State the Objective
Tell the children that they will feed a messy, munching mouse as they associate the letter M with the /m/ sound in words such as mouse, munch, make, and mess.

Literacy Activities
Make a mouse munch on Ms

• Draw a mouse with a big mouth on a piece of paper and cut out the mouth (optional; see the example below).
• Fold the paper so it stands up.
• Write the letter M and tell the children that it makes the /m/ sound.
• Have the children write M on small pieces of paper while making the /m/ sound.
• Let the children feed the Ms to the mouse.
• Say, “/mmmm/, the mouse wants more Ms!”
• Say, “That munching mouse is messy! Look at the mess of Ms!”
• Let the children pretend to feed the mouse marshmallows, muffins, macaroni, and mushrooms.
• Have the children chant the Munching Mouse target text (see below).

Mix, mash, make a mess

• Tell the children that they will mix, mash, and make a mess with Ms.
• Have them hold the paper Ms and objects that start with /m/ (optional).
• Let the children mix, mash, and make a mess with many Ms and /m/ objects.
• Say, “Mmmm! Mix and mash some more!”
• Pretend to munch on the mess.

Repeat words with the target letter 

• Write the names of the /m/ items that the mouse ate: marshmallows, muffins, mushrooms, and macaroni.
• Read the list to the children while stretching out each /m/ sound.
• Have the children echo the name of each food.
• Ask the children to point to the M that makes /m/ in each word.