Swim, Swim, Swim

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Objective

Blend a beginning consonant or consonant blend with –im to make words such as swim, grim, and him.

See Standards

Lesson Plan

Target Words:

swim
grim
whim
dim
him

Materials:

Fish outline graphics
Stick Puppets
Craft Sticks
A bin
Tim, Jim, Kim, and Grim target text

Overview
The children will play with stick fish puppets named Tim, Jim, Kim and Grim as they add sounds to the –im ending to make words such as swim, rim, dim, and him.

Literacy Activities
Act out the story of Tim, Jim, Kim, and Grim

Glue each of the puppet graphics to craft sticks and place blue paper around the rim of the bin.
Tell the story of Tim, Jim, Kim, and Grim, allowing the children to act it out with the stick puppets.
Put children in small groups and give them each a stick puppet.
Allow each group of children time to play with the puppets in the bin, and let them swim to the rim to get away from Grim.
Encourage children to tell their own story with the puppets, using words that end in -im.

Swim from rim to rim.

Tape a circle or rectangle on the floor and label each edge “rim”.
Have the children race and swim from rim to rim.

More Practice
Read target words in a text

Read the Tim, Jim, Kim, and Grim target text together as a class/group.
Read the text again fading support.
Have the children underline the words that end in –im.

Write about the activity using target words

Give each child a fish outline.
Have them cut it out, decorate it, and write their favorite –im word on it to be the name of the fish.
Have each children say “____ can swim” (substituting the name of his or her fish in the blank).

Tim, Jim, Kim, and Grim

Tim, Jim, and Kim love to swim.
On a whim, they began to swim where it was dim.
"It is very dim and hard to swim," said Tim.
"Oh no! Look at HIM!" said Kim.
Tim and Jim looked at Kim.
Then they saw Grim the shark!
Things looked very grim!
"Let's get away from him!" they cried.
Tim, Kim, and Jim began to swim back to
where it wasn't dim.
But Grim the shark could swim, too!!
Can Tim, Jim, and Kim swim faster than Grim?

Stick Puppets

Fish outlines

SEEL At Home

Objective

Blend a beginning consonant or consonant blend with –im to make words such as swim, grim, and him.

Materials

Pictures (cut-out) and Tim, Jim, Kim, and Grim story
Plastic container

Activity: Swim, Swim, Swim

Read the Tim, Jim, Kim and Grim story while your child acts it out with the fish and shark pictures in the container (e.g.; Let them swim to the rim to get away from Grim). Allow time for your child to play.
Read the text again with your child. Have him or her read the words ending with -im, blending the beginning sound with the -im ending (e.g., /j/-im, Jim).
Make up a new story with your child about Tim, Jim, Kim, and Grim using lots of -im words. Use the fish and shark pictures to act it out.
Help your child write this story down, using -im words where possible. Encourage your child to use invented spelling, providing support where necessary.
Send the short story to school with your child to share with a teacher and a friend.
The activity can be repeated several times.