Lesson Plan for a Kindergarten Teacher (Technical Document)

Goal: Initial Consonants

When coming to the new words on each page of a book, produce the sound of the initial consonant. Then scan the picture for the main idea that starts with that letter sound. Be able to do this with 14 consonants.

Goal Description:

Good readers use the knowledge of initial consonants to figure out unknown words when they read. This goal involves getting the mouth ready to produce the initial consonant of a new word and then actually producing the sound of the first letter of the word. Then be able to use picture clues to find the main idea that starts with that letter sound. Students will develop the alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness necessary for using initial consonants in reading and writing. At this level, the student should be able to do this with at least 14 of the consonants as they occur at the beginning of words.

· Example: If a reader comes to the word “waffle” while reading and does not know this word, they know to make the “w” sound and then look at the picture to confirm the unknown word.

Script to Teach the Goal:

1. Teach Initial Consonants: Note: If the student has already mastered all of the consonant sounds, skip down to #2.

● What are letters and why do we need them?

Help students think about some of these big ideas.

o Talk about how people invented letters, the alphabet, to stand in for various speech sounds. They made a code of speech sounds using letters. In order to read, we need to be able to decode the letters back into speech sounds. (Not all languages use an alphabet. Some use other systems)

● Consonant Introduction

○ Talk about how the alphabet has 26 letters and sing the alphabet with them. Tell them that these letters are what tell them what sounds to say when they read. We’re going to start with consonants.

● Teach Consonants with Slides Use the consonant slides (PowerPoint presentation of each consonant) to go through sounds with the student:

○ Go through each slide teaching the consonant sounds

As you go through each slide:

■ Discuss the name of the letter, its sound, and the example that is given.

■ List other words that begin with that sound.

○ Now use these slides to “test” the student, making note of the ones the student does not know.

● Teach Individual Consonants with Videos

Use individual videos found on YouTube to help with specific sounds: (Focus on the sounds the student doesn’t know)

● Teach Consonants with Consonant Books

○ Now they will look at some consonant books.

○ With the Consonant books:

■ Introduce and have students focus on the most needed consonant sound books. Example: If the student is having trouble with letter w, work through that book first and all other letters (books) the student is still having trouble with.

■ As you go through each book:

● Discuss the name of the letter, its sound, and the example that is given.

● List other words that begin with that sound.

2. Teach Initial Sounds in Words:

● Talk about how good readers use the beginning letters in words to help them figure out words that they do not know. They are going to review finding the first sound in a word. Look at the word “House” below:

What letter is at the beginning of this word?

What sound does that letter make?

Could this word be “bear?” Why not?

Could it be “road?” Why not?

“House”

● Now practice more words with the students like “jump, lion, mouth, book.” For each word have the student tell you the sound of the beginning letter of the word. Example: For “jump:” the student makes the “j” sound.

3. Teach Using Initial Consonant Sounds When Reading:

● Teach students how to use initial consonant sounds by telling them that when they get to a word on the page that they don’t know:

○ Say the sound of the first letter in the word.

○ Look at the picture as you say it and decide what the word could be.

● Watch a YouTube video together with the student to see what using initial consonants while reading looks like.

How To Know The Student Has Mastered This Goal

The student is able to use the beginning sound of a word to decode unknown words. This will be observed by reading with the student and observing him/her do this.

Also, the student should be able to give the sound for at least 14 consonants.