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Zane Zips With Letter Z

EMERGENT LITERACY DESIGN

By: Amy Maynard

Rationale:

This lesson will help emergent literacy students with learning the letter Z and its phoneme of /z/. It will assist with them learning the sound that is made by pressing your teeth together and leaving their tongue flat while breathing out. Students will also practice writing the letter by drawing a horizontal line, then a slanted line moving backwards, then another horizontal line. Using a representation of the phoneme (the sound of a zipper zipping) will help the students grasp and remember the concept easier, which will help with reading. Learning phonemes is important to reading because students can decode when they come across a word they do not know.

Materials:

  1. Sound picture (zipper)

  2. Tongue tickler story for letter Z

  3. Primary paper

  4. Pencils

  5. 1/2 Cards (Just write 1 on one side and 2 on the other)

  6. Book with /z/ phoneme (I used Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire)

  7. Worksheet practicing identifying which words have letter Z

  8. Crayons, markers, or colored pencils if desired

Procedure:

  1. Say: “Hi class! In today’s lesson we are going to learn the letter Z. Z makes a /z/ sound. In order to to make this sound, touch your bottom and top teeth like you are smiling and breathe out. Let’s try it together! Ready, go!”

  2. Show a picture of a zipper on a jacket. Now say: “Z stands for zipper. Do you hear the /z/ sound in z-z-zipper. This is easy to remember because when you zip your jacket, it makes a /z/ sound. We can show the sound like this.” Gesture like you are zipping a jacket while also making the /z/ sound. “Now let us all try together. /Zzzzz/.

  3. Say: “It is time for a story. It was January and Zane was getting ready for school. He looked at the clock, it said 7:20. He knew the bus would be to his house in three minutes. However, Zane had slept late and was still in his PJs. “OH NO!” said said, as he heard the bus driving on the street next to his. Zane threw on some clothes and the first jacket he could find. He ran out the door. He sped to the bus stop and made it just in time. The cold wind had given him goose bumps and when he got on the bus, the bus driver Zoe zipped Zane’s zipper, so that he would no longer be cold. This is our tongue tickler: Zoe zipped Zane’s Zipper. Now say it with me and every time we hear the /z/ sound, we will stretch it out and make a zipping motion. Zzzzzzzoe Zzzzzipped Zzzzzzane’s Zzzzzipper. Great job! All of these words start with the letter Z, so when you read and see this letter, just remember the sound a zipper makes.

  4. Distribute primary paper to all of the students and make sure everyone has a pencil. Say: “It is time to learn how to write the letter Z. First, we are going to learn big Z.” Demonstrate on the board or your own piece of paper as you give instructions. “You start by drawing a line across the rooftop. Then draw a line that goes backward and to the sidewalk. Then, last, you draw a line going across the sidewalk that lines up with the line on the rooftop and connects to the line going backwards. That’s big letter Z!" Hold up your paper so I can see how everyone did. GREAT JOB! Now let’s practice little Z. It is the same way as big Z except the first line in on the fence. So, draw that line, then draw a line that goes backward and to the sidewalk. Then, last, you draw a line going across the sidewalk that lines up with the line on the rooftop and connects to the line going backwards. That’s little Z! Hold up your papers so I can see. EXCELLENT! Now everyone practice big and little Z on your own.” Allow them to take about 5 minutes to do this.

  5. Pass out cards with number “1” on one side and “2” on the other. Then say: “I am going to say two words at a time. The first one is word number one and the second is word number two. I want you to listen and pick out which word has the /z/ sound in it. Then when I say “go” you will hold up your card so that I can see the side with your answer. I will demonstrate first. Word number 1 is zebra and word 2 is tiger. So I say the words slowly to hear the sounds. Zzzzzeeeebbrraa, tttiiiigggeerr. I heard the /z/ sound in zzzeebra, so I hold up the number 1 since it was word 1. Anyone have a question? Alright let’s start. 1) Word number 1 is zoom and word number 2 is moon. Which has the /z/ sound, word number 1 or 2? The answer is word 1, zoom [give appropriate feedback]. Now its time for question 2) Word number 1 is lettuce and word 2 is pizza. Which word has a /z/ sound? The answer is word 2, pizza [give appropriate feedback]. Alright, last one 3) Word number 1 is picture and word number 2 is plaza. Which word has a /z/ sound? The answer is word number 2, plaza [give appropriate feedback].” Feel free to use more words here if desired or replace these.

  6. Find a book that features the phoneme z=/z/. Put Me in the Zoo, by Robert Lopshire, is a good example. Provide a booktalk. Using Lopshire’s book say: “Now we are going to read a book and every time you hear a /z/ sound I want you to do your zipping motion. In this book, spot, an unusual looking animal, thinks that he deserves to be in the zoo with all of the other amazing animals! Do you think he will ever be able to live in the zoo? We will just have to read and find out!” Proceed to read the book to the students.

  7. Have students sit in their own individual seats for the worksheet. Pass out the sheets and say: “On this worksheet there are pictures of different objects. If the object starts with a Z then circle it using a pencil [or crayon, colored pencil, or marker if they are available and it is preferred by teacher].” This provides an assessment to check for understanding.

  8. If students finish their worksheet early, they can practice their new phoneme by reading a short story.

 

References:

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