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>> Activities that involve blending sounds
in words help children to build phonemic awareness.
In this classroom, the teacher uses a puppet to segment words,
and the children are learning to blend the sounds in order
to figure out which word the puppet is saying.
>> For robot frog, we're going to do something
that all pre-K students love.
We're going to use puppets, and this puppet's going to be kind
of unusual because he's a robot frog.
So instead of saying words the way we conventionally,
he'll use sound segments, and their job will be
to blend the sounds to make,
figure out what word robot frog wants.
I have someone in my hand.
You might know who he is.
>> Froggy.
>> I have a frog in my hand.
>> A robot frog!
>> But it's a robot frog, and you know it's a robot frog
because he has the letter--
>> R.
>> R. Say, hi, robot frog.
>> [unison] Hi, robot frog.
>> Hi, robot frog.
Hi, Quintin [phonetic].
Hi, Ava. What was your name?
>> Brooklyn.
>> Hi, Brooklyn.
And what was your name?
I think we have a similar name.
>> Fabian.
>> Oh, you're Fabian.
I like the letter F a lot too because I'm a frog.
Well, the funny thing about robot frog,
he doesn't talk the way we do.
He makes his words into sounds.
So sometimes it's hard to understand robot frog,
and we have to help figure out what he wants.
One of the things that's so important for pre-K literacy is
that they have good phonological awareness.
So it was really intentional that I did this
with the letter sounds.
I'm going to pause.
We'll let him rest for a minute.
What is this?
>> Cow.
>> Moo. We'll have to remember that's a cow.
>> Bee.
>> Don't touch it.
It's going to sting you!
>> Oh, I'll be careful.
Thank you.
>> You touch him, he sting you.
>> Don't--
>> Hey.
>> What is that?
>> Don't make it, don't make your hands get messy with that--
>> I'll try.
>> Egg.
>> I'll be careful with that egg.
I got a messy scrambled egg.
All right.
This one's not messy.
What's that?
>> [unison] Key.
>> The key?
>> You unlock your door with it.
>> And we were talking about animals live in a lot of places.
>> The zoo.
>> This kind, they live in a--
>> [unison] Zoo.
>> Let's see all the pictures one more time.
>> [unison] Key.
Cow. Egg. Bee.
And zoo.
>> Now, we have to help Mr. Robot Frog
because he'll want something.
In pre-K, the way I look
at phonological awareness is hearing the sounds in words,
and that's really important, so we might do a lot of songs
where they do the sounds in their names or sounds
in poems that they know.
And that's really important before you learn how to read
and write that you have that down.
Robot frog would like a c-ow.
>> Cow.
>> Thank you.
>> I want to put it in his mouth.
>> B-ee.
>> Bee.
>> Thank you.
Let's do a different one.
Let's do z-oo.
You read robot frog's--
>> Zoo.
>> Mind. Are you ready?
Robot frog wants a e-gg.
>> Egg.
>> Egg. Thank you.
Pre-K students this year really like puppets, and they really
like to be silly, so robot frog was a way
to have them blend the sounds together to make words.
Let's go back to the cards.
He wants a b-us.
>> Bus.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> He took it.
>> This time, robot frog wants something different.
He wants a [inaudible].
Thank you.
>> I'm good at this.
>> You are good, but let's let them have a turn too.
Let's try a different sound.
Let's do b-at.
>> Bat.
>> Thank you.
We make it really fun and playful in pre-K
because it's more meaningful, and it's more engaging,
and they just pick it up faster then if it's silly and fun.
It's time to say goodbye to robot frog.
>> Bye, robot.
>> Bye, Fabian.
>> [unison] Bye.
>> Bye, Brooklyn.
Bye, Quintin.
Bye, Ava. Bye-bye.
Learn more at LiteracyEssentials.org.
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