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Bouncing with B

 

Emergent Literacy Design

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By: Paula Anderson

 

Rationale: This lesson will help children identify /b/, the phoneme represented by B. Students will learn to recognize /b/ in spoken words by learning a meaningful representation (bouncing a basketball) and the letter symbol B, practice finding /b/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /b/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.

 

Materials:

  • Printed picture of a bouncing basketball (click here for image )

  • Primary paper and pencil

  • Chart with “Bobby bounced a blue basketball with Brian” 

  • Drawing paper and crayons

  • The Berenstains’ B Book (Stan and Jan Berenstain, 1971) 

  • Word cards with BUG, BLUE, WET, BORN, MAKE, BOOK, COB 

  • Assessment worksheet identifying pictures with /b/ (URL below).

 

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 the words. Today we are going to work on spotting the mouth move /b/. We spell /b/ with the letter B. Ball starts with the letter b and makes the sound /b/, and /b/ sounds like a bouncing basketball."

 

2. Say: "Let’s stand up and pretend to bounce a basketball, /b/, /b/, /b/. (Make the /b/ sound when you pretend to bounce the basketball) Notice how your lips are when you say /b/? (Pressed together). When we say /b/, we press our lips together and then push them out."

 

3. Say: "Now I’m going to show you how to find /b/ in the word web. I will stretch the word out slowly and you listen and see if you can find the bouncing ball. Www-e-e-eb. Now I will say it slower: Www-e-e-bbb. There it is! I felt my lips press together and then push out. I can feel the bouncing basketball in web."

 

4. Say: "Let’s try a tongue twister" [on chart]. Tickler Tale: "Bobby and Brian love basketball and practice every single day! Now let's say our tongue tickler! 'Bobby bounced a blue basketball with Brian.' Everybody say it three times together. Now say it again, and this time, stretch the /b/ at the beginning of the words. 'Bbbobby bbbounced a bbblue bbbasketball with Bbbrian.' Try it again, and this time break it off the word: '/b/ obby /b/ ounced a /b/ lue /b/ asketball with /b/ rian.'"

 

5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. Say: "We use letter B to spell /b/. Let’s write a lowercase b. Remember lowercase b has a belly. Start at the rooftop and draw a straight line down to the sidewalk. Next give b a belly. Now I want to see everyone make a bbbb-unch of b’s. After I put a sticker on it, I want you to make ten more just like it!"

 

6. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: Say: "Do you hear /b/ in apple or banana? Boy or girl? Top or bottom? Bite or kite? Blue or pink?" Say: "Let’s see if you can spot the mouth move /b/ in some words. Bounce the basketball if you hear /b/: The, big, bird, flew, behind, the, blue, house."

 

7. Say: “Let’s look at an alphabet book. The Berenstain’s tell us about three animals who bike backwards on a bike together and end up bumping into some trouble!” Read page 24, drawing out /b/. Ask the children if they can think of other animals that start with /b/. Ask children to make up what the three animals will bump into next using the letter B. Then have the children write their predictions using invented spelling and draw a picture of what they predicted. Display their work. 

 

8. Show BUG and model how to decide if it is bug or rug: "The B tells me to bounce the basketball, /b/, so this word is bbb-ug, bug. You try some: BLUE: blue or true? WET: wet or web? BORN: born or torn? MAKE: make or bake? BOOK: book or look? COB: cob or cot?"

 

9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students are to complete the partial spellings and color the pictures that begin with B. Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8.

 

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References:

Assessment worksheet: http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/b-begins2.htm

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Bouncing basketball image: https://uahbluecrew.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/happy_bouncing_basketball_photosculpture-p153694050891150108qdjh_400.jpg

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Book: Berenstain, Stan, and Jan Berenstain. The Berenstains' B Book. New York: Random House, 1971. Pg. 24.

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Bruce Murray: Brush Your Teeth with F

https://auburn.instructure.com/courses/978825/pages/lesson-design-materials

 

Haleigh Walden:  Baking Banana Bread with Betty B.

https://sites.google.com/site/waldenswonderfullessons/home/baking-banana-bread-with-betty-b

 

Hannah Shelton: Bouncing the “B” Ball

http://hbs0006.wixsite.com/readingdesigns/emergent-literacy-

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Website: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/

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basketball gif: http://www.gifmania.us/Animated-Gifs-Sports/Free-Animations-Basketball/Images-Basketballs/Basketball-Bouncing-87334.gif

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