H Is for Humpty

Building academic language

Word

• Display the vocabulary cards and say each name aloud as you show the image, emphasizing the beginning sound (H).
• Ask students to turn and talk to share with a partner the new words they heard and what they have in common, or how they are similar.
• Tell students that all of the words begin with the letter H.
• Demonstrate drawing an uppercase H on the board. Model how you start at the top.
• Have students practise drawing an invisible H in the air with their fingers (or trace an H on the rug).
• Repeat for the lowercase h, explaining that all letters have an upper and lowercase way to write them, although they make the same sound.
• Ask students if they can think of any other words that begin with the letter H. Have students turn and talk to share their ideas with a partner using the sentence starter, "________Also starts with H."
• Encourage pairs to share their words aloud (check that all words start with the letter H) and record the words on the board for reference.

Sentence

• Explain that now you will be reading a nursery rhyme that has H words in it. Define a nursery rhyme as a short story (often silly) that has rhyming words in it. Tell students that today's nursery rhyme is about a funny character named Humpty Dumpty.
• Reveal your pre-written text to the class. Point to each word of the rhyme as you read it aloud, pausing at the H words and underlining them (while displaying the image) to the class.
• Ask students to repeat each line after you as you read it a second time.
• Have students share ideas with the class of what happens in the rhyme using sentence starters: First ________, then ________, finally ________.(e.g. Humpty sat on a wall, he falls, he gets help, he can't be put back together)
• Explain that the class just retold the story using their own words.

Discourse

• Ask for student volunteers to come up and act out the nursery rhyme as the class reads it again. Assign roles (e.g. Humpty, Wall, Horses, Kings Men).
• Read each line aloud again (having students either repeat after you, or chorally read with you). While you are reading, have students practise acting out the story silently.
• Have students come up and point to the words in the rhyme that begin with the letter H.