Overview

The children will ship sheep on a ship and say the /sh/ in words such as shore, sheep, and shark.

Literacy Activities

Sheep on a ship

• Read Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw (optional) and have the children listen for words that begin with the /sh/ sound.
• Write the word ship on the whiteboard and explain that ship has two meanings: it can be another word for boat, or it can mean to send items somewhere.
• Point out that the letters sh make the /sh/ sound as in ship.
• Give each child a sheep graphic and have them write the letters sh on the sheep graphics.
• Make a shoreline on one side of the floor using masking tape and tape the Shady Shore sign above it.
• Allow the children to pretend to load sheep onto the ship graphic from the Shady Shore.
• Let the children pretend to ship the sheep in the ship across the ocean.

Sharks by a ship

• Assemble shark headbands using the graphics below and select a few children to wear the headbands and pretend to be sharks.
• Place the picture cards in the ocean (the space beyond the masking tape shoreline).
• Have the sharks choose a space to stand in the ocean and explain to them that they must remain frozen in place throughout the game.
• Have the remaining children pretend to be ships and explain that they must stay away from sharks while gathering picture cards. 
  • The sharks can try to tag the ships as they collect the picture cards.
• Once the ships have gathered all of the picture cards, help the children decide whether or not the word on each card begins with the /sh/ sound.
  • If the word begins with the /sh/ sound, let the children keep the card.
  • If the word does not begin with the /sh/ sound, have the children throw the card back into the ocean.
• Repeat as many times as desired, allowing the children to alternate playing sharks and ships.

More Practice

Identify the target sound

• Make a list words from the activity (e.g., shark, ship, shirt, shorts, shell, shoe).
• Help the children identify the beginning and ending sounds of each word by tapping their head for the beginning sound and toes for the ending sound
  • For example, shark = /sh/ (tap head) + /ark/ (tap toes).
• Point out that all of the words begin with the /sh/ sound and start with the letters sh.