Let`s Get Physical with Zoo-phonics!

Let’s Get Physical
with
Zoo-phonics!
The Zoo-phonics “Cast of Characters” and Associated Body Signals
Signal is a term used to explain the kinesthetic part of Zoophonics. As already stated, the Signals help to lock letter-shapes
and sounds into memory. Each Signal, listed with the corresponding animal, is described below. The students should be encouraged to give the letter Sound while making the Signal. It is
important to be consistent. The Signal should always be done in
the same manner.
f
g
girl
For each animal a name has been given. Example: allie alligator,
bubba bear, catina cat, etc. The children delight in knowing the
animal names. The names are a useful tool for reinforcing the
picture-letter Sounds.
a
girl
b
c
d
boy
girl
b —bear (bubba bear):
Reach your dominant hand above your head
to an imaginary honeycomb. Bring a fistful of
honey to your mouth as a bear might do, but
don’t touch your mouth, and say the letter
sound /b/. You are not trying to make a “b”
with your body.
c—cat (catina cat):
Pretend you are a cat washing your face with
your paw, and say the letter sound /c/.
girl
e
girl
girl
h
e—elephant (ellie elephant):
You have the option to do this two different
ways. You and your class may choose one of
them: 1) clasp your hands together in front of
you, then swing your arms from side to side as
if they were a trunk. 2) Take one arm and
swing it to your mouth, as if ellie were feeding
herself a peanut. Whichever one you choose,
say the letter sound /e/. (Sustain sound.) Note:
the second Signal leads into sound blending
more easily. This is the Signal of choice for the
authors, since our Zoo-phonics “kids” get into
sound blending so early!
h—horse (honey horse):
Slap both sides of your thighs or hips, suggesting a horse galloping. At the same time,
say the letter sound /h/.
girl
i
boy
j
boy
i—inchworm (inny inchworm):
Using your index finger, bend it up and down,
and then move your hand forward suggesting
the movement of an inchworm. While Signaling, say the letter sound /i/. (Sustain sound.)
j – jellyfish (jerry jellyfish):
Move in a jelly-like fashion (shake like jelly),
or move hands and arms up and down in front
of you. Whichever you do, keep hands and
arms in front and not to the sides. Say the
letter sound /j/.
k
l
m
boy
d—deer (deedee deer):
Use two fingers of each hand to form deer
ears on your head and say the letter sound /d/.
g—gorilla (gordo gorilla):
Pretend you are peeling a banana, Gordo’s
favorite food, saying the letter sound /g/.
boy
The following are the animals, their given names and a description of each Signal.
a — alligator (allie alligator):
Extend arms forward, one over the other, to
form an alligator’s mouth. Open and close
your hands/arms and say the letter sound /a/.
(Sustain sound.) When sound blending, this
becomes a quick “clap.”
f —fish (francy fish):
With your hands in front of your chest, place
the palm of one hand on the back of the other
hand to form a fish (make sure you have a
thumb on each side), then wiggle your thumbs
and say the letter sound /f/. (Sustain sound).
girl
girl
k—kangaroo (kayo kangaroo):
Make two fists and pose as if boxing. Give a
kick with one leg, while at the same time
saying the letter sound /k/.
l—lizard (lizzy lizard):
Place your hands under your chin with your
elbows lifted up level with shoulders. Pretend
you are catching a fly. Say the letter sound /l/.
(Sustain sound). (Make sure the students keep
their tongues in their mouths to keep a pure
“l” sound.)
m—mouse (missy mouse):
Place your hand close to your mouth and
wiggle your fingers as if you are a mouse
nibbling on a piece of cheese. While Signaling, say the letter sound /m/. (sustained
sound).
n
o
boy
girl
p
q
o—octopus (olive octopus):
Extend each arm outward at your sides, using
a waving motion to suggest the tentacles of an
octopus, and say the letter sound /o/. (Sustain
sound.)
p—penguin (peewee penguin):
Stiffen both arms at the sides of your body
(hands up) and do a penguin walk, waddling
from side to side. While Signaling, say the
letter sound /p/. (Add no schwa sound.)
boy
q—quail (queeny quail):
Illustrate the topknot of the California quail
by placing your bent index finger forward at
the top of your forehead, while saying the
letter sound /q/ (kw). Note: Make sure the
hand is held on the front of the forehead, not
on top of the head.
