Pantomime drinking water] Notice where your tongue is are? (Touching near throat). When we say /g/, we close our throat and then let it go.f

 

3. Let me show you how to find /g/ in the word fig. I'm going to stretch fig out in super slow motion and listen for my gulping. Fff-i-i-i-gg. Slower: Fff-i-i-i-ggg. There it was! I felt my gulp in my throat. Gulping /g/ is in fig.g

4. Let's try a tongue tickler [on chart]. Greg’s gulping glasses of Gatorade. He got the glass from the cabinet and the Gatorade from the fridge. He is so glad to drink glasses of gatorade. Here’s our tickler: " Greg’s gulping glasses of Gatorade." Everybody say it three times together. Now say it again, and this time, stretch the /f/ at the beginning of the words. " Guhhhreg’s guuuhlping guuuhlasses of Gaaaatorade." Try it again, and this time break it off the word: "/g/ reg's /g/ ulping /g/ lasses of /g/ atorade .h

 

5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. We use letter G to spell /g/. Capital G looks like the side of a mug. Let's write the lowercase letter g. Start just below the fence. Start by making a circle that touches all the way to the sidewalk. Then, lead it to where you started the circle, completing it. You’re going to see a new line on the right side of the fence. Can everyone show me their right hand? (Walk around room and check everyone’s hand). Then you make a line from there all the way to the ditch and you pass the ditch making a small boat curving toward the circle. I want to see everybody's g. After I put a smile on it, I want you to make nine more just like it.i

 

6. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: Do you hear /g/ in hole or gap? gurgle or laugh? Stop or go? Give or take? Single or double? Say: Let's see if you can spot the mouth move /g/ in some words. Gulp your glass if you can hear /g/: The, goose, gal, bug, dog, from, to, the, pink, grass.h

 

7. Say: "Let's look at an alphabet book. Dr. Seuss tells us about a goat girl with googoo goggless!" Read page 19, drawing out /g/. Ask children if they can think of other words with /g/. Ask them to make up a silly creature name like googer-gilly-gog, or gooter-glipper-gang. Then have each student write their silly name with invented spelling and draw a picture of their silly creature. Display their work.h

 

8. Show Got and model how to decide if it is got or lot: The G tells me to gulp some water, /g/, so this word is ggg-o-t, got. You try some: GOLLY: golly or folly? GOAL: goal or foal? GET: get or met? GIVE: give or live? GATE: gate or fate?

 

9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students color the pictures that begin with G. Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8

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