Rationale:

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

 

Materials:

Primary paper and pencil; chart with "Zeke the zebra zoomed zig zags past Zoe at the zoo”; drawing paper and crayons; Put Me in the Zoo (Lopshire, Robert. Put me in the zoo. Random House Publishers. 1960.); word cards with ZIP, ZEAL, ZAP, PEST, ZIG, ZIT, ZOO, ROOM; assessment worksheet identifying pictures with /z/ (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 words. Today we're going to work on spotting the mouth move /z/. We spell /z/ with letter Z. Have you ever heard someone playing the kazoo with the letter z? The letter /z/ sounds just like the sound of a Kazoo.

 

2. Say: Let's pretend we are playing a song with the kazoo. Now say “/z/, /z/, /z/”. [Pantomime playing the kazoo] Did you notice how your tongue touched your top teeth and you blew air through your teeth? That’s what happens when we say the letter /z/.

 

3. Say: Let me show you how to find /z/ in the word fuzz. I'm going to stretch fuzz out in super slow motion and listen for my kazoo. F-uu-zzzz. Slower: F-uu-zzzz. There it was! I felt my tongue touch my top teeth and I am blowing air through my teeth. I can hear the kazoo /z/ in fuzz. What about cake? C-aa-k-e. No, I do not feel my mouth making the right moves in cake.

 

4. Say: Now let's try a tongue tickler! The zebras at the zoo have gotten loose! They are racing each other, and no one can catch them! So for our tongue tickler, we may say "Zeke the zebra zoomed zig zags past Zoe at the zoo." Let’s say it three times together. That was great! Now let’s say it again, and this time, stretch the /z/ at the beginning of the words. "Zzzeke the zzzebra zzzomed zzzig zzzags past ZZZoe at the zzzoo." Let’s try it one more time and this time break the /z/ off the word: "/z / eke the /z/ ebra /z/ oomed /z/ ig /z/ ags past /z/ oe at the /z/ oo”.

 

5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. We use letter Z to spell /z/. Let's write the lowercase letter z. Start on the fence. Make a line along the fence, then zig-zag from the end of that line on the fence, to just below the start of the fence line on the sidewalk. Then make a similar line on the sidewalk back the other way. Your line on the sidewalk should be just like your line on the fence. Do you see how your /z/ makes a zig-zag? I want to see everyone’s z. Once I put a star on your paper, I want you to make six more of them!

 

6. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew. Say: Do you hear /z/ in fuzzy or furry? Map or maze? Zig or jig? Zero or four? Zane or cane? Say: “Let's see if you can spot the mouth move /z/ in some words”. Pretend to play the kazoo if you hear the /z/: pen, zag, freeze, red, zen, bag, melt, or fizz.

 

7. Say: “Now we’re going to read the book, “Put Me in the Zoo.”  This book is about an animal who wants more than anything to live in the zoo! In order be allowed to live in the zoo, the animal tries to impress everyone with some super cool tricks he can do with his spots. Will he ever get to live in the zoo?  I’m going to read the book now, and when you her the /z/ sound, I want you to pretend to play the kazoo. Once everyone is doing it, we’ll all pretend to play the kazoo, and then we’ll make the /z/ sound.”  After we have finished the book, the children will get the chance to make up their own silly name for the animal in the book. Say: “Now I want everyone to make up their own silly name for the animal who wants to be in the zoo, like Zillly-Zoopery-Zen, or Zaggy-Zuzzy-Zoo! I want everyone to write their own name, their silly name with invented spelling, and a drawing of their favorite trick the animal did with his spots”. Display their work.

 

8. Show ZIP and model how to decide if it is zip or tip. The Z tells me to play my kazoo, /z/, so this word is zzz-ip, zip. You try some: ZEAL: zeal or deal? ZAP: zap or cap? PEST: zest or pest? ZIG: zig or fig? ZIT: zit or pit? ZOO: zoo or boo? ROOM: room or zoom?

 

9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students are to complete the partial spellings and then identify and color the pictures that begin with /z/. Students are to be called up individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8 while they work on the worksheet.

 

Reference:

Emma Wall, Zip Up Your Coat With Z. https://ecwall2014.wixsite.com/lessondesign/emergent-literacy-design

Lopshire, Robert. Put me in the zoo. Random House Publishers. 1960.

Mrs. Alker’s Buzz Like a Z with the Letter Z. http://bll0016.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/emergent-literacy

Assessment Worksheet: http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/z-begins2.htm