girl
r—rabbit (robby rabbit):
Curve both hands, raising them to your chest
to represent rabbit paws. Give a hop, hop and
say the letter sound /r/. (Be careful not to
make an “er” or a “ruh” sound, placing a
vowel before or after the “r.” The secret is to
keep your lips 95% closed as you give the
sound. It is a tiny movement on the lips. Say
“red,” now get rid of “ed.” Say “rabbit.” Now
get rid of the “abbit.” That is the sound you
want!)
r
boy
s
u
boy
s—snake (sammy snake):
Move your hand forward in the serpentine
manner of a snake, saying /s/. (Sustain sound.)
t
t—tiger (timothy tiger):
Extend your arms in a slightly bent “t” shape
to suggest a tiger showing his strong muscles
(the song on our CD says, “shakes the bars of
his cage…”). While Signaling, say the letter
sound /t/.
u —umbrella bird
(umber umbrella bird):
Place your fist on top of your head to suggest
holding an umbrella. Extend your other arm
out to your side, and then flap that arm as if in
flight, saying the letter sound /u/. (Sustain
sound.) Note: This is the sound for the
“schwa,” regardless of which vowel says it!
v
boy
v—vampire bat
(vincent vampire bat):
Bend and raise your elbows horizontally with
your hands near your mouth. Form little fangs
with your index fingers. Flap elbows up and
down and say the letter sound /v/. (Sustain
sound.)
w—weasel (willie weasel):
Place your arms in front of your chest, elbows
up, and hands clasped on top of one another.
Move your arms in a wave-like motion. This
suggests what willie weasel looks like when
he is running. While Signaling, say the letter
sound /w/.
w
boy
x
boy
x —fox (xavier fox):
Crossing your index fingers, move them as if
you were knitting. Say the letter sound /x/.
(“ks”). Tell your students that the “x” in
Xavier comes at the front of the name, but the
“x” in “fox” comes at the end.
y
boy
boy
boy
n—nightowl (nigel nightowl):
Using the thumb and four fingers of each
hand, make round nightowl eyes and say the
letter sound /n/. (Sustain sound.) Note: Make
sure you always call Nigel a “nightowl.”
Keep practicing – it will become familiar.
z
boy
y—yak (yancy yak):
Form a “y-shape” by extending your thumb
and little finger. Place your thumb next to
your ear and your little finger next to your
mouth, as though you were holding a telephone and “yakking.” While Signaling, say
the letter sound /y/. Note: Make sure your
children don’t say “yak, yak, yak,” instead of
the sound.
z—zebra (zeke zebra):
Place your hands together and lean them
against your cheek to suggest Zeke catching a
few “z’s” (sleeping). While Signaling, say the
letter sound /z/. (Sustain sound.)
Teaching the animal name is important. It helps the child to hear the letter sounds.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me, and I learn!” - Benjamin Franklin
Zoo-phonics Games
What Animal is on My Back?
Pin or tape a Merged Animal/Letter (you may use the Zoo-font) on the back of each child. The child
must find out which Animal it is by asking questions. The children circulate asking each other questions
as to size, eating habits, habitats, the country of origin, specie of the Animals, etc. Set a time limit, and
limit the questions to seven. When they have guessed correctly, they go to the teacher and say, for
instance, “I am Allie Alligator.” Give the children a little reward (a sticker for their hands) when they
guess correctly.
Who Am I?
Display the Large Picture Cards, Picture side. Talk about the kind of voice each Animal might have.
According to its size, would it have a big voice, a middle-sized voice or a small voice? Would it have
a squeaky voice, a husky voice or a breathy voice? It might even have a voice with an accent depending
on its country of origin. Umber Umbrella Bird might have a voice with a Spanish accent, Kayo Kangaroo
might have an Australian accent, Allie Alligator might have a southern accent because she is from
Florida. Bubba Bear might have a Western twang, Francy Fish might sound as though she has bubbles
coming out of her mouth, and so forth.
Have the children give their interpretations of the Zoo-phonics Animal voices.
You may want to tie in the Zoo-phonics® Animal Alphabet Puppets with this activity.
Zoo-phonia May I
One person (it could be the teacher) stands facing away from a line of kids. She then chooses a child
(at random, or in order), and announces a direction. These follow a pattern, such as, “Brian, you may
take four giant Gordo Gorilla steps forward/backward.” The child responds with “Zoo-phonia
may I?” Zoo-phonia then states “Yes” or “No”, depending on her whim, and the child complies. If
the child forgets to ask “Zoo-phonia may I?” he/she goes back to the starting line. First one to touch
Zoo-phonia wins.
