A Letter a Day... Nn!

 I introduced the letter Nn like all the other letters (letter taped to the front door Letter Posters). I don't think I've mentioned this before but its important to show your child and explain to them how to make the letter sound with their mouth. For example, when I told my son that letter Nn says, "Nnnnnn". I told him to watch my mouth as I made the sound. Then, I explained that your tongue has to touch the roof of your mouth and your mouth has to be open to produce this sound. I do this with all letter sounds with my child and when I'm teaching my students. Some children have difficulty making the sounds for "s, r, g, l, and x." These sounds are developmental and may not be mastered until first grade. I have learned in the public school system that these sounds are developmental and students will not qualify in kindergarten for speech services until first or second grade if he/she is still having difficulty with those particular sounds. This also applies to the sounds th and sh and even lisps. These are considered developmental until first or second grade.
We completed our daily "Do-A-Dot letter". You can find these here: Do-A-Dot Letters. The week before, I plan out what letters we will do each day for the following week. I also look up different activities in our area that I could correspond with the letters I introduce. For the letter "Nn" I decided to go on a little field trip to the Science Center as they were doing a them about "Nature" and animals in their natural environments. Perfect! I also searched the web for coupons before going and had them printed out and clipped to my calendar so I wouldn't lose them.
At the science center, we learned all about animals and nature. Every time we saw the word "Nature" or any word with an "n", I pointed it out to my son. He caught on really quickly and took over that job! You could do this activity at the zoo, science center, or even the park. We talked about where different animals live and where you could find them. For example, bears live in caves. They sleep in them, keep their babies safe in them, and hibernate inside them in the winter. Birds build nests in tress, they lay eggs and take care of their babies until they learn to fly. We also discussed "Nocturnal" animals.
If you do not have a zoo or science center, you can still do this fun activity. Go for a walk in your neighborhood or local park. Make up a scavenger hunt that included Numbers of animals/insects to look for and discuss the importance of nature and how to take care of it. Here is a scavenger hunt I found that would be great to use on a Nature Walk: Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt I would add numbers 1-10 at the top to review counting and number recognition. For example, write the number 2 above the squirrel and ask how many you have to find. Write the number 8 above the insect, etc. You can even take a bag with you and collect interesting items (acorns, pine cones, interesting leaves, rocks, etc). Once you get home, help your child sort the items he/she collected by attribute (size, shape, color).
After our fun Science Center/Nature activity, we ate lunch at Noodles & Co. We talked about all the things we had discovered about nature at the Science Center and brainstormed words that start with the letter N.
When we got home, I had my child draw a picture about the different things he saw today. He was pretty worn out after that and needed a nap. He even pointed out that it started with an Nn! Score!
Before bed, we read a Ranger Rick magazine that featured a Narwhal. My son thought this was the coolest animal ever!! Here is a kid-friendly link to info about the Narwhal: Narwhal facts and this one has a good pic and even a sound clip: Narwhal pic