Awareness material or experiences

• Vocabulary review: timid, elderly, explanation, ticker

A Ticker (A story for T)

Taylor was walking down the sidewalk near her house when she saw the shiny object. She went closer to get a better look. As she got closer, she saw that it was a watch. She put it up to her ear and could hear the T-T-T-T tick and knew that it was working. Taylor put the watch in her pocket and took it home. She was tired and forgot about it until the next day. Taylor found the watch in the pocket of her jeans where she had left it the day before. She pulled the watch out and listened for the tick T-T-T-T. "Yes", she thought, it was still working. She found her dad in the backyard and asked him about keeping the watch. Her father said, "It belongs to someone. We need to try to find the owner.". "Come on in the house and I’ll help you make a sign." said her dad. Taylor followed her dad into the house and set the watch on the table. Her dad picked it up and put it to his ear and heard the T-T-T-T. "Yes, it seems to be working fine." he said. Taylor and her dad made ten signs about the watch. The owner could claim the watch if they could describe it. Taylor and her dad went around the neighborhood and taped up the signs. Then waited for a response. A week had passed without any word, but on Saturday morning, a telephone call came. The caller spoke in a timid voice and was able to describe the watch. Taylor was disappointed. She had secretly hoped that no one would call about the watch and she would get to keep it. An hour later, an elderly woman knocked on the door. Taylor went with her father to return the watch. The woman was excited about getting her watch returned. It had been a special present from her mother, but was stolen during a robbery. After the explanation, Taylor was happy that she had found the owner of the watch. She held it to her ear one last time and heard the T-T-T-T.

Instructional material

• Can you make the sound of a ticking watch? (t-t-t-t) "Can anyone think of words that start with /T/?" The class can generate a list of /T/ words as the teacher writes them on the board.

List of /t/ words:

tie	turtle	tiger	tire	teeth
turkey	telephone	toothbrush	tent	tape
tree	toe	tub	table	tea
top	tongue	toast	toad	tag
train	touch	teacher	tomorrow	ten

• Review vocabulary from The Ticker and list of /t/ words for semantic content. Also, talk about multiple meanings (top, tag, tire, tie).

Practice material

Have the students cover the letter T with tea. Use sturdy paper. Let the students apply glue and sprinkle tea from a teabag on the glue.

• Have a treasure hunt for objects that begin with the letter T. Hide an object around the room. The students ask yes and no questions about locations until they can verbally find the objects. For example, "Is it under something?" or "Is it in something?"
• Complete a worksheet. Make a worksheet with /t/ pictures and a few foils on it. Give the directions to draw a triangle around all the pictures that begin with the /t/ sound.
• Odd word out. Make worksheets with three /t/ words and one foil. Laminate. The student marks an X on the word that doesn't belong.

Whole Language Application:

• Help each student make a one sheet book to take home and read to his or her family.
• Title: T for Animals
  Pattern: Here’s a tiger. Is it terrific or terrible?
  Here’s a turtle. Is it terrific or terrible?
  Here’s a turkey. Is it terrific or terrible?
  Here’s a toucan. Is it terrific or terrible?
  Here’s a toad. Is it terrific or terrible?