Phon-ercise

All right, everybody.  Time to phon-ercise.
Put your hands in the air and say the letter.
Touch your shoulders and make the letter sound.
Touch the ground and name a word that begins with that sound.
A (Touch head.)
/a/ (Touch shoulders.)
Alligator  (Touch the ground.)
B  (Touch head.)
/b/  (Touch shoulders.)
Ball  (Touch the ground.)
Cat – duck – egg – fish – girl –
House – iguana – jelly – king –
Lion – mouse – nest – octopus –
Pig – queen – ring – sun – top –
Umbrella – vest – wagon – x-ray
Yoyo – zipper

*Links to a PowerPoint that goes with the song, as well as a phon-ercise video

I Know An Old Man
Who Swallowed a Letter

I know an old man who swallowed an A.
What would he say if he swallowed an A?  /a/
What could he eat if he swallowed an A?
Apples, apricots, asparagus
Adorable A!

B - bologna, bubblegum, beans (Beautiful B)
C - cookies, cabbage, carrots (Cool C)
D - donuts, dates, dumplings (Darling D)
E - eggs, egg plant, eggnog (Exciting E)
F - fish, French fries, figs (Fantastic F)
G – garlic, grits, grilled cheese (Gorgeous G)
H – honey, hotdogs, hamburgers (Happy H)
I – instant pudding, itty bitty food  (Incredible I)
J – jelly, jello, jam (Jolly J)
K – kiwi, kabobs, ketchup (Kind K)
L – lemons, limes, lollipops  (Likeable L)
M – milk, macaroni, marshmallows (Marvelous M)
N – nuts,  noodles, nuggets (Nice N)
O – olives, omelet, onions (Omnipotent O)
P – peanuts, pickles, pears (Precious P
Q – quince, quiche, quail (Quiet Q)
R – raisins, raspberries, ravioli (Ravishing R)
S – sandwiches, salad, soup (Super S)
T – turkey, tofu, tomatoes (Terrific T)
U – upside down cake and ugly fruit (Understanding U)
V – vanilla, vegetables, vinegar (Vivacious V)
W – watermelon, waffles, walnuts (Wonderful W)
X – x on a hot cross bun (X-cellent X)
Y – yogurt, yellow cake, yellow pudding (Youthful Y)
Z – zucchini, Zweiback, He’s full, so that’s the end!

• Draw a man’s face with a large open mouth on the board.  Place magnetic letters in his mouth as you sing.
• Decorate a small swing trashcan to look like a man.  Insert letters in his mouth as you sing.

Deck the Room

Deck the room with letters and sounds.
Abcdefg
Listen up and look around.
Hijklmnop
Get a book and you will see
Qrstuv
Words and letters read with me
Wxyz
A for alphabet /a/a/a/
B for boys /b/b/b/b/
C for cafeteria      D for door
E for exit             F for fun
G for girls            H for hall
I for inch              J for jump rope
K for kids             L for library
M for music         N for note
O for office           P for P.E.
Q for quiet           R for restroom
S for singing        T for teacher
U for understand   V for voices
W for worksheets  X   “x” marks the spot
Y for yellow          Z the end of the alphabet

• Send children on a “word hunt” around the classroom or school.  Can they find a word for each letter?
• Take photographs of different signs in your school or community and use them to make an alphabet book or environmental print book called “We Can Read!”
  

Alphabet Train

All aboard the alphabet train!
A, B, C, D,
E, F, G,
H, I, J, K,
L, M, N, O, P.
Q, R, S, T,
U and V.
W, X, Y,
*Download a PowerPoint for Alphabet Train.

ABC Kickbox

Let’s all jump up and kick box the alphabet.   (Dukes up, shoulders back, elbows in and make small circles with fists.)
Jab with your right hand and say the letter
Then punch across with your left as you make the sound.
Back on your right foot to begin.
A - /a/
B - /b/
C…Z
Speed bag and make little circles.  (Up, down, left, right.)
Upper cut.  (Punch up by forehead.)
Hook.  (Bring fist down and then hook and come up.)
This time we’re going to say the alphabet backwards starting with Z.
We’ll jab with our left hand and say the letter;
Then punch across with the right as you make the sound.
Back on your left foot to begin.
Z - /z/
Y - /y/
X…A

*Download PowerPoint for ABC Kickbox.

