U is for umbrella: Building Phonemic Awareness and Letter Identification

How to Use This Book

Letter Recognition & Phonics

• Show the cover and point to the title.
  
  • Have students locate all the U letters in the title and trace over them with a finger while saying the letter name and sound:
    • "U says /u/!"
  • Reinforce the idea that each letter has two forms—uppercase (U) and lowercase (u).

Exploring the Story

• Tell students that in the book, they will see many different kinds of umbrellas.

  • Ask: Have you ever used an umbrella? What does it do?
  • Discuss how umbrellas can be big, small, colorful, or patterned.
  • Point out how the first letter of the word "umbrella" is in red to help readers focus on the letter U and its sound.

Interactive Reading & Stretching Out Sounds

• • Have students listen to the parts in the word "umbrella"
  • Have students help you say and clap the syllables slowly (um-brel-la)

  • Practice listening for the /u/ sound in other words and clap for syllables: up, under, uncle, uniform)
    

Interactive Games

• Show students the different games in the book.
  • Model how to use their pointer finger to interact with the games.
  • Let students practice tracing the letter U in the air or on paper.