Rationale: This lesson will help children identify /k/, the phoneme represented by the letter k. Students will learn to recognize /k/ in spoken words by learning a sound analogy (the clicking of unlocking a door) and the letter symbol k, practice finding /k/ in words, and distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters.

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Materials: 'K is Key' poster or card sheet; poster for "Kennedy wasn't kind in kindergarten when he kicked Kate in the kitchen;" primary paper and pencils; "K is for Kissing a Cool Kangaroo" by Giles Andreae (Orchard Books 2000); kangaroo coloring worksheet; crayons; word cards with KIND, KITTEN, RING, HISS, KIN; assessment worksheet identifying pictures with /k/ (below)

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Procedures:

1.  Say, "When the words we say to each other are written out, it's like a secret code we have to crack! Reading is cracking the code. In order to read we have to understand what each letter stands for and how some letters make our mouths move in certain ways. Today we are going to learn how the mouth moves for /k/. We spell /k/ with the letter k. The letter k kind of looks like the end of a key. /K/ makes the sound of someone turning a key in a lock."

2. Demonstrate to students how to unlock with a key. Raise your arm so that your elbow makes a 90 degree angle and your wrist is parallel to the floor. With forearm facing upwards, pinch your thumb against your fingers [as if holding a key]. Rotate your arm so that you end looking at the back of your hand and make a /k/,/k/,/k/ sound to imitate unlocking a door. Instruct students to do the same, imitating the /k/ sound as they do it. Instruct students to notice where their tongue is in their mouth. Say, "The back of your tongue is touching the top of your mouth. Your mouth is open the whole time, but gets bigger when you release your tongue off the roof of your mouth, widening like an opened, unlocked door."

3. Say, “Now I am going to show you where to find /k/ in the word, 'bike.' I am going to stretch ‘like’ out super slow and listen for the key turning. B-I-I-I-k. Now even slower. Buuuhhhh - I-I-I-I-I - kuuuhhh. Kuh! There it is! I felt my mouth get wider and my tongue lower from the top of my mouth. I unlocked the door with my / k/, key!”

4. Say, “ Let's try a Tongue Tickler. This Tongue Tickler is about our friend Kate! [On chart.] Kate is in kindergarten and likes to help her teacher, Mrs. Karen, by cleaning the kitchen. One day Kennedy was in a bad mood and kicked Kate! Kennedy wasn't kind in kindergarten when he kicked Kate in the kitchen. Everybody say it together! Now let's say it one more time and stretch out our /k/, key at the beginning of the words. Kkkkennedy wasn't kkkkind in kkkkindergarten when he kkkkicked Kkkkate in the kkkkitchen. Try it again, but this time break /k/ off the word. /K/-ennedy wasn't /k/-ind in /k/-indergarten when he /k/-icked /K/-ate in the /k/-itchen. 

5. [Have students take our primary paper and pencil]. Say, "We use the letter k to spell /k/. Capital K looks like a really big key for a really big door. Start your pencil at the roof and draw a straight line to the floor. To draw the top lock of the key, go back to the rook and move to the right a bit. Draw a diagonal line from the roof and touch the middle of the line halfway through. To draw the bottom lock of the key, keep your pencil at the same spot on the straight part and draw a diagonal line to the floor." (Repeat instructions for lowercase k, except the top is shorter. The top line starts at the fence post and meets the body and leg in between the fence post.) Say, "I want everyone to show me their k's! Keep practicing with them until your paper receives a smiley-face sticker from me!"

6. Ask the following  questions and call on students to answer why they believe their answer is correct, "Do you hear /k/ in key or door? Keep or steal? Hug or kiss? King or prince?" Say, "Let's see if you can spot the mouth movement of /k/ in some more words. I am going to read a sentence and I want you to turn your key if you hear me say /k/. The, kind, King, had, to, kayak, down, the, stream, to, kiss, the, kitten."

7. Say, "Let's look at the book with all the wild animals in it! Some of these animals are far away in Australia!" Read page 13 of "K is for Kissing a Cool Kangaroo" and draw out the /k/. Ask the students if they can think of any other words that start with /k/. They can color the kangaroo and display it. 

8. Show KID and model how to decide if the word is kid or lid. Say, "The k tells me to turn the /k/ key/, so this word is kkkkid, kid. You try some: KIND: kind or find? KITTEN: Kitten or mitten? RING: King or ring? HISS: Kiss or hiss? KIN: kin or tin?"

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

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References:

 "Kicking Karate with K" by Caroline Whitehead

https://cwhitehead0029.wixsite.com/cgwhitehead/emergent-literacy 

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Andreae, Giles and Guy Parker-Rees. K is for Kissing a Cool Kangaroo. Orchard 2009. 

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Assessment:

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