Go Letters!

Goooo A!  /a/ /a/ /a/  (Roll arms and right fist in air as you make the sound.)
Goooo B!  /b/ /b/ /b/  (Roll arms and left fist in the air with sound.)
Goooo C!  ….Z

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Vowel Song

A makes two sounds.  (Echo each line.)
/A/ and /a/.
/A/ for apron, /a/ for apple.
/A/ and /a/.
/E/ and /e/ - eagle and elephant…
/I/ and /i/ - ice cream and inchworm…
/O/ and /o/ - open and octopus…
/U/ and /u/ - ukulele and uncle…
*Download Vowel Song book by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

 

Vowel

Family

 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Aggie had an allergy
and she would always sneeze-o  (Pretend to sneeze.)
/a/a/a/a/a/  /a/a/a/a/a/  /a/a/a/a/a/  
And she would always sneeze-o.
Grandpa Eddie stayed in shape
and he would exercise-o      (Pretend to lift weights.)
/e/e/e/e/e/  /e/e/e/e/e/   /e/e/e/e/e/
He liked to exercise-o.
Baby Izzi had chicken pox
and she would always itch-o.       (Scratch body.)
/i/i/i/i/i/  /i/i/i/i/i/  /i/i/i/i/i/
And she would always itch-o.
Cousin Otto’s throat was sore
And this is what he’d say-o. (Put hand on throat.)
/o/o/o/o/o/  /o/o/o/o/o/  /o/o/o/o/o/
And this is what he’d say-o.
Uncle Unk wore underwear
and it did stink-o.              (Hold nose.)
/u/u/u/u/u/  /u/u/u/u/u/   /u/u/u/u/u/
And it did stink-o.

*Download Vowel Family book here.

Diagraph Walk

Here comes S you’re a real cool cat.
Here comes H, well how about that?
When they get together and walk around
They always make the /sh/ sound.
Sh- sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh
Sh- sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh
Sh- sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh
And that’s the cool “SH” sound.
Ch...Th…Ph …Wh

Alphabet Forwards and Backwards

A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N O P
Q R S T U V
W X Y and Z
Now, I’ve said my ABC’s.
Next time sing them backwards with me.
Z Y X W V U T
S R Q P O N M
L K J I H G
F E D C B A.
Now, I’ve said my ZYX’s,
Bet that’s not what you expected!

Activities:  Use sign language to sing this song.
Point to the letters on your classroom alphabet as you sing.
Materials:
Letter Pops
Highway Letters
Rapper Necklaces

Sing It!  See It!

Here are some simple and inexpensive visuals you can make to use with many of these songs.

Letter Pops – Use a strong glue (E6000) to glue magnetic letters to jumbo craft sticks.  Pass out to the children to hold up as you sing their letter.

Highway Letters – Go to makinglearningfun.com to download free highway letters.  Insert in clear sheet protectors, punch holes at the top, and tie on string.  Children can wear these as you sing songs, make diagraphs, or do other phonics activities.

Phonics Fingers – Purchase three pairs of cotton gloves at a dollar store.  Write the consonants in blue and the vowels in red.  Children can wear these finger puppets as you sing.  They can also use them to build words.

Rapper Necklaces – Cut out cardboard letters.  Let children decorate them with fake jewels, glitter, or stickers.   Punch holes in the letters and tie on string.  Children can wear these as you sing “Who Let the Letters Out?” or “Happy Birthday Letters.”

ABC Cheer Cards - You can download a set of cheer cards for each letter free at TPT.  (Thanks to Mary Amoson at sharingkindergarten.com for creating these.)    In addition to the cards you can use in your classroom, she has smaller take home cards so parents can be their child’s cheerleader at home.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dr-Jeans-ABC-Cheers-Alphabet-cards-and-chart