State and Model the Objective
Tell the children that they will play with a duck and a truck in muck and will read and write words ending with uck, such as duck, muck, suck, yuck, stuck, and truck.
Click here to see a video demonstration similar to this lesson.
Literacy Activities
Get a duck or truck stuck in the muck

• Prepare some muck with flour and water (add dirt if desired) or use the recipe below.
• Place a tray with muck on a table next to pictures of ducks and trucks (see below).
• Have the children read a word on a duck or truck picture.
• Let the children suck through a straw to pick up the duck or truck and stick it in the muck.
• Comment, “Yuck! Yuck! A duck (or truck) is stuck in the muck!”

Let a truck get a duck out of the muck

• Read the A Duck and Truck Get Stuck target text (see below) with the children.
• Let the children get a paper or toy duck and truck stuck in the muck.
• Have the children use the big paper truck to help get the stuck duck and truck out of the muck.

Identify, blend, and manipulate sounds

• Let the children make a word (e.g., duck) from letter cards.
• Have the children make different words by changing a consonant or vowel.
  • Change the beginning sound(s): duck→ muck; suck→ yuck; muck→ duck
  • Change the vowel sound: suck→ sick; duck→ deck; muck→ mock
  • Change the ending sound(s): duck→ dug; suck→ sun; yuck→ yum
• Have the children produce the sounds for the letters in the words and blend them together.

Read target words in a text

• Have the children find the words that end in -uck in the A Duck and Truck Get Stuck text.
• Engage the children in reading the text simultaneously with you.
• Read the text again, fading support.

Write about the activity using target words and phrases

• Display target words on a word wall (e.g., duck, muck, suck, yuck, stuck, truck).
• Have the children write about a duck or truck getting stuck in muck and a big truck getting the duck or truck out of the muck.