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I love dropping my kids off at library because I get to see a quick showcase of books I’ve never seen before.  Today, this book caught my eye.  I was thinking of word families and words that begin with similar sounds.  SHEEP and SHIP jumped right out at me!  This book is PERFECT for all those Pre-School kids out there!

Again, here are activities based on your child’s progress along the phonological awareness spectrum

LISTENING - This book does a wonderful job of matching text to print.  Just about every sentence has a corresponding picture.  When you read a sentence, have your child point to the picture of that.  For example, when you read “sheep read a map” or “sheep slip” have your child point to the picture of the sheep actually doing that.

RHYMING - This book is FULL of rhyming words.  As you read them, see if your child can identify the other words that rhyme with: SHIP, LAP, FORM, HAILS, SLIDE, RAFT, LIFTS, GO

WORDS/SENTENCES - My kids love using pointers when reading.  By pointers, I mean anything small enough to be used to point to words on a page.  Find the page “Sheep read a map but begin to nap.”  Read it over several times with your child so he/she can memorize it.  See if your child can point to each word using the pointer after you demonstrate.

SYLLABLES - Ever heard of the jaw trick?  I almost forgot about it until someone at lunch today mentioned it.  Place your hand flat-out under your chin.  Try saying the word SHIP.  Did you notice how your jaw/hand only moved once (1 syllable).  Now try the word SAILBOAT.  You should’ve felt your jaw/hand move twice (2 syllables).  Have your child do that comparing these words: COLLIDE vs. SLIDE, SAILING vs. SHEEP and BEGIN vs. BUT

PHONEMES - See if your child can find the difference between these words.  Make sure you are SAYING them, not writing them: LAP/FLAP (beginning phoneme-f), SHEEP/SHIP (middle phoneme e/i), MAP/NAP (beginning phonemes), HAILS/SAILS/RAILS (beginning again), TIP/TRIP (middle phoneme-r).  Finding the difference between middle phonemes is probably the hardest, so attempt that last!

INITIAL/FINAL SOUNDS - Find all the words that begin with S and W.  Make sure your child is looking at the words rather than listening.  Can you find words that start with the SH sound?

LETTERS/SPELLING - Use the above list of words to compare and contrast, but use letter tiles.  Or, you can print these out .  Show how you can change LAP to FLAP by adding F, or MAP to NAP by switching the beginning sounds.  I would stay away from the SHEEP/SHIP for now because of the double e pattern in sheep.

Looking for an ending activity?  See if your child can continue the story.  Have him/her tell you what the sheep will do now!  Or, have your child make a sheep using cotton balls and draw one of his/her favorite scenes from the story!