Swat the Spot

Designed by Ginger Riddle

Subject: Reading             Grade: Kindergarten

Core Curriculum Objective:  Associate beginning sounds and letters. (K-VW-6)

Overview: 
After mastering letter recognition and working with initial consonant sounds, students will listen to the story, Potluck, by Anne Shelby. The teacher will review letters and identify the letters to correspond with a beginning given sound as the book is read. Students will then play the "Swat the Spot" game to swat the correct letter/sounds on a chart. During center time, for several days to a week, the students will explore various websites for letter/sound association bookmarked on the computer. During center time, for several days to a week, the students will explore alphabet books and illustrate 8 letters with initial sounds pictures while visiting the writing center.

Focus/Essential Question(s):
What letter goes with this sound?

What sound does this letter make?

Time Frame: One forty minute lesson for story and "Swat the Spot".

At least one thirty minute block of center time per child per week to complete each center (reading and writing).

Resources:

Books:

Potluck by Anne Shelby 

Animalia by Graeme Bass 

My Name is Alice by Jane Bayer 

Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson 

From Acorn to Zoo by Satosh Kitamura 

Alphabatics by Susie MacDonald

Two or more fly swatters

Two charts with pairs of upper and lower case letters randomly written

List of 12 words beginning with the upper/lower case letters on the chart (for teacher use)

The following websites bookmarked on the computer by the teacher These are alphabet/sounds slideshows, etc. developed by students and parents for web publishing.

http://www.att.virtualclassroom.org/vc98/vc_12/main/uspage/uspage.html

http://www.searsportrait.com/color_pages/color_letters.html

http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/upk/books/alpha/b.html

http://www.homestead.com/msrossbec/slide.html

http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/southlebanon/alphabet.htm

http://www.jsd.k12.ak.us/hbv/classrooms/Fontanella/fontanejalph.html

http://www.pacificnet/~cmoore/alphabet/index.htm

Large manilla drawing paper

Crayons

Markers

Alphabet letters displayed in writing center

Assessment: 
The teacher will assess student alphabet/sound squares completed in the writing center as follows:

+ Student correctly associates 7-8 letters with beginning sounds

^ Student correctly associates 5-6 letters with beginning sounds

* Student correctly associates 4 or less letters with beginning sounds

Instructional Activities:

Activity One:

The teacher will read the story, Potluck, to the students and review letters and letter/sound associations as the story is read.

The students will then play "Swat the Spot":

Two students or two teams of students are chosen to hold fly swatters and stand in front of charts with upper/lower case letters.

The teacher will call out a word from the list that he/she made, emphasizing the initial sound of the letter which begins the word.

The first student to "swat" the correct letter receives one point.

Play continues until the teacher calls time or all letters have been used.

The student or team with the most points wins.

Invite other kindergarten classes to "challenge" matches.

On future days, the letters on the charts could be changed, or other skills such as color words, sight words, etc. could be placed on the charts.

Activity Two:

The teacher will have bookmarked the listed alphabet sites at the computer center. During center time, students will work in pairs to surf the various sites.

Activity Three:

Alphabet books will be displayed in the writing center.

The teacher will have a large piece of manilla drawing paper which has been folded in half and half again (will create 8 blocks for drawing, front and back) for each child.

The teacher will instruct students to choose 8 letters and write the upper and lower case letters chosen on their paper (one upper and lower case letter pair to a block).

Students are to then draw and color a picture of something that begins with that letter sound in the block. They may use alphabet books for ideas.

Parent Involvement

Parents and others can be invited in the classroom to view student work.

The following website can be given to parents. It lists lots of activities for each letter of the alphabet that could be done at home.

http://www.thepotters.com/train/activities.html