Emergent Literacy Design
Emergent Literacy Design: Flying Around With Vinny The Insect
Rationale:
This lesson will help children identify /v/, the phoneme represented by v.
Students will learn to recognize /v/ in spoken words by learning a sound analogy
of an insect (vinny) flying and the letter symbol v, practice finding /v/ in words,
and apply phoneme awareness with /v/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming
words from beginning letters.
Materials:
Copy paper, primary paper, crayons and markers, The Viper by Lisa Thieng, and 2 assessment
Worksheets- TurtleDiary’s “Identifying Lowercase and Uppercase Letter V” worksheet & My
Teaching Stations’ “Letter Sound Recognition” worksheet
Procedures:
1. Say: Explain that 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 /v/. We
spell /v/ with the letter v. V looks like it could fit right in between the wings of the bug shown above,
and /v/ sounds like the noise of an insect flying around.
2. Let's pretend like we are an insect flying to our favorite place. Take your imaginary
wings and start your flight….. and /v/, /v/, “vvvvvvvvvvv” [Pantomime flying while making this noise]
Notice where your top teeth are? (Touching lower lip). And how your lips are slightly open?
When we say /v/, we hum between our top teeth and lower lip and the noise is made.
3. Let me show you how to find /v/ in the word lover. I'm going to stretch lover
out in super slow motion and listen for my insect flying sound. lll-ooo-vv-eeee-rrr.
Slower: llllllll-oooooooo-vvvvvvv-eeeeee-rrrrrr.
There it was! I felt my insect flying and my top teeth and lower lip touch! So the insect flying V is
in lover.
4. Let's try a tongue tickler. Vinny loves playing his violin. He plays it very loud and makes his Aunt
Veronica so proud. Veronica visits his house to hear Vinny play the violin every Tuesday!
Here’s our tickler: "Vinny loves playing violin and Veronica visits to hear."
Everybody say it three times together. Now say it again, and this time, stretch the /v/ at the beginning
of the words."vvvvinny loves playing vvvvvviolin and vvvveronica vvvvvisits to hear"
Try it again, and this time break it off the word:
"/v/inny loves playing /v/iolin and /v/eronica /v/isits to hear."
"/v/inny loves playing /v/iolin and /v/eronica /v/isits to hear."
5. [Have students take out primary paper, copy paper, and a pencil]. We use letter v to spell /v/.
Let's write the lowercase letter v. Start at the dotted middle line and draw a diagonal line down to
the right all the way to the sidewalk and then a diagonal line back up to the right ending at the dotted
line. I want to see everybody's v. After I put a smiley face on it, I want you to make five more just like
it. Next draw you an insect like Vinny the fly and put our little v in his wings.
6. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: Do you hear /v/ in-
Wave or water?
Van or Cab?
Move or stop?
Five or four?
Shovel or flower?
Say: Let's see if you can spot the mouth move /v/ in some words. Fly like Vinny if you hear /v/:
plan, move, cave, jab, love, never, silver, cow, movie
7. Say: "Let's look at this book, The Viper By Lisa Thiesing. “The Viper is about Peggy the Pig
getting a strange phone call. "I am zee Viper!" the voice says. Poor Peggy! She is scared.
Who - or what - is the Viper? Can you guess? The answer is surprising and silly, just like this book.”
We are going to read a little bit about the Viper while drawing a lowercase v. Once you draw your /v/,
draw what or who you think the Viper is. Once the Viper is revealed as the class if they can think
of anything else that starts with the letter /v/.
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8. Present the word VIDEO and model how you would find if video has the /v/ sound
or not. “Video, vvvvvv-i-d-E-O” Next have the students attempt to do the same thing…
LEVEL: level or flat?
VAN: van or can?
VINE: vine or pine?
FIVE: five or four?
Ask how they know this and have them really emphasize the /v/ sound.
9. For assessment, distribute both of the worksheets.
Students color the circles that have a v to create a chain. Next the student will circle the /v/ and then
best identify the picture presented. After time given to complete the worksheet call students
And ask them to identify the pictures and where the v sound is at in the words.
Worksheets-
https://www.myteachingstation.com/recognize-the-sound-of-the-letter-v
https://www.turtlediary.com/worksheet/identifying-lowercase-and-uppercase-letter-v.html
The Viper by Lisa Thiesing-
https://www.themeasuredmom.com/8-letter-v-books/
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References-
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/awakenings/smithREL.htm
https://sites.google.com/site/ctrd3710site/home/emergent-literacy-design
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFtxvhQX-nU
https://www.themeasuredmom.com/letter-v/
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