Unit 3: Stop and Listen

Display the letter “Nn” card and show children how to use various materials to shape the uppercase and lowercase letters.

Use the Letter Sort Routine to help children distinguish letter shapes and recognize the shape of the letter “Nn.”

Have children search for uppercase “N” from a tub of letters to complete the word night.  Repeat with the word quiet on another day.

Look at and talk about some of the illustrations in Night in the Country. Ask children to draw a scene that includes soft and loud sounds.

Show children the illustration of the raccoon and her babies in Night in the Country. Encourage children to draw a night scene using colored pencils.

Invite children to make the letter “Nn” with blocks. Draw outlines of each letter for children to refer to as they work.

Invite children to make the letter “Q” with blocks. Draw outlines of each letter for children to refer to as they work.

Encourage children to select a book that interests them and to look at the words and pictures on their own or with other children.

Read aloud Night in the Country to individuals or small groups. After reading, have children make some of the sounds they heard in the book.

Have children shake containers that contain different objects that make different sounds.  Have them listen carefully and find a matching container with the same sound.

Have children continue exploring making sounds with their shakers. Have children make loud, medium, and quiet sounds and have them explain how they made those sounds.

Place pictures on a table. Have children sort the sounds the things in the pictures make into loud, medium, and quiet sounds.

Have children use materials to make sound-makers and record their observations.

Have children press uppercase “Q” and lowercase “q” molds into the sand. Encourage them to also use their fingers to make the letters in the sand.

Model how to play the PEEP interactive online game “Where’s Quack?” As children play, ask questions that can further their exploration of sound-related concepts.

Have children draw something from the week’s reading that makes sound. Using a template, help them complete riddles describing the sound the object makes.

Have children dictate or write on an index card the name of something that begins with “Nn” to make new word morphs. Repeat with the letter “Qq.”