Rationale-This lesson will teach students the phoneme z=/z/ and will be and to recognize the sound correspondence in spoken words. They should also be able to recognize the letter in a written word and write the letter z on paper. This will happen through the analogy of a zipper and teaching the sound that a zipper makes. Children will work on phonetic cue reading but learning to distinguish which word has the z=/z/ phoneme between two rhyming words. 

1. Materials: primary paper and pencil, crayons, zipper coloring page, worksheet for assessment after activity, Zip, Whiz, Zoom by Stephanie Calmenson

2. Procedures:

• Say-Raise your hand if you like zebras and zoos? Now raise it if you like being able to zoom across the playground? Now, wouldn’t it be cool if we could all read and write those words. Does anyone know what the words zebra, zoo, and zoom all have in common. What do they all share? (wait for response) The letter Z!

• The letter Z looks like the teeth in a zipper and sounds like the noise that zipping a zipper makes. Let’s pretend to zip up our clothes. Zip. ZZZip. When we say /z/

 our our teeth are touching and our tongue goes to the top of our mouth. We also blow air through I teeth when we say it.

• I am going to show you how I find the /z/ in the word whiz. I am going to stretch whiz out really slowly and search for the /z/ sound. Wwhh-i-i-i-zzzz. Another time: Ww-hhh-i-i-zzzzz. I found it! It is at the end because I feel my tongue touch the top of my mouth and can feel air blowing through my teeth. See if you can do the same thing! Do you feel it?

• Let’s try a tongue twister. Ziggy the Zebra zoomed and zig-zagged through the zoo. Everyone say it with me together. Now let’s say it again and stretch out the /z/ sound that we hear. Zzziggy the Zzzebra zzzoomed and zzzig-zzzaged through the zzzooo. Now this time, see if you can bring the /z/ sound of the word. “/z/iggy the /z/ebra /z/oomed and /z/ig-/z/aged through the /z/oo.”

• Model practicing hearing the sounds in words.  Say: “I’m going to listen to the words zip and map and try to figure out which word has the /z/ sound in it. Zzzip and mmapp. I think I hear it in zzzip in the beginning.” Ask the class if they hear /z/ in biz or bat? Zam or ham? Moo or zoo? Say: When I say these words, listen and see if you can hear the /z/ zipping zipper sound.

• Have the students take out their primary paper and pencil at their desks. Show them slowly on the white board how to write the letter Z. Have them write a few upper case and lower case letters. Say: To write the letter Z you draw to short lines, one on top of the other. Then connect the opposite corners making a diagonal line.

• Hand out the zipper coloring sheets. Have them color the zippers.

• Once they are finished coloring, have the book Zip, Whiz, Zoom close by. Say: I am going to read a book and whenever you hear the /z/ sound, hold up your zippers and make a zipping sound. (read story)

• Lastly, send hand out a worksheet that will assess their understanding of this new correspondence. They will color the pictures that have the /z/ phoneme. They will also be asked to write the missing letter z in the words that are describing the pictures.

4. References:

-Zipper coloring sheet-http://www.clker.com/cliparts/p/r/Z/S/J/O/zipper-outline-md.png

-Zip up your Coat with Z-Emma Wall

                  -https://ecwall2014.wixsite.com/lessondesign/emergent-literacy-design

-Assessment Worksheet- http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/z-begins2.htm

-Large L Lollipops-Abagail Rickerson

                  - https://acr0040.wixsite.com/abbyrickerson/emergent-literacy

-Stephanie Calmenson, Zip, Whiz, Zoom. Boston. Joy Street Books. 1992.