CHOO! CHOO! The Train says CHOO with CH!

Emergent Literacy

By: Katie Jones

Rationale: This lesson is to help children identify /ch/ the phoneme represented by ch. Children will learn to recognize /ch/ in different words, and associate that sound in spoken words with the representation of the sound a choo-choo train makes. We will practice finding /ch/ words and show the importance of the two letters together making the “ch” sound.

Materials:

Primary paper and a pencil
Crayons
Toy train cut out (one per child)
Poster with tongue tickler “Charlie chomped on chips and chewed very loudly.”
Word Cards with CHECK, CALL, CHILL, INCH, PLAY, LOST, PINCH
Book Chip the Chimp (URL below)
Assessment worksheet (URL below)

Procedures:

1. Say: Our written language is a secret code. The tricky part is learning what letters stand for—the mouth moves we make as we say words. Today we're going to work on spotting the mouth move /ch/. We spell /ch/ with the letters C and H. CH makes the sound “ch.”

2. Say: Do you know what sound a train makes? “CHOO! CHOO!” We make the /ch/ sound by putting our teeth together and trying to push air through them.

3. Say: Now ch is tricky because separately c = /c/ and h = /h/ but together they make /ch/. Now let’s stretch out the word chug, “CH-u-g.” Notice how we say the letters /ch/ together to make one “ch” sound?

4. Say: Now let’s try a silly tongue tickler! “Charlie chomped on chips and chewed very loudly.” Now let’s whisper it really quietly. Now were going to yell it very loudly! This time, lightly tap your desk every time you say the “ch” sound.

5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil.] Say: We use letters C and H to make /ch/. Now let’s practice writing a c and h together on our paper. Now I want everyone to write 5 uppercase /CH/ and 5 lowercase /ch/.

6. Say: I’m going to hold up some words and we are going to read them together. If you hear /ch/ in the word raise your hand! Now what are some other words you can think of that have /ch/ in them? Ex: Chunk, Chair, Rich, Lunch

7. Say: Okay everyone now pull out your little toy train. Our train needs some help moving. To get the train to move we have to say “chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a CHOO-CHOO!” Are you ready? “Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a CHOO-CHOO!” “Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a CHOO-CHOO!” “Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a CHOO-CHOO!” Wow! Do you hear the /ch/ in chug and choo?

8. Say: Now we are going to read a book about a chimp named Chip! Chip is really good at playing chess. Another chimp named Chet comes to town and insists he is the best chess champ around. Who do you think is better at chess? Let's read the story to find out! (Read book to students) After reading the book say: Okay now we are going to focus on page 6. I'm going to read through page 6 two times and I want you to put a mark on your paper every time you hear /ch/. At the end we will see if we all go the same number! (Read page 6 twice) Did everyone hear /ch/ nine times? Yay! /CH/ was on page 6 nine times.

9. Say: Now we are going to do a worksheet about the new phoneme we just learned /ch/. Color the words that begin with the /ch/ sound.

References:

Bruce Murray, Brush Your Teeth with F. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/sightings/murrayel.html

Chip the Chimp, https://www.readinga-z.com/book/decodable.php?id=47

Heidi. How to Teach the CH Sound. http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=1356

Jackie G. How to Teach the CH Sound. https://www.speechbuddy.com/blog/speech-therapy-techniques/how-to-teach-the-ch-sound/

Worksheet Assessment, https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics/ch-word-color_WFRNT.pdf?up=1466611200