- copy of left page of “WHOOSH” spread from Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee (one for each child)
- markers
- roller coaster
MA Standards:
Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.1.d: Recognize and name some uppercase letters of the alphabet and the lowercase letters in one’s own name.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Alphabet Knowledge: Recognizes that the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7: Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
“Zz” Search
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Skill Focus: Fine Motor Skills, Letter Formation, Letter Recognition, Vocabulary
Educator Prep: Before passing out copies, with a dark marker trace “Z” shapes along the roller coaster frame so children can see the shape in the roller coaster frame. Grey out some of the other “Z”s. Leave three unmarked.
Hold up the spread from the book and talk about how letter shapes can be found in many different places. Then hold up one of the photocopies and explain that it is a copy of the picture from the book. Ask, If I turn this page on the side, what letter can you see in the roller coaster? Say, Let’s use a finger to trace the black lines. They are shaped like the letter “Z.”
Then have children find two more “Z”s in the roller coaster. Have them trace two grey outlined letters with their finger first, then with a marker. You may need to guide their finger along the greyed-in area. After children have colored all the greyed letters ask them to find a letter “Z” that is not marked. Have them trace it with a marker.
Adaptation: For groups with young children, you may want to mark all the “Z”s with different color markers, so you can direct them to “trace the yellow ‘Z,’ etc.”
Adaptation: For groups with children comfortable with recognizing letters, you may want to give them a copy with only one or two “Z”s marked and have them find as many as they can in the roller coaster frame.