In this lesson, students will demonstrate comprehension of literal meaning through reading, viewing, and listening to nonfiction and fiction selecting, pronouncing new words using phonics skills, and demonstrating appropriate techniques for learning new vocabulary. Students will recognize the difference between an uppercase and lower case letter, learn the letter’s sound, and be able to write the letter in both lower and upper case. This lesson is also a great lesson for young children to practice their handwriting. This lesson includes the use of quality literature and appropriate learning materials for kindergartners.
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Concepts to be taught: literal meaning of reading
1. Students will recognize the difference between the upper case letter “M” and the lower case letter “m”.
2. Students will learn the letter-sound recognition for the letter “M”.
3. Students will be able to write the letter “M” in both upper and lower case.
1. The book If You Give A Mouse A Muffin
2. A transparency of the alphabet
3. Printed out handwriting paper
4. Crayons or markers
5. Construction Paper
1. Review (find out the student’s prior knowledge of the ABC’s and in particular the letter “M”.
• Ask the children to sing the ABC’s for you.
• Use the alphabet board that lines the top of the chalkboard to introduce the letter “M”.
• Ask the students if they know any words or any names that start with the letter “M”.
• Have the children practice the sound of the letter after you introduce it. Tell them a silly tongue twister that has all of the beginning words starting with “M”.
2. Teach the children how to write the letter “M” by showing them the correct way to write the letter on the board. Have lines already drawn nice and big so the whole class can see them.
• First do the upper case letter and tell them a little riddle that goes along with making the letter. Example: Two tall trees with a v in the middle (the class has already learned the letter V.
• Hand out paper that has writing lines on it and have the students write the letter.
• Continue this same procedure for the lower case letter m.
• On the overhead place the Alphabet Tree overlay and have either the lower case m or the upper case M in each square.
• Point to each of the squares and have the children say the sound it makes and tell you whether it is a lower case letter or an upper case.
• Randomly ask to make a lower case “m” in the tree. Eventually go on to the upper case “M”.
3. Have the students put away their handwriting work and gather into the story telling area of the room. Before introducing the book get a little bit of background knowledge by having the children make the sound of the first letter that is in there name (assuming that the lesson is taught at the end of the year, and you have already learned most of the other letters).
• On the board behind you write the letter your name starts with and say they sound it makes.
4. Introduce the book “If you give a Mouse a Muffin” by Laura Numeroff to the class.
• Point out hat the mouse and the muffin start out with the same letter.
• Discuss the other book, which is called If You Give A Pig a Pancake to the class. Encourage them to identify what is similar about the
5. Read the story out loud to the class.
• Ask the children questions about the book. Go around to a few of the children and ask them what other foods besides muffin start with the letter m.
• Tell the students that they need to let the mouse eat something else. Help the students understand the concept of having the mouse eat something that starts with the letter m. Tell the students that they are going to design there own book covers and there very own title.
• Offer some help when thinking of foods that start with the letter “M”.
• Invite the students to come up with their own creative titles that include a mouse and a food that starts with the letter “M>
• If teaching this lesson when close to the end of the letter chain have the students make up a title that belongs with the letter of their first name. EX. If You Give a Taco to Tracy.
• Put Laura Numeroff s book in the front of the classroom on display for motivation for the students.
6. Let each child choose what color of construction paper that they would like to use for their book covers.
7. Help the students print their stories onto the book covers. Tell the students that they are the authors and they have to illustrate the covers. Let them look at examples and have them write their names on it.
8. Using crayons and markers let the students illustrate their covers. Encourage them to use the animal and food they chose on their covers.
• Display the art in alphabetical order and have a title on the bulletin board that reads,”If you Give…”
When concentrating on the whole alphabet you could fill in the blanks of the alphabet tree with all different letters and have the children name them when you point to them. You could also leave out letters after putting them in ABC form and them have the students come up and fillin the missing letters.
• Evaluate the students on their handwriting skills and by walking around to them when they are practicing the skills.
• Have an overhead transparency that has sentences like the following. Have the children underline the words that start with the letter “M”
1. The man ate a mustard hotdog and drank nine glasses of milk.
2. Matt told his mother that he made a mask for Halloween.
3. Monkeys live at the Minnesota Zoo.
4. At the mall people meet friends.
• The students would also underline the capital M’s and circle the lower case m’s.
• Also have the children read the other students book covers and have them tell a short story