Overview
The children will help a mouse munch on the letter M as they recognize and name the uppercase letter M and the lowercase letter m.

Literacy Activities
Find the letter M for munching mouse

• Write the uppercase letter M and the lowercase letter m on a whiteboard, name the letters, and have the children write the M and m in the air with their fingers.
• Read the book Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley, emphasizing the letter M (optional).
• Show the children the mouse puppet and explain that the puppet is a munching mouse, and tell the children that they need to find the letter Ms in the mess of letters for the mouse to munch on. 
• Scatter the small letter cards across the floor.
• Have the children sort through the letters to find the uppercase M and lowercase m letter cards.
  • If the children find an M, have them feed it to the munching mouse and say together, “Munch, munch, munch M. Munch, munch, munch M.”
  • If they find a letter that is not an M, have them set it in a discard pile.

More Practice
Identify the target letter

• Hold up one of each large letter card and have the children point to the letter that the mouse likes to munch (either M or m).
• Have one child go out of the room with the Munching Mouse puppet and, while the child is out of the room, hide the uppercase letter M.
• When the child comes back in, have him or her help the Munching Mouse search for the hidden M.
• Have the other children provide clues by chanting “Munch, munch, munch” softly if the child is far away from the hidden M and chanting loudly if the child is close to the hidden M.
• Repeat with the lowercase m letter card.

Write the target letter

• Have the children write the big letter M and the little letter m (support as needed).
• Let the children cut out the letters and feed them to the munching mouse puppet.