Make a Mess

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Objective

Associate the uppercase letter M and lowercase letter m with the /m/ sound as in mess, make, and moose.

See Standards

Lesson Plan

Target Words:

mouse
mix
make
mat
moose
map
moon

Materials:

Letter cards
Small empty trash can
Thick paper
Macaroni, glue, and paper cups
Picture cards or objects
Mop (made with yarn taped to the end of a pencil)
Make Mouse a Muffin target text
Millie the Mouse graphic
Book: Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley (Blue Sky Press, 1997) (optional)

Overview
The children will make a mess as they practice writing the uppercase letter M and lowercase letter m and saying the /m/ sound in words such as mat, mix, and moose.

Literacy Activities
March to find the letter M in a mess

Read Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley (optional).
Place letter cards around the classroom.
Tell the children to find the letter M.
Have the children chant, “/m/, /m/, /m/” as they march around the classroom.
Have the children say, “M makes the /m/ sound” when they find an M.

Make a mess

Tell the children to put the pictures or objects that start with M on a messy mat and the pictures that do not start with M in a trash can.
Help the children name each picture or object that starts with the letter M and comment that the letter M makes the /m/ sound.
Have the children take turns selecting a picture or object that starts with M to mix into a mess.
Have the children mix, make, mash, and move the mess.
Use a mop (made with yarn taped to the end of a pencil) to “mop up the mess.”

More Practice
Read target words in a text

Read the Make Mouse a Muffin target text to the children.
Have the children find and circle the letter M throughout the text, saying the /m/ sound each time they circle an M.

Write the target letter

Give each child a picture of Millie the Mouse.
Have the children draw pictures of the items they placed in the mouse mess on the messy mat.
Have the children label the pictures by writing the letter M next to each object (support as needed).

Make an M out of macaroni

Write the letter M using glue.
Have the children place macaroni on the glue while producing the /m/ sound.

Magical musical maracas

Put a small amount of macaroni into a cup and tape the cup to another cup to make maracas.
Have the children write the letter M on their maracas and hum a song with the /m/ sound.

Make Mouse a Muffin

Make Millie Mouse a muffin.
Mix many Ms into the muffin.
Mix macaroni into the muffin.
Mix money into muffin.
Mix a mint into the muffin.
Mash a marshmallow into the muffin.
Microwave the muffin for a minute.
Mouse might munch the muffin!

SEEL At Home

Objective

Associate the uppercase letter M and lowercase letter m with the /m/ sound as in mess, map, and moon.

Materials

Millie Mouse graphic
Pictures of items starting with M
Mat (made out of a piece of paper)
Mop (made out of a pencil and yarn)

Activity: Mouse Mess

Hide pictures of items that start with M around the room.
With your child, take turns searching for pictures that start with M while holding the Millie the Mouse graphic.
Name each picture and comment that they all start with the letter M, which makes the /m/ sound.
Have Millie Mouse make a mess on the mat by mixing the pictures that start with M onto the mat.
Pretend to clean up the mess by using a mop (made out of a pencil and yarn).
Repeat the activity using objects around the house that begin with the /m/ sound.
Help your child make a list of items from the messy mat that start with the letter M.
Read the list together, and have your child circle the M in each word.
The activity can be repeated several times.