Procedure​

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1. Say: "Today we will learn the letter h. We will work on what it sounds like and how our mouth moves to say /h/. We spell /h/ with the letter h, and it sounds like a hound dog that has run for a long time and is breathing heavily with its mouth open because it is tired, /h/.

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2. Say: "Let’s pretend to be a really tired dog that is panting, /h/, /h/, /h/. Your mouth should be slightly open, pushing air from the bottom of your lungs and out past your lips. It feels a lot like you are sighing, /h/."

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3. Say: "Now, let me show you how to find /h/ in the word happy. I'm going to stretch happy out in super slow motion and listen for my panting dog sound. Hhh-aa-ppp-y. Slower: Hhhhh-aaa-pp-y. There it was! I had my mouth slightly open and air was pushing out of my mouth like a tired hound."

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4. Say: "Let's try a tongue tickler [on chart]. I'm going to tell you a little story about a hound named Henry. Henry was a sweet hound who lived on a lot of land.  One day he wanted to go explore the land without his mommy and daddy.  He started getting farther and farther away from home and ended up in a big field of horses.  These horses were so so big and he got scared! Henry had to run away and hid behind a tree. Henry the hound hid from the horses. Repeat that last sentence with me: Henry the hound hid from the horses. Everybody say it two more times together. Now say it again, and this time, stretch the /h/ sound out every time you hear it in a word. Hhhh-enry the hhhh-ound hhhh-id from the hhhh-orses." Try it again, and this time break the /h/ sound off of the word: " /h/ enry the /h/ ound /h/ id from the /h/ orses”

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5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. Say: "We use the letter h to spell /h/. First we will write uppercase H. Start at the rooftop and write a straight line all the way down to the sidewalk. Make another straight line just like it beside it with a little space in between. Lastly, connect the two straight lines with a horizontal line right along the fence. Now let’s write the lowercase h. It kind of looks like the tongue of a tired dog, /h/. Start at the rooftop, drawing a straight line down to the sidewalk. Next, curve back up to the fence and back down to the sidewalk, and you have lowercase h! Once I check everyone’s letter, write nine more just like it to practice."

 

6.Call on students to answer the following phoneme awareness questions and tell how they knew: Do you hear /h/ in hat or cap? Foot or hand? Hot or cold? Home or school? Love or hate? Kiss or hug? Say: "Let's see if you can spot the mouth move /h/ in some words. Pant like a hound dog if you hear /h/ in the following words: Happy, desk, hard, hit, bag, fly, horn, hike, hotdog, blue.

 

7.  Now that we know the letter H and the sound it makes, we can read Hot at the Dam by Veronica Angel. Four friends are having fun together on a hot day.  They go on a lot of adventures and end up at a dam.  Will it be too hot for them to keep playing? Let’s read and see. [Read aloud being sure to show the pictures.] Now on a sheet of paper, draw a you and your friend on a hot day!

 

8.  Show the word card with the word hot and model how to decide if it is hot or dot: "The H tells me to pant like a dog, /h/, so this word is hhhot, hot. Now you try some. Once I show you a card I will give you two options and you have to tell me which one is correct." [Use the word cards listed in materials] "Is this word heat or beat? Is this hat or sat? Does this say hard or yard? Is this word bold or hold? Is this hit or fit? Does this say fill or hill? Does this say ham or jam?"

 

9.  For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students are to complete the partial spellings and color the pictures that begin with H.  Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8.