Overview

The children will search for objects that start with the letter S and find out if the objects sink or swim as they recognize and name the uppercase letter S and the lowercase letter s.

Literacy Activities
Sink or Swim

• Attach the large letter cards to the S objects, then hide the objects throughout the room.
• Write the uppercase letter S and the lowercase letter s on a whiteboard, name the letters, and have the children say the letter name as they write the S and s in the air with their fingers.
• Tell the children that they will search the room to find objects with the letter S on them.
• Have the children search for and gather all of the S objects.
• Allow the children to place the S objects one at a time into a tub or container filled with water and have the children decide if each object can sink or swim (float).
• Make a list of the S objects from the activity (e.g., stone, sponge, sock, sack of sand, soap, and soda) and have the children circle the letter S in each word.

More Practice
Identify the target letter

• Put the small letter cards in a sack.
• Have the children choose one letter card at a time.
• Help the children decide whether or not the letter on each card is an uppercase S or a lowercase s.
  • If the letter is S, have the children keep it.
  • If the letter is not S, place it in the discard pile.
  • If a child misidentifies a distractor letter as an S or an s, have him or her look at the S and s on the whiteboard and compare them to the letter he or she picked. 

Write the target letter

• Have the children practice writing the letter S with their fingers in the air, on their hands, on the floor, etc.
• Give the children the S handwriting practice page and have them name the letter.
• Allow the children to trace the letter S with a crayon or pencil.