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 are going to work on spotting the mouth move /p/. We spell /p/ with letter P. Popcorn pops with the sound /p/."   

2. Say: "Let’s make the sound of popping popcorn, /p/, /p/, /p/." (Pop fingers open). "Notice how the sound is coming out; we say /p/ by opening our mouth and sending a puff of air out. We do not use our tongue to say /p/."

3. Say: "Let me show you how to find /p/ in the word open. I’m going to stretch open out in super slow motion and listen for the popping popcorn. Ooo-p-ee-nn." Slower: "Ooooo-p-eeee-nnnn – there it was! I felt my mouth open and send out a puff of air. Popping popcorn /p/ is in open."

4. Say: "Let’s try a tongue tickler!" (on sentence strip.) "Pat is hungry and wants her favorite snack, popcorn. She gets a bag and puts it in the microwave. She listens for the pop sound, pop, pop, pop. She is so happy and ready to enjoy it! Here’s our tickler: Pat’s popping popcorn pleases perfectly. Everybody say it 3 times together." Let students say the tickler. "Now say it again, and this time, stretch the /p/ out at the beginning of the words. Ppppat’s ppppopping pppopcorn pppleases ppperfectly." Let students say the tickler while stretching out /p/. "Try it again, and this time break it off of the word: /p/at’s /p/opping /p/opcorn /p/leases /p/erfectly.” Let students do so.

5. Have the students take out a sheet of primary paper and a pencil. Say: "We use letter P to spell /p/. Let’s write the lowercase letter p. Start at the top of the fence and draw a line all the way down to the ditch. Trace that line back up to the sidewalk then start to draw a circle facing right all the way up to the fence then connect the circle back to the line on the sidewalk. I want to see everybody’s p. After I put a smile on it, I want you to make 9 more just like it."

6. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: "Do you hear /p/ in jail or pen? Princess or king? Close or open? Slap or clam? Pain or game?" Say: "Let’s see if you can spot the mouth move /p/ in some words. Make your fingers pop open if you hear /p/: Carla, puts, her, pink, pencil, beside, the, pretty, yellow, pen."

7. Say: "Let’s look at a book by Laura Numeroff called 'If You Give a Pig a Pancake.' Laura Numeroff tells us about how if you give a pig a pancake, she will want some syrup to put on it. If the pig gets syrup for her pancake, she will get all sticky and need a bath! What could happen next?" Read the first page, drawing out /p/. “If you give a ppppig a pppancake.” Ask the students if they can think of other words with /p/. Ask students to create a silly name for the pig that starts with P, like "Pppprollie" or "Ppppring-pppprill-ppppriss." Then have each student write their silly name with invented spelling and draw a picture of their silly pig. Display their work.

8. Show PAIL card and model how to decide if it is pail or sail. Say: "The P tells me that it is popping

popcorn, /p/, so this word is pppp-ail, pail. You try some: PAR: par or far? NEAT: feat or neat? PICK: pick or lick? JOB: sob or job? PUN: pun or fun?"