JUMPING FOR J
Emergent Literacy Design
Rationale: This lesson will help students identify /j/, the phoneme represented by J. Students will learn to recognize /j/ in spoken words by learning a meaningful representation (jump rope) and the letter symbol J, practicing finding /j/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /j/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.
Materials: Primary paper, pencil, assessment worksheet
Procedure:
1. Say: Today we are going to be learning about the letter J. We are going to learn the mouth movement for the letter J, and it sounds like jjjjjump rope. The letter J looks like a fishing hook. I am going to model on the board how to write a J. You swing the hook to the left which is this way (wave to the left).
2. How many of you have ever jumped rope? Lets all pretend to jump rope together. Stand up and take out your imaginary jump rope! /j/ /j/ /j/ (Twirl you hands and jump as if you are jumping rope and make the /j/ sound each time you jump). When we say the /j/ sound our tongue raises, but our lips stay open! When we make the /j/ sound our lips pucker up just like a fish’s mouth, who can pucker their lips like a fish?
3. Let’s all identify the /j/ sound in some real words! I am going to say a word and I want you all to listen for the /j/ in jump in the words I am saying out loud. I will say them super slow so listen for the /j/. Jjjjjjj-ungle. Say slower if needed: Jjjjjjjjjjjj-ungle.
4. Let’s try a tongue tickler! Jane and John were on an adventure. They decided to go on a jog through the wild jungle. They wanted to see what animals they could find. So here is our tickler: Jane and Jake jog and jump through the jungle. Let’s all say it together three times! This time let's stretch out the /j/ sound in the words. “Jjjjj-ane and Jjjjjake jjjjjog and jjjjjump through the jjjjjjungle.” Let’s do it one more time, but this time I want everyone to break it down and break off the word from the /j/ sound. “/j/ane and /j/ake /j/og and /j/ump through the /j/ungle.
5. Let’s practice writing the /j/ sound. We use the letter J to write the /j/ sound. The lowercase j looks like a fishing hook. Get out a piece of primary paper and a pencil. I want everyone to start drawing a straight line below the water and then when you reach the bottom hook it to the left just like a fishing hook. Then I want you to come back above the water and add a floating bobber above the hook. When you finish writing your /j/ J I will come by and give you a thumbs up, then I want you to write nine more /j/ J’s.
6. Next let’s see if we can hear the /j/ sound out loud in some words! I am going to call on you and ask if you hear the /j/ sound in two words and I want you to tell me how you know. Do you hear /j/ in joy or toy? Run or jog? Dab or jab? Jet or plane?
Now we are going to read, “James and the Good Day”. I want you to listen and try to find words in the story that have J in them. This book is about a boy named James. We are going to see what all James does in a day that makes it so amazing.
7. On the white board write the word JAM. Let's decide if this word is Jam or Ram. The J tells us to jump do you hear the /j/? So that means this word is jjjjjjjj-am. I am going to write a word on the white board then I want one of you to tell me what word it is. Write BUMP (jump or bump), write JOY ( boy or joy)
8. Now can anyone raise their hand and tell me a word that starts with /j/ J? Have the students brainstorm words that start with J.
9. For the assessment, use the linked worksheet. The students will practice writing the letter J and only color in the pictures of words that begin with the letter J.
References:
Assessment worksheet: https://www.kidzone.ws/images-changed/kindergarten/j-as-begins2.gif
Anna Sienkiewicz Emergent Design:
https://als0095.wixsite.com/readinglessons/emergent-literacy