Rationale: This lesson will help children identify /b/, the phoneme represented by B. This lesson will teach students to recognize /b/ in spoken words by learning a meaningful representation (bouncing a ball) and the letter symbol B, practice finding /b/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /b/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.

 

Materials: Primary paper and pencil; chart with "Bill and Betty baked brown bread for Barbara’s baby"; drawing paper and crayons; sound analogy card for B, using a ball (see URL)[1]; word cards with BOX, PET, MAD, BARK, BACK, and BAT; letter B b practice sheet (see URL)[2]; assessment worksheet identifying pictures with /b/ (see URL)[3]

 

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 making our mouth move to say /b/. We spell /b/ with letter B. B looks like a butterfly, and /b/ sounds like a bouncing ball.

 

2. Let's pretend to bounce a ball, /b/, /b/, /b/. [Pantomime bouncing ball] Press your lips together, then open them and breathe a puff of air out. Use sound!

3. Let me show you how to find /b/ in the word BOY. I'm going to stretch boy out in super slow motion and listen for my bouncing ball. Bbb-o-o-yyy. Slower: Bbb-o-o-o-yyy. There it was! I felt my lips touch, then open with a puff of air. Bouncing ball /b/ is in boy.

4. Let's try a tongue tickler [on chart]. Bill and Betty baked brown bread for Barbara’s baby. Here’s our tickler: " Bill and Betty baked brown bread for Barbara’s baby." Everybody say it three times together. Now say it again, and this time, stretch the /b/ at the beginning of the words. " Bbbbill and Bbbbbetty bbbbbaked bbbbbrown bbbbbread for Bbbbbbarbara’s bbbaby." Try it again, and this time break it off the word: /B/ill and /B/etty /b/aked /b/rown /b/read for /B/arbara’s /b/aby.

5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. We use letter B to spell /b/. Capital B looks like a butterfly. Let's write the lowercase letter b. Start just below the rooftop. Draw a line all the way down to the sidewalk, follow the line back up to the fence, and then make a loop and connect it to your line on the sidewalk. I want to see everybody's b. After I put a smile on it, I want you to make nine more just like it.

6. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: Do you hear /b/ in cub or come? blue or purple? good or bad? kite or bite? girl or boy? Say: Let's see if you can spot the mouth move /b/ in some words. Bounce the ball if you hear /b/: Barbara, bounced, the, soccer, ball, by, the, bleachers, in, the, gym.

Practice: The student will complete the letter b practice sheet; Say: "We’re going to get to practice what we’re learning! It’s going to be so fun checking to see what we’ve learned, and start thinking because you will be get to draw and color something to show the class that starts with b at the end!" First ask the students to circle the letters B and b, then ask them to write each five times. Emphasize how fun it is that they are learning new skills and becoming better readers and writers! Ask them to write a few words that start with b, and let their reward be getting to draw a picture of an object that starts with b! Let them use crayons and present their work to the class (see URL 3).

7. Say: "Let's look at an alphabet book. Time to Be Born is about a farming father who needs help from his kids, but they’re asleep, and a storm is coming. What is he going to do?!" Ask children if they can think of other words with /b/. Ask them to make up a silly animal name.

 

8. Show BOX and model how to decide if it is box or ox: The B tells me to bounce the ball, /b/, so this word is bbbox, box. You try some: PET: net or pet? MAD: mad or bad? BARK: bark or dark? BACK: sack or back? BAT: mat or bat?

9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students color the pictures that begin with B. Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8.

 

[1] http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/JPGimagesanalogies/B.jpg

[2] https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/alphabet/letter-b-practice.pdf?up=1466611200

 

[3] https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics-beginningsounds/letter-b_WFFMM.pdf?up=1466611200

 

Reference: Lora Haghighi, Bouncing B’s

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/voyages/haghighiel.html