It may seem like a daunting task to teach reading comprehension to emergent readers. It’s far from impossible though. Even though our youngest students are still learning letter names and sounds, it’s important to introduce them to reading strategies. Introducing reading strategies early on in a child’s educational career will give them the foundations they need to progress to higher levels of reading comprehension with ease. The Lips The Fish anchor chart and activities are another great way to get our young readers ready to pronounce their words correctly. I am thrilled to share some of my favorite activities for teaching Lips The Fish with anchor charts, worksheets, and engaging crafts.
What is the Lips The Fish reading strategy?
The Lips The Fish reading strategy is the perfect strategy for our emergent readers that know letter sounds. As students are learning to read they are going to need some strategies to help them decode words by sounding out the sounds of the letters.
This strategy teaches students to get their lips ready to say the sound of the first letter of an unknown word in their reading. Here’s how I teach the Lips The Fish reading strategy.
Lips The Fish Introduction
I begin by introducing the Lips The Fish strategy with a question. I ask my students a question like, “What does a fish mouth look like?” resulting in a lot of silly fish faces with pursed lips and puffed-out cheeks.
Then I ask everyone to make the /oo/ sound. We compare the shape of our mouths when we made fish faces to the shape of our mouths making the /oo/ sound. They are the same! My students love making this fun connection.
Next, we play a quick and easy game where I call on someone to name a letter for us to practice forming the shape of our mouths to make the sounds correctly. My students absolutely love this activity. They giggle and laugh, but they are making that important connection between the shape of their mouths and the sounds of the letters.
Lips The Fish Anchor Chart
After our fun game, it is time to dig into the Lips The Fish reading strategy. We begin with an interactive anchor chart. We put our big and colorful Lips The Fish right in the middle of the chart. This image helps to make that visual connection between the shape of the lips and the sound of the letters.
Next, I introduce our fun Lips The Fish rhyme. This simple rhyme helps students to understand the strategy and remember it. The goal of the Lips The Fish strategy is to help students remember to get their lips ready to make that first sound when they come to a word they don’t know.
Because this is one of the first reading strategies I teach, many students may not yet be successful blending CVC words. That’s why this strategy is so important for those emergent readers.
Once students understand the relationship between the formation of their lips and the sounds of the words, it is time for some group practice. We begin by looking at some words with beginning sounds I know they are familiar with. I ask students to look at the words and get ready to use their Lips The Fish strategy by getting their mouths ready to make the first sound.
For example, if the word is “flat”, this is a word they have probably never seen before. So we look at the first letter of the word “f” and I ask students to make that sound. We take a look around to see what shape everyone is making with their mouths. Everyone should be pressing their top teeth to their bottom lip. Next, we do the sound of the letter “l”, the letter “a” and finally the letter “t” as we work on sounding out the word. Every time checking to make sure our mouths are forming the correct shape for the sounds.
We continue to practice this strategy until the students have an understanding of how to apply it on their own.
This anchor chart resource includes 8 different words with picture clues and 8 different words without picture clues that can be used with this group practice.
Lips The Fish Practice Pages
Once we have done some practice as a group, it’s time for some individual practice. These Lips The Fish Practice Pages are a great way for students to practice getting ready to make the beginning sounds of the words.
Students will the beginning sound letter of the word and practice getting their mouths ready to make the beginning sound of the word as they trace the letter. They then use this beginning sound knowledge to help them match the beginning sounds of the pictures at the bottom. Once they have figured out the word, they will cut and glue the picture from the bottom that matches the word.
These pages are a great way to practice lips the fish and get in some letter writing practice too. Also, if you’ve already taught the Eagle Eyes strategy it is a great way to show students how Lips the Fish and Eagle Eyes works together.
Lips The Fish Lip Pointer Activity
The next activity is not only fun but super cute. We are making our own fish lips pointers! They are a great visual remider for students to get their mouths ready to make the fist sound of the word they don’t know as they are reading.
I print out the fish lips and handle template, cut and then laminate them. Laminating these fish lip pointers helps them to last year after year.
To use the Lips The Fish lips pointers, just grab some leveled readers or word cards. to practice the strategy students will point to the first letter of the word and then get their lips ready. The Fish lips pointers to help them remember to get ready to say the sound of the beginning of the word. Students love using their Lips The Fish lips pointers over and over again! Even after they have mastered this strategy, I have students ask to use the pointer when they are reading.
Lips The Fish Cards
The next practice activity for this strategy is a fun, hands-on clip center. Students can use the laminated Lips The Fish pointers to remind them of the strategy if they’d like.
Students will get their lips ready and make the first sound of the written word. Then they will say the picture words and find the one that has the same sound. Finally, they will clip the correct picture.
Another differentiated option is to use a match-it game. Students use their Lips The Fish lip pointers word cards and images. They will practice saying the beginning sounds of the words and match the correct picture to each word.
This activity is easy to prep and store. I put this activity together using a small pencil box or zip-loc bag. Inside the pencil boxes, I put the cards, a few clothespins, and a magnifying glass. It’s easy to add to center stations or for students to grab and take to their desks.
Lips The Fish Student Craft
We finish up our week with a Lips The Fish craft activity. The students love this activity. It’s great to see those lightbulb moments when they realized they can read some new words.
Students will grab a book or some word cards and start searching for unknown words. When they find one, they use the Lips The Fish strategy. They get their mouths ready and say the beginning sound. Then they add the word and a drawing to their craft activity. The students are so proud to show all the new words they can read.
I hang these up in my classroom then send them home with students to share with their families. The students love teaching their families all about Lips the Fish.
Grab Your Lips The Fish Anchor Chart And Activities Set
You can grab all of these Lips The Fish activities in the Emily Education store. With these fun and engaging activities, your students will be using their fish lips in no time!
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