Zoo-phonia Says
One person is chosen to be “Zoo-phonia” the others stand in a strait line. Zoo-phonia then calls out
an action for the children to follow. It can be anything like.... touch your toes jump 10 times on 1
foot...... Zoo-phonia when giving an action can simply state the action by it self...”touch your ears”
and whoever does it is out and has to sit down. Or Zoo-phonia can say “Zoo-phonia says, touch
your ears” and them everyone must follow the instruction. You can vary the actions according to the
age group of children you are playing with. The last person who is standing can then be “Zoophonia”!
“Let’s Get Physical With Zoo-phonics”
Children learn when they are having fun and when their large muscles, as well as their small muscles, are
involved in the experience.
They learn by touching and by doing. Zoo-phonics provides
young children the opportunity to use their eyes, ears, mouths,
large and small muscles as vehicles to access information. Zoophonics encourages a child’s natural tendency to wiggle and
channels it for learning.
We, as educators, have always encouraged play in socialization,
and manipulatives in math and science - real hands-on learning!
But, when it comes to reading, spelling and writing, we have only
provided abstract symbols - symbols that represent sounds. How
nebulous can this be to 3, 4, 5, and 6 year old children?
Realizing this, the authors of Zoo-phonics (both working in the classroom at the time) saw that children need a
concrete method to access information, to tuck it into memory, and to retrieve it for future use. Zoo-phonics was
born.
Educators and researchers are becoming more aware of how important mnemonics and kinesthetics are to
learning. However, there is a dangerous trend, in many schools today. Because reading scores have been
so abysmally low across the nation, language arts programs have been expanded which, in turn, have
required extra time to teach. Physical education classes and recesses have been reduced or deleted from
the curriculum in many districts across the United States.
This will, in time, cause a serious backlash. Our children will be less than fit and healthy. What will be the
psychological and emotional effects? Children need to move. They need structured and unstructured
play. They need playful interaction with their peers and teachers.
Zoo-phonics builds physical movement into every aspect of the program. Not only do the children learn the
alphabet through physical movement, they decode as they read through their bodies; they build words
through their bodies. They “step out” sentences with their bodies. They toss balls, beanbags, ping pong
balls, jump on trampolines, and have relay races.
There are some real specifics about the Zoo-methodology that have caused its high success with toddlers, preschoolers, Kindergartners, 1st graders, special education students, and English language learners. Here are its
secrets:
1. Animals are drawn in the shapes of the letters. Instead of looking at an abstract
symbol, they see a familiar animal.
2. The alliterative animal names teach the sounds of the letters (allie alligator, bubba bear, catina cat, etc.). You
don’t have to go inside the word to locate the sounds, they are the first sounds the child hears!
3. A body movement, called a Signal, is taught which mimics something that the animal might do: wash its face,
make deer ears, swing its truck. This body movement is the glue that “sticks” the sounds to the symbols.
4. Those same animals are then placed on top of the letters, so the animals are learned in association with the
letters, so when a child sees an “a” in text somewhere (a cereal box, a book, a road sign) s/he might shout out,
“There’s allie alligator, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
5. Lowercase letters and letter sounds are taught first. Capital letters are only used in text 5% of the time. Letter
names are seldom used in reading. If you teach lowercase letters and their sounds first, you can get the child into
the reading/spelling process right away! (Capital letters are taught according to their purpose: to begin a sentence
and a proper name.)
6. Zoo-phonics teaches the alphabet as a whole entity. It doesn’t
break up the alphabet into “once a week letter learning.” In three
days to two weeks, toddlers, pre-schoolers and primary students
will have the sounds and shapes of the alphabet mastered and
ready to be utilized!
7. Because it is playful, colorful, musical, and fun, children stay on task longer. They choose to play Zoo-phonics at
center’s time and independently.
8. Parents can be easily trained to support teachers’ and students’ efforts in the classroom. Materials can be
inexpensively shared for home use. Home support maximizes student learning and may help the parents’ literacy
as well.
9. Because Zoo-phonics is based on animals, all academic subjects can be incorporated. You can show your
children where all the animals live with a world globe or map. Discuss cultures and appreciate diversity. Learn
about the eating/preying habits of the animals. Are they nocturnal? Diurnal? Omnivorous, herbivorous,
carnevorous?
