(soft playful music) - Have you ever looked out your window and seen an animal?

Maybe a chipmunk or a rabbit, or even a bird?

We are going to act like outdoor animals and play with letter sounds that start words on "Read, Write, Roar!"

- [Voice Over] This program is made possible in part by (upbeat music) the Kresge Foundation, the Lauren & Philip Fisher Fund for Children and Education, the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation, the state of Michigan, and by viewers like you!

Thank you!

(bright playful music) (lion roars) (lion roars) ( all) Hi!

- Welcome to (all) Read, Write, Roar!

- (pats lap) You got it.

You know exactly what to do.

Let's start today's lesson by singing a song.

Let's get out our itsy bitsy spider.

Get ready!

♪ The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout ♪ ♪ Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

♪ ♪ Out came the sun and dried up all the rain ♪ ♪ And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

♪ (soft introspective music) - If you were to think and look outside your window I want you to think about an animal that you might see.

And I'm gonna write it down.

I'm gonna think about the first one and I'm gonna show you what it is.

So the first one, this is a- (all) Lizard!

- [Mrs. Colón] So a lizard starts with the sound "L".

(paper crinkles) It makes the "luh" sound.

So (exaggeratedly) lizard.

I might see a lizard if I'm walking outside.

- I might see a spider.

- You might see a spider?

Let's write the word spider!

You really wanna see that venomous spider?

- [Joshua] But there's spiders found all over the country.

But one is not!

- What else might we see?

- [Tovia] A squirrel.

- [Joshua] But one spider- - [Mrs. Colón] A squirrel!

Look at that.

They both start with the letter "S".

- [Joshua] That's why they have the same sound.

- Yep.

They do have the same sound.

(marker squeaks on whiteboard) Yeah.

What is a word that you think?

- A dog.

- A dog!

And a dog does not start with the sound that makes the "sss".

It makes a "dah" sound.

"Dah".

A "D".

- Dog.

- A dog.

(marker brushes against paper) You thinking of something different?

What else are you thinking?

- A stray cat.

- A stray cat!

All right, let's think about that.

Stray would start with that "sss" sound but let's just write the word cat.

'Cause I think I might run outta room.

But I wanna talk about that you used a word, or an adjective, that describes that cat.

(chair creaks) We're gonna do that with all of these animals that we have up here.

Let's write what they are.

- Lizard.

(kids) Lizard.

- Spider.

(kids) Spider.

- Squirrel.

(kids) Squirrel.

- Dog.

(kids) Dog.

- Cat.

(soft rhythmic music) - We're gonna act out some of these animals and we're gonna give them something silly that they might do that's gonna start with the same beginning sound.

So make the first sound in lizard.

It makes a "luh" sound.

(exaggerated) "Luh".

So if I said, "luh-eap", if I put it together, "luh-eap".

(all) Leap!

- Leap!

Leap is like a jump.

So we can stand up and we're gonna be a leaping lizard.

(marker clatters) Get ready.

Stand up and leap!

(heavy stomps) That would be a jump.

We're gonna leap and be a leaping lizard 'Cause they both start with the sound.

Right?

Let's act out the next one.

What about a spider?

What might start with a "sss" sound?

Yeah.

What do you think?

- Scared?

- Scared!

Scared spider.

How would we look if we were a scared spider?

(gasps dramatically) I might be scared.

We could be a scared spider.

A leaping lizard.

A scared spider.

What would we be if we were a squirrel?

What are you thinking?

- It starts with the letter S. - [Mrs. Colón] It has to start with the letter S. - Snake.

- [Mrs. Colón] Hmm?

Snake?

- Snake.

- [Mrs. Colón] It would be a snake.

- Snake.

- What do snakes do?

(whispers) They slither.

- Slither!

- Slither!

So it could be a slithering squirrel?

A slither- When you slither, you kinda move like this.

A slithering squirrel.

Yeah.

See that was something I've never seen before so they had to make me think about it.

A slithering squirrel.

What about a dog?

What could a dog do?

What are you thinking?

- I keep on forgetting that we have to start with the same- - [Mrs. Colón] I know that's starts with the same.

I could give you a clue.

What do you think I would be doing if I did this?

- Dance.

- Dance!

Yes.

I could be a dancing dog.

So (snaps fingers) take out your moves and show me how you'd be a dancing dog.

(snaps fingers) Oh, I know you got moves.

I know you got moves!

Stand up and let's be dancing dogs.

Ready?

Stand up and show me how you move.

How would you move?

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah!

Get your shoulders into it.

(snaps fingers) All right, how would you move?

Show me your moves.

How would you dance?

(snaps fingers) You can just twist.

That's it.

It's actually a dance called The Twist.

It is.

It's a dance.

We could be dancing dogs.

And what would you do?

Oh, kick your leg up!

That one I'm gonna leave to you 'cause if I do it we'll be done for the rest of the day.

And that would be another one.

Done.

Day.

Dog.

They all start with the "duh" sound.

And what about "cuh"?

That's a "C" for cat.

(heavy stomp) Hmm, what could it be if it was a "cuh"?

What are you thinking?

- A climbing?

- (gasps) A climbing cat!

So show me, how are we a climbing cat?

(all hiss like cat) Yeah, climbing cat.

Yeah!

You all remembered some really fun movements that we could do.

That was with a lizard, a spider, a squirrel, a dog, and a cat.

(soft rhythmic music) - Guess what we get to do today?

(footsteps crunch leaves) We get to go on an alliteration walk.

So we're going to look at some things we find in nature and see if we can come up with a matching word that says the same sound.

