Poetry: Focus on the KMPs for /ā/ in the monthly poem, “It is April.” Pick up /r/, /h/, /p/, and /w/ as you sing. Model the final /s/ in days and puddles. Expose to /ing/ in holding and/ ĭ/, in it and is.
KMPs: Develop /r/, /ou/, /y/, and /g/. Keep reviewing the other KMPs we’ve done, especially the consonants. Layer them into the poems over time.
R & W Monster: Attach the language story to the first stroke. Play with the R&W M. Whiteboards without lines give the young child space to perfect the stroking and become more fluid and fluent.
Language Calendar: Illustrate each entry and call attention to the details in the picture. The focus on flowers, bulbs, and insects featured in books by the children’s author, Lois Ehlert.
Have a great month!
Dr. Terry Kindervater, Ph.D.
Educator & Founder of Phonics in Motion
(To the tune of Frere Jacques)
It is April.
It is April.
Rainy days.
Rainy days.
Holding my umbrella.
Walking through the puddles.
Splish, splash, splish.
Splish, splash, splish.
Poem by Phonics in Motion team
/r/
/s/
/ing/, /ā/, / ĭ/
Tulips yellow
Tulips red
Standing tall
In the garden bed!
Poem by Unknown Author
/g/
/t/, /b/, /r/, /y/
/ĭ/
April is a rainbow month,
Of sudden springtime showers.
Bright with golden daffodils,
And lots of pretty flowers.
Poem by Unknown Author
/ou/
/r/, /s/, /sh/, /g/
/ā/
Yellow, yellow daffodils
You’re dancing in the sun.
Yellow, yellow daffodils
You tell me Spring has come!
Poem by Unknown Author
/y/
/d/ /s/
/ing/
This is where children learn letter names, stroking, and directionality. Incorporate the KMPs to learn the sound of each letter. The letter sound is embedded in each story.
**Tip** Focus on one letter story per week.
r is right on.
r goes down and up
and away from the Monster.
y is yuk, yuk, yuk!
y moves away from the Monster,
and yuck, yuck, yuck!
(Emphasize yuk as line continues diagonally toward the Monster.)
g is good gone goofy!
g goes to the Monster,
comes away, goes down,
and right to the Monster!
Good gone goofy!
s is so so silly.
s goes to the Monster,
comes away,
and, goes right back again.
So so silly.
Many of our Language Calendar entries this month will focus on our author study of Lois Ehlert.
The LC is a great routine for developing necessary vocabulary and language concepts. A simple sentence, (We jumped.) is a great way to ask Who and What did we do questions. Add What, When, and Where questions. Illustrate to call attention to details.
Choose 1 day of the week to write each sentence in a different color. Then focus on the number of words in the first sentence and the second sentence. Which one is longer? shorter?
Welcome to April!
Read the poems that your child is working on each week of the month. Here is one that is being used all month.
It is April
(To the tune of Frere Jacques)
It is April.
It is April.
Rainy days.
Rainy days.
Holding my umbrella.
Walking through the puddles.
Splish, splash, splish.
Splish, splash, splish.
Poem by Phonics in Motion team
Help your child to become an investigator of this poem! Here are a few example activities:
Visit your local library and bring home books by Lois Ehlert. She writes books that have fabulous illustrations. Talk with your child about how she labels each of her pictures. Have your child draw pictures (kite, tree, cloud or someone flying a kite). Have your child listen for the sounds in the words and write them down.
Say a word, breaking it into parts. Listen for the beginning, middle, and end of the word. For example, /b/-/oo/-/k/. Ask your child what the word is (book). Can they put the sounds back together?
Have a great month!
The Phonics in Motion© team
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