State and Model the Objective
Tell the children that they will pretend to be animals as they practice saying the short /a/ sound in words that start with the letter A such as absent, animal, alligator, ant, antelope, and anteater.

Literacy Activities
Act like animals

• Introduce each paper animal to the children, pointing out that they all begin with the letter A, and in these words, A makes the /a/ sound as in apple.
• Demonstrate how each animal would act (e.g., alligators snap jaws, anteaters slurp ants, antelopes leap, ants crawl on the ground).
• Allow the children to take turns choosing a graphic and acting like the animal while the other children guess the animal (support as needed).
• When the children guess the animal correctly, write the animal name on the board and point to the letter A as they say, "/a/ /a/ /a/ ___ (e.g., alligator)."

Find absent animals

• Choose one child to step outside the room.
• Help the other children choose an animal graphic and hide it somewhere in the room.
• Invite the first child back inside the classroom.
• Allow the first child to search for the absent animal.
  • Have the other children help him or her by saying the /a/ sound louder as he or she gets closer or softer as he or she moves away from the hidden animal.
• Repeat the activity, allowing other children to take turns searching for the absent animal.

More Practice
Write the target letter

• Show the children the large ant graphic.
• Have the children name the letter A in the word ant and say the /a/ sound.
• Instruct the children to write the letter A (and lowercase a) several times around the ant, saying the /a/ sound each time they write the letter A.