State and Model the Objective
Tell the children that they will pop real or pretend popcorn while they listen for words that begin with the /p/ sound, such as pop, pan, pot, packet, and paper.

Literacy Activities
Prepare to pop the popcorn

• Give each child a paper plate and put, plop, pour, or place popcorn kernels on the plate.
• Ask the children to fold their paper plates and pour the popcorn kernels into a popcorn popper.

Pop popcorn in a popper

• Push the power button on the popcorn popper and tell the children not to make a peep and listen for the popcorn to pop. 
• When the popcorn pops, have the children say: “Pop!” 
• Point out that the popped popcorn is piling up in the popper.
• Pour the popped popcorn from the “popper” to the pot.
• Have the children pass the pot of popcorn from place to place and person to person as they say, “Please pass the popcorn.”
• Let each child pick up a few pieces of popcorn with a paper cup and place them on their plates.
• Invite the children to pinch and poke a piece of their popped popcorn.

Read Popcorn while the children eat (optional) 

• Read Popcorn, by Frank Asch, while the children eat their pieces of popcorn.

More Practice
Read an alliterative text to highlight words that begin /p/

• Display the Pop Popcorn target text large enough for children to easily see.
• Read the text to the children, pointing to each word in left to right sequence.
• Read the text again and have the children point to each word in left to right sequence. 
• Show the children a P or p and ask them to find other words that begin with the /p/ sound as in pop, emphasizing the /p/ sound as you say the words and the children repeat them.

Pretend to be popcorn that pops 

• With the children think of some words that begin with the /p/ sound, such as pop, pass, pickle, paint, and pie.
• Have the children crouch on the ground as they pretend to be popcorn kernels in a popper ready to be popped.
• Tell the children the popcorn is getting ready to pop, and that they are to say a word that starts with /p/ and pop up when you point to them (support as needed).