10. Zoo-phonics uses a combination of decodable text as well as wonderful literature to expand vocabulary and
reading skills.
The Animal/Letters and Body Movements make the alphabet, reading, spelling, and writing come alive! Children
manipulate the alphabet with their eyes, ears, and mouth, and bodies. They can’t help but remember!
The National Reading Panel says this about the importance of mastering the alphabet: “Teaching children
to manipulate phonemes using letters produced bigger effects than teaching without the letters.” This
means that phonemic awareness will be far more effective if children have a complete handle of the 26
letters of the alphabet - the shapes and the sounds they make.1
Because the children physically move - one letter at a time through the word - they learn quickly where those letters
are placed. They learn which letters work together to form the sounds in words. When it is time for paper/pencil
activities, spelling is a snap! They have been moving their bodies and the Large Animal/Letter Cards around for
ages. They’ve became experts.
Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., says in his book, In Their Own Way, “It may be ridiculous to say this, but
children take their bodies with them wherever they go…As more parents and teachers begin to recognize
the importance of the body in learning, we’re likely to see a sharp decline in the number of so called
disabled learners.” 2
Jean Piaget reinforced this when he pointed out that “the highest forms of logical intelligence can be
traced back to the origins in the body.”3
Arnold Gesell said, “Mind manifests itself in everything the body does.”4
The National Reading Panel’s Report, “Teaching Children to Read.” (April 2000)
Dr. Thomas Armstrong, In Their Own Way, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, N.Y. 1987
3
IBID
4
IBID
1
2
Remember, when the body moves, the brain remembers!
Let’s take a look at some of the activities that is incorporated into the daily Zoo-curriculum:
1. Move like the Animals and Learn the Alphabet. Using the Large Animal Picture Cards, learn the Shapes,
Sounds and Signals of the alphabet. On this foundation, everything else in the language arts realm will
be established.
2. Play the song, “We Are Zoo-phonics Kids.” Signal (move) as the Animal/Letters are called out, “a – z.”
Students develop a sense of alphabetical order, rhythm and rhyme, as well as sound/symbol
relationships.
3. One Sound, One Signal, a – z. Your students will develop automaticity as they quickly move through the
alphabet, Signaling and giving the Sounds of each letter. This will prepare them for sound blending in a
very short time.
4. Toss a Beanbag or a Beanie Animal. Toss a beanbag or beanie animal around the room as the class
Signals and Sounds the alphabet in sequence. Each child is required to know which Animal/Letter
comes next in the sequence. They are to catch the beanbag or beanie animal, and then Signal and
Sound. They are then to toss it to the next child, who will help continue this exercise through the
alphabet. This develops excellent listening skills as well as eye/hand coordination and sound/symbol
relationships. It is an excellent phonemic awareness activity, as well.
5. Do Zoorobics! On the “Music that Teaches” CD, there is an actual aerobic routine, using the Animal
Body Signals. You can warm-up and stretch, speed-up (get that heart and oxygen pumping) and cool
down and a stretch at the same time as you reinforce the alphabet!
6. Beach Ball Toss. With a marker, print the lowercase letters randomly all over the beach ball. The
children are to choose a letter, and silently Signal it out for others to guess. The first to guess now gets
his or her chance to catch the ball, chose a letter or word, Signal, and toss the ball. This is an excellent
eye/hand coordination activity as well as developing sound/symbol relationships. For younger children,
under-inflate the beach ball, so their small hands catch it more easily. For older children, you can write
the letters on ping pong balls, as well. They must use fine muscle control for this activity.
7. Play Red Light, Green Light. Follow the rules to this old and classic game. Hold the Large Pictures Cards
for all the children to see. Call out one (out of order) and turn your back. Yell, “Green Light!” The
students are to run up to the teacher, Signaling and Sounding the letters as they run. The teacher then
calls out, “Red Light!” and turns around. Anyone caught moving has to go to the back of the line. The
goal is for one child to reach the teacher first, and now become the teacher. This is an excellent “listening
and following directions” activity.
8. Zoophonia, May I? This game is played like “Mother, May I?” This time, students ask to take “so
many” animal steps. Example, “Zoophonia, may I take five Gordo Gorilla steps?” Zoophonia may say
yes or no and substitute step amounts. Each child must act like the Animal s/he represents. Gordo is
large and lumbering, so fewer steps are allowed. Inny Inchworm is tiny, so many tiny steps are allowed.
They Signal and Sound each