So what will we say if we saw this leaf?

What would it be?

- [Daelyn] A leaping leaf.

- A leaping leaf!

(laughs) Or a laughing leaf!

What were you thinking?

- A leaving leaf?

- A leaving leaf.

That could be it too.

- [Tovia] What about that squirrel?

- [Mrs. Colón] Oh, a squirrel.

You saw a squirrel.

What would we say about a squirrel?

- [Tovia] A squeaking squirrel!

- [Mrs. Colón] A squeaking squirrel.

- [Daelyn] A squirrelly squirrel!

- [Mrs. Colón] A squirrelly squirrel.

(footsteps crunch leaves) I think a scampering squirrel.

They all start with a "sss" sound.

(gasps) I see a light post.

What sounds "luh" or light post?

- [Daelyn] A "litting" light post.

- [Mrs. Colón] A "litting" light post!

- (doubtfully) A "litting" light post?

- Yeah.

And remember not all words have to actually be a real word.

Sometimes they can be silly.

Like when we said "zoopy zoos".

It doesn't have to be a real word.

It just starts with the same sounds.

What about a plant?

- [Tovia] Pretty plant?

- [Mrs. Colón] Pretty plant!

Yeah.

That's something different.

They all start with the same "puh" sound.

Oh, berries!

What would be for berries?

- [Daelyn] Baby berries.

- [Mrs. Colón] Baby berries.

- [Tovia] Beautiful?

- [Mrs. Colón] Beautiful berries!

Thanks for joining me.

That was a wonderful walk!

(soft rhythmic music) - So now that we've done the movements let's think about what they were and let's write them down so that I'll remember for next time.

(marker clicks) So I'm gonna make two lines to remind us that it's two words we're gonna write that describe this lizard.

What was that lizard?

What did it do?

Do you remember?

- Leaping?

- Leaping!

All right.

Do you show me how to leap again?

Show me how to leap.

(heavy stomps) Yeah!

So leaping and remember it starts with the L and they make the sound "luh".

Leaping.

Leaping lizard.

(markers brushes whiteboard) There was a leaping lizard.

Now we're thinking about that spider.

Do you remember what the spider did?

(marker squeaks) We had two words to describe the spider.

What was the spider?

Remember?

(gasps dramatically) - Scared?

- Scared!

(exaggeratedly) "ssscared".

Show me your scared faces.

(boy shrieks) Yeah!

Whoa, I'm telling you, you've got that mastered.

You would be a scared spider.

(marker brushes whiteboard) Now, remember that squirrel.

What was the squirrel?

- Slithering!

- It was a slithering squirrel!

Show me how you slither.

Yeah, you're moving all around.

So let's be a slithering squirrel.

"sss".

They start with that "S" sound again.

- [Joshua] I thought I just write the word "slithering squirrel"?

- Yep.

Well, so we write the word slithering.

This is slithering.

That's one word.

And then we'll write the word squirrel.

(marker brushes against whiteboard) (boy coughs) And then, dog.

What did that dog do?

(marker squeaks) - Dance.

- Dance.

It was a dancing dog.

(marker brushes against whiteboard) And that cat.

Do you remember what was the cat?

- The climbing cat.

- The climbing cat.

(marker squeaks) And then show me how do we climb.

Wait a minute.

Did you show me that dancing dog?

I don't think you showed me your dance moves.

Show me that dancing dog again.

How were you dancing?

Get the shoulders out, remember?

Oh yeah.

There we go.

There's- Oh, we got one dancing dog.

The rest of you might be dozing.

That's another word that starts with a "D".

You could be sleeping.

(kids laugh) And then you have to write climbing- - You two are sleeping!

- Yeah.

Another word for sleep could be dozing.

You doze off.

- Dozing!

- Yep.

Dozing dogs!

(boy laughs) They are falling asleep.

And then we have the climbing cat.

- That was so funny!

A dozing dog?

- A dozing dog!

Well, if you're not dancing, you must be dozing.

- (laughs) I'm not a dozing dog!

- [Mrs. Colón] You're not a dozing dog?

No, 'cause you got your shoulders moving.

You were a dancing dog.

But if you weren't dancing, I'm thinking you were (snores) dozing.

(kids laugh) That happens sometimes.

All right, and then we were a climbing cat.

You all did so well.

(soft rhythmic music) - In today's lesson, we really focused on first sounds and words.

Playing games with letter sounds and sounds and words can help build your child's language.

A good game to use is alliteration which is when words that have the same first sound are next to each other or very close to each other.

Tall towers or fancy flowers are examples of alliteration with words next to each other.

Alliteration examples with words close to each other but not right next to each other are packing big presents or walking in water.

Even silly words to practice alliteration work like "zoopy zoos".

Alliteration can be practiced at any time.

I bet when you're driving down the road you see stop signs.

What a great opportunity for a child to practice alliteration with (exaggeratedly) Stop Signs.

Notice the alliteration with a "sss" sound.

Also to make connections to environmental print which is print found in everyday life.

Playing with words is an easily accessible early literacy activity that can be implemented at many different times.

Give it a try!

(slow rhythmic music) You all did so well.

You've remembered that there are beginning sounds and we can put two beginning sounds together to describe animals that we might see outside.

Hey, (marker clatters) we had so much fun today.

See you next time on (all) Read, Write, Roar!

- [Voice Over] This program is made possible in part by the Kresge Foundation, the Lauren & Philip Fisher Fund for Children and Education, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the state of Michigan, and by viewers like you!

Thank you!

(playful upbeat music)