Bappy Birthday Boo Boo

Phoneme Awareness Procedure 1. As appropriate, have children sing the “Happy Birthday” song to one another on their birthdays . 2. After singing the original version, announce to the children that you are going to change the song to match the first sound in the name of the child whose birthday you are celebrating . (See the table on the next page for examples .) Note: First, determine whether this is culturally inappropriate or results in inappropriate words . 3. Ask the children to identify the initial sound in the birthday child’s name . 4. Tell the children to listen carefully to your silly version of the song . Then, sing the song, substituting the child’s initial phoneme in all initial positions of the words in the song . 5. Invite the children to join you as you sing the silly version several times . 6. Talk about the phoneme substitution . Sing the song again . Allow the birthday child to select which version they would like to hear—the traditional version or the silly sound version . Differentiate or Extend ▲ Instead of substituting initial phonemes in the song, have children generate rhymes for the birthday child’s name and add one or more rhymes to the song when the name is sung . For example, if the child’s name is Dan, sing “Happy birthday, dear Dan man” or “Dan pan” or “Dan van fan man .” Be sensitive to whether the birthday child is enjoying the silly play with their name, and be attentive to the possibility of inappropriate rhymes . Letter Connection ▲ Be prepared with a letter card showing the initial letter in the child’s name . Display it and talk about the letter, Bappy Birthday Boo Boo Objective Students will identify initial sounds in words, match initial sounds, and substitute initial phonemes in words . Overview With support from the teacher, children sing the traditional “Happy Birthday” song, but they substitute the initial sounds in the lyrics with the initial sound of the birthday child’s name . Materials letter cards (optional) School-Home Connection Encourage children to tell their families about the birthday celebrations . Invite them to share the new versions of the song with sample sampletheir families . including the sound it represents in the child’s name .

Phoneme Awareness Sample Sentences Name Initial Sound Verse Benjamin /b/ Bappy birthday boo boo Franco /f/ Fappy firthday foo foo Gabby /g/ Gappy girthday goo goo Kathy /k/ Kappy kirthday koo koo Lea /l/ Lappy lirthday loo loo Bappy Birthday Boo Boo (cont.) Happy Birthday to You Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear ____________ , Happy birthday to you! sample