Gulping, Glugging, Grape Soda G

Rationale: In this lesson, children will learn to identify /g/, the phoneme represented by G. Students will also be able to recognize /g/ in spoken words by learning the sound analogy of gulping soda /g/, /g/, /g/. They will practice finding /g/ in spoken words with a tongue tickler. They will also listen to a snippet from Dr. Seuss’s ABC (Random House, 1963) to help solidify the /g/ phoneme. For assessment, they will apply phoneme awareness with /g/ through phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words with the words beginning letters. Likewise, they will participate in a worksheet activity involving G. 

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Materials:

1. Handheld mirrors

2. Primary paper and pencils

3. Posterboard or whiteboard with “Gopher Greg gulps grape soda.” 

4. Dr. Seuss’s ABC (Random House, 1963)

5. Word cards with GOT, MASS, GATE, NAME, GAP, and GOAT

6. Assessment worksheet tracing words and coloring pictures that start with /g/ (URL below)

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Procedures:

1. Explain: Say: Our written language is like a secret code. The trickiest part is learning what each letter stands for and the mouth moves we make when we say words. Today we are going to work on spotting the mouth move /g/. We spell /g/ with the letter G. G looks like a round waiter holding a tray, and /g/ sounds like we are gulping when we are really thirsty.

2. Review: Say: Let’s pretend to gulp a soda like we are really thirsty, /g/, /g/, /g/. [Pantomime holding a glass to mouth and gulping a drink]. Think about where your tongue is in your mouth and the shape of your mouth. When you say /g/, your mouth is open, your tongue is arched, touching the back of your mouth, and your voice is on. [Use the mirrors to look inside the mouth and point out the mouth moves to your students].

3. Model: Say: I am going to show you how to find /g/ in a word. First, I want to feel the mouth move that I am making when I say /g/. My mouth is open, my tongue is arched touching the back of my mouth, and my voice is on, /g/, /g/, /g/. So, with the word gal, I want to say the word really slowly and focus on the mouth moves and the sounds that my mouth is making. /g/ /g/ aaaa-llllll, we here the gulping /g/ sound at the beginning of the word. Now you all try.

4. Oral Practice: Say: Let’s try out a tongue tickler [on poster or on the board]. Listen for /g/ as I tell a story. There is a little gopher named Greg and he lived in Pennsylvania. His cousin Phil is really famous for going out, but this little gopher Greg enjoys being lazy and hiding in his hole. He is almost always eating junk food and watching golf. Gopher Greg gulps grape soda so fast; it is his favorite drink. This is our tickler: ‘Gopher Greg gulps grape soda.’ Everybody say it three times altogether. [Make sure to demonstrate raising your glass and gulping the /g/ whenever it appears in the tickler.] Good job! Now this time when we say it, gulp the /g/ whenever you hear it in the word twice. ‘G-g-opher G-g-reg-g g-g-ulps g-g-rape soda.’ This last time let’s break gulping /g/ off the words: ‘/g/ opher /g/ re /g/ /g/ ulps /g/ rape soda.’

5. Listening Practice: Alright, now we are going to listen for gulping /g/ in words. [Call on students to answer and tell how they knew /g/ was in the word]. Do you hear /g/ in glass or sand? Gasp or sigh? Lamb or goat? Tote or bag? Ghost or fairy? Now let’s see if you can spot the mouth move /g/ in some words. Raise your glass to your mouth if you hear /g/. Gary, went, grocery, shopping, and, got, some, grapes.  

6. Writing Practice: [Pass out primary paper and have students take out pencil]. We use letter G to spell /g/. Capital G looks like a round waiter holding a tray. Let’s write capital G. Form a C that touches the rooftop and the sidewalk, then come back to the fence and give him a tray to hold straight. Now for lowercase g. Make a C that touches the fence and the sidewalk, now draw a straight line to close off your C, then dip down to the ditch and come up in a swoop. Perfect, now we can all write capital and lowercase g. I am going to come around and put a checkmark on each of your papers, then I want you to make nine more just like it so we can all get really good at making the letter g.

7. Use it with Connected Text: Let’s look at a book of the alphabet. [book talk] Dr. Seuss tells us about a cute little girl and her pet, and a friend that wears wacky goggles! [Read page 19, breaking of the /g/ while showing pages 18 and 19.] Now I am going to read it again slowly, and this time I want you to quietly raise your glasses and whisper /g/ when you hear gulping /g/.

8. Phonetic Cue Reading: [Show GOT and model how to decide if it is got or rot.] The G tells me to gulp, /g/, so this word is g-g-ot, got. Now you try some: MASS: is this mass or gas? GATE: is this gate or fate? NAME: is this game or name? GAP: is this gap or lap? GOAT: is this boat or goat?

9. Assess: For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Read the directions and have the student trace the words and color the pictures that begin with G. Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8.

Reference:

Dr. Seuss, Dr. Seuss’s ABC. New York: Beginner Books, 1963, pgs. 18-19.

Regan Weakley, Gulp Your Glass with G, https://reganweakley.wixsite.com/literacylessons/emergent-literacy

Assessment Worksheet: https://twistynoodle.com/trace-the-words-that-begin-with-the-letter-g-coloring-page/