State the Objective 

Tell the children that they will think of ways to make their dad glad while they rhyme, read, and spell -ad words, such as lad, tad, pad, glad, and mad. 

Literacy Activities 

Let's make Dad glad 

• Draw a happy face and tell the children that it is “Dad.”
• Ask the children how they could make Dad glad (e.g., hug him, say "I love you"). 
• Help the children think of an action to go with each idea (e.g., hug yourself). 
• Have the children perform each action and say,  "Dad is glad when I ___," (e.g., sweep the floor). 
• Write the words dad and glad; point out that they both end in ad. 
• Write other rhyming word pairs (e.g., dad-mad, had-glad, bad-sad).
• Read the word pairs and have the children repeat. 

How does Dad feel? 

• Draw happy, unhappy, and angry faces; label them glad, sad, and mad.
• Share the following situations with the children: 
  
  • Dad lost his sock.
  • Dad hurt his toe.
  • Dad got sick.
  • Dad got a hug.
• After reading a situation, ask, “Would Dad be sad, mad, or glad? How could we help Dad feel glad?”
• Point out the words that rhyme with dad (sad, mad, glad).

• Have the children say sad dad while making a sad face; repeat with mad dad and glad dad. 

   

Segment words in a sentence

• Say a short sentence, then segment it by clapping on each word: Dad + is + glad. 
• Let the children clap with you to segment other short sentences (e.g., Make dad glad; Dad is not sad.)

Generate and recognize rhyming words

• Help the children think of a word that rhymes with dad (e.g., How about glad? Do dad and glad rhyme?). 
• Ask if word pairs rhyme (e.g., Do dad and sad rhyme? How about glad and sad?)

Read and spell -ad words

• Write the -ad word ending, leaving a blank space in front of it.
• Write the letters b, d, h, m, and s on small pieces of paper.
• Let the children place the letters in front of the -ad ending and read the words.
• Have children write -ad words from dictation (e.g., dad, sad, mad, had, bad).