Zack the Zebra Learns to Zip with Z
Emergent Literacy
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 (zipping) 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:
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Primary paper and pencil (one per student)
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Chart with “Zack the zebra learns to zip with z”
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Drawing paper and crayons
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Word cards with ZOO, ZAP, ZONE, ZOOM, ZERO, ZONE, ZEAL
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Cards with 1 on one side and 2 on the other (one per student)
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Assessment worksheet identifying pictures with /z/ (URL below)
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Gif of letter z (URL below)
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Zipper gif (URL below)
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Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire
Procedures:
1. Say: Our written language is a secret code. It can be tricky at times because we may not know what letters stand for- the mouth moves as we say words. Today we are going to work on spotting the mouth move /z/. When we spell /z/ we spell it with the letter z. Z sounds like the noise a zipper makes like “zzzz”.
2. Let’s pretend to zip a zipper, /z/, /z/, /z/.Notice where your tongue is? Your lips and teeth are apart, but your tongue is touching the roof of your mouth. Now when you make the /z/ sound, pretend like your zipping your jacket up. Every time we make the /z/ sound we are going to pretend to zip our jacket up.
3. Let me show you how to find /z/ in the word zebra. I’m going to stretch zebra out in super slow motion and listen for my zipper. Zzzzz-eee-bra. Slower: Zzzzz-eeee-bbb-rrr-aaaa. There it was! I felt my tongue touch the roof of my mouth and my teeth were apart! Zipper /z/ is in zebra.
4. Now let’s try a tongue tickler [on chart]. Zizzi got some new zesty pants. She zips up all ten zippers on her pants. The zippers are super slippery and sometimes fly out of her hand. But, before Zizzi leaves the house, all of her zippers are zipped and she is ready to go. Here’s our tickler: ”Zizzi’s zippy zipper zips.”
5. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: Do you hear /z/ in zap or tap? Zoom or boom? Now let’s see if you can recognize the motion of /z/. When you hear /z/, pretend to zip your jacket up. If you don’t hear it, put your hands on the table. Say: zoom, lake, gym, zebra, sang, zip.
6. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. We use letter z to spell /z/. Capital Z looks like a zipper. First, you draw a short line on the rooftop, then you draw a diagonal to the left down the sidewalk. Then you draw a short line to the right on the sidewalk. I will do this with them on the whiteboard a couple of times and then have them do it on their own 5 times. While they are doing this, I will walk around and observe their work. Not say: Let’s write the lowercase letter z. It is the same motion, just smaller! You start with a short line on the fence, go down in a diagonal to the left until you hit the sidewalk, then draw a short line on the sidewalk. I will once again model this for them on the board and look around at how they are doing. I will have them practice this letter 5 times as well.
7. Find a book that features the phoneme z=/z/. Put Me in the Zoo, by Robert Lopshire, is a great book to read. Provide a booktalk. Using Lopshire’s book say: “Now we are going to read a book about the zoo and all the animals in the zoo. Every time you hear /z/ make the zipping sound! In this book, we will have to go on a mission to see which animal wants to get in the zoo but can’t. Do you think he will ever make it in the zoo? Let’s see!” Proceed to read the book to the students. Once done with the book, have them draw out /z/. Ask if they can think of other words with /z/. Ask them to make up a silly creature name like Zilly-zip-zoo. Then have each student write their silly name with invented spelling and draw a picture of their creature. Display their work.
8. Show zoo and model how to decide if it is zoo or moo: The z tells me to zip my zipper, /z/, so this word is zzz-oo, zoo. Now it’s their turn to try some. Pass out cards with a 1 on one side and a 2 on the other. When you read the words have them hold up the card for if they think the first word has /z/ in it, or if the second word has /z/ in it. It’s time to play the game! “Hold up a 1 if you hear /z/ in _______ and hold up a 2 if you hear /z/ in ________”. ZIP: zip or tip? ZAP: zap or tap? ZERO: zero or hero? ZONE: zone or cone? ZEAL: zeal or seal?
9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students are to complete the partial spellings and color in the pictures that start with z. Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8.
References:
Murray, Bruce; Emergent Literacy Design: Brush Your Teeth with F.