Proposed codes: AC9EFLY09, AC9EFLY10, AC9EFLY11, AC9EFLY08.
Goal: Identify /m/ at the start of a spoken word and connect it to lower-case m.
Prepare: m card, mirror if welcome, tactile or movable m, images/objects for moon, map and sun. No word decoding yet.
- Goal and listen · 2 min. Say: “Today we will listen for /m/ and learn the letter that can show that sound.”
- Sound model · 5 min. Make a continuous /m/ with lips together, without adding “uh”. Say
moon, map, sun. Think aloud: “Moon starts /m/. Sun does not.” Learners can feel the vibration at their own lips or watch a clear mouth model, by choice. - Link sound to print · 5 min. Show m. Say: “The name is em. Its common sound here is /m/.” Trace m with a finger and use the school's approved formation cue. Show three m cards among blank cards; invite learners to find m. This is letter recognition, not reading the object words.
- Guided sort · 6 min. Name
moon, map, sun, mug. Learners place an m token by an object if its spoken name begins /m/. Model one item first. Re-say a word if the object label is unfamiliar. - Make and say · 5 min. Learners form m with a tile, finger trace, pencil or accessible writing tool. Say: “Point to the letter; give its name and its sound.” Accept a communication-device sound selection if speech is not available.
- Exit check · 2 min. Show m with two distractor shapes; ask the learner to choose m and identify whether
mapstarts /m/. Record letter recognition and sound identification separately.
Access routes: Large-print and tactile m, high-contrast card, mouth view, object handling, pointing/AAC and standing or seated formation. Avoid making pencil control the only evidence of sound knowledge.