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• Rationale: This lesson will help children to identify /j/ with the phoneme represented by J. Students will learn to recognize /j/ in spoken words by learning a sound analogy (jumping) and the letter symbol J, practice finding /j/ in words, and apply phoneme awareness with /j/ in phonetic cue reading by distinguishing rhyming words from beginning letters. 

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• Materials: 

  • Primary paper

  • Pencil 

  • Chart with tongue tickler: “June spilled juice on her jacket and jumped!” 

  • Drawing paper

  • Crayons or markers

  • Book: Jack and Jill by Angela Camstra

  • Word cards with JAR, JOY, JAM, SAW, JACK, and JEEP

  • Assessment worksheet to help in identifying pictures with /j/ 

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• ​Procedures: 

1. Say: Our written language is a secret code. The tricky part is learning what letters stand for - the mouth moves that we make as we say words. Today we will be working on spotting the mouth move for /j/. We spell /j/ with the letter J. J looks like a pogo stick, and /j/ sounds like jumping on a pogo stick.

2. Let's pretend to jump, /j/, /j/, /j/. [Pantomime jumping] Notice where your teeth are? (they are apart after pronouncing /j/). When we say /j/, we blow air between our teeth and lips. 

3. Let me show you how to find /j/ in the word haji. I’m going to stretch haji out in super slow motion and listen for my jumping sound. Hhh-aa-jj-ii. Slower: Hhhh-a-a-a-jjj-i. There it was! I felt my lips part and the air blow between my teeth. Jumping /j/ is in haji. 

4. Let’s try a tongue tickler [on chart]. June is wearing her most favorite jacket at school. It is lunchtime and June decides to get juice to drink with her lunch. At the lunch table June is laughing with her friends and knocks over her juice. Here’s the tickler: “June spilled juice on her jacket and jumped.” Everybody say it three times together. Now say it again, and this time, stretch it out. “Jjjjune spilled jjjuice on her jjjacket and jjjumped.” Try it again, and this time break it off the word: “/j/ une spilled /j/ uice on her /j/ jacket and /j/ umped.” 

5. [Have students take out primary paper and pencil]. We use letter J to spell /j/. Capital J looks like a pogo stick. Let's write the lowercase letter j. Start just below the rooftop. Start to draw a line down past the fence, then curve the line to the left once to yet to the sidewalk. Above the beginning of the line draw a dot to complete the lowercase j. I want to see everyones j. After I put a smile on it, I want you to make 9 more just like it.

6. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: Do you hear /j/ in fig or jig? Ram or jam? Boy or joy? Poke or joke? Zest or jest? Say: Let’s see if you can spot the mouth move /j/ in some words. Jump if you hear /j/: Saw, jelly, mall, jaw, yell, joy, bug, pink, juice, to, at, jar, sat, jacket.

7. Say: “Let's look at a book about Jack and Jill. The author Angela Kamstra tells us about two children named Jack and Jill who venture outside and up a hill and what goes wrong along the way!” Look at page 6, drawing out the /j/ in Jill. Ask the children if they can think of other words with /j/. Ask them to make up a silly name for a friend to help Jack and Jill like Jelly Belly Welly or something else that is silly. Then have each student write their silly name and draw a picture of Jack and Jill's friend. Display their work.

8. Show JAR and model how to decide if it is jar or car: The J tells me to jump like a pogo stick, /j/, so this word is jjj-ar, jar. You try some: JOY: joy or boy? JAM: jam or sam? SAW: jaw or saw? JACK: jack or sack? JEEP: jeep or beep? 

9. For assessment, distribute the worksheet. Students color the pictures that begin with J. Call students individually to read the phonetic cue words from step #8. 

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• Reference: Jackie Zenuch, Popping Popcorn with P.

  • https://jmz0009.wixsite.com/mysite/emergent-literacy 

  • Assessment worksheet: https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics-beginningsounds/letter-j_WFQZF.pdf

  • Awakenings Index: https://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/classroom/awakenings/