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Jumping Rope with J
Emergent Literacy Design
Rationale: This lesson will help children identify /j/, the phoneme represented by J. Students will learn to recognize /j/ in spoken words by learning a sound analogy (jumping rope) and the letter symbol J, practice finding /j/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /j/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.
Materials:
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Primary paper and pencil
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Chart with “Janice jumped and jigged with joy.”
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Plain paper for drawing
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crayons
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Dr. Seuss’ ABC (Random House, 1963)
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Word cards with JUG, JUT, BOLT, JADE, PACK, and JOG [one word per card; written big enough that they can be seen by everyone]
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Assessment worksheet [see URL]
Procedures:
1. Teacher will introduce lesson. Say: The English alphabet is a cool thing! We have all sorts of letters that make sounds by moving our mouth in different ways. If we want to learn more words, we have to learn all about the alphabet and the different sounds that the letters make. Today, we are going to learn about /j/. We spell /j/ with the letter J. J looks like a jump rope, and /j/ sounds like jumping rope.
2. Teacher will introduce motion for letter. Say: Let’s pretend to jump rope, /j/, /j/, /j/, [Pantomime jumping rope]. See how your tongue comes up to the top of your mouth? When we say /j/, we put our tongue at the top of our mouth and our lips pucker.
3. Teacher will stretch the word pajamas with class and help to identify /j/ in the word. Say: Let’s find /j/ in the word pajamas. I’m going to stretch the word slowly so that we can find the /j/ jump rope in the word. p-a-j-a-m-a-s. Let’s stretch it out more. pp-aa-jjjj-aa-mm-aa-ss. It sounds like we found it. Our tongue touched the top of our mouth and we used our voice. Jump rope /j/ is in pajamas.
4. Teacher will introduce the tongue tickler and use it to further explain and explore J. Say: Let’s try a tongue tickler [on chart]. First, I am going to tell you a little bit about it. Janice has been waiting all week to get her new puppy and she just heard a bark outside her house. When she looked up, her dad walked in with her new puppy! Here’s our tongue tickler: Janice jumped and jigged with joy! Everyone say it three times together. Now say it again, but this time let’s stretch out the /j/ sound. Jjjanice jjjumped and jjjigged with jjjoy. Let’s try again, but this time break the /j/ sound off the word. /j/ anice /j/ umped and /j/ igged with /j/ oy.
5. Teacher will model how to write J and have students practice their writing [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. Say: We use the letter J to spell /j/. Capital J looks like a hook. Let’s practice writing the Capital letter J. Start at the top and go down to make a basket. Put his hat on by adding a line. Now, let’s practice writing the lowercase letter j. Start just below the fence with a straight line, then put a hook in the dirt. Then go back over the fence and put a dot” [mimic this on the board] Everyone try this, and then I am going to come and look at your j. After I have put a check on your paper, practice writing nine more times.
6. Teacher will ask students to identify /j/ in words [Call on students to answer and have them give evidence]. Say: Now, we are going to look for /j/ in words. I’m going to give you two words, and you tell me which one has /j/. Do you hear /j/ in jam or sam? Run or jog? Jeans or pants? Must or Just? Junk or Sunk? Let’s see if you can spot the mouth move /j/ in these words. Jump rope if you hear /j/: Jessica, Cat, Joe, like, Jam, Jelly, Music, Jerky.
7. Teacher will read the J page in the alphabet book and talk about what is in the book. Say: Let’s look at an alphabet book. Dr. Seuss tells us about Jerry Jordan’s jelly jar! [Read the J page in the book, and then talk about what you read with the students].
8. Teacher will have students write their own J word and draw a picture to represent. Say: I bet you can think of other words that start with /j/. I’m going to give you some paper and crayons, and I want you to write your favorite /j/ word and draw a picture that represents your word.” [Students should be using invented spelling. It is good practice to display their work].
9. Teacher will show students a card with a word and ask what the word is giving two options. Model how to do this with the word JUG. Show JUG [card]. Say: The J tells me to jump rope, /j/, so this word is jjj-ug, jug. You try some: JUT: jut or cut? BOLT: jolt or bolt? JADE: made or jade? PACK: jack or pack? JOG: hog or jog?
10. For assessment, teacher will have students do the first page on the link below. Say: color all of the pictures on the page that start with the letter J. [the other pages on the link are good activities if time permits]
References:
Assessment worksheet: https://easypeasylearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Letter-J-Worksheet-Set.pdf
Sienkiewicz, Anna; Emergent Literacy Design: Jumping For Joy With J! https://als0095.wixsite.com/readinglessons/emergent-literacy
gif: https://dribbble.com/shots/1910283-Girl-Jump-Rope-GIF
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