Primary students read Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You? by Dr. Seuss [Random House, 1970] to learn what onomatopoeia is and how to use it in their writing. Understanding onomatopoeia aids in students’ ability to comprehend text and write descriptively.
Onomatopoeia Primary Lesson Plan Objective
- Primary students will identify sound words, onomatopoeia, in the story Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can you?
- Primary students will write onomatopoeia on a sound chart to describe everyday sounds.
- Primary students will write sentences correctly using onomatopoeia.
Introduce Sound Words to Primary Students
The teacher will read Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You? to the students in small groups during guided reading or writing time. The teacher will point out the onomatopoeia to the students and lead a discussion about what sound words are and why authors use them.
Teach Primary Students to Identify and Use Sound Words
The class will reread Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You? to identify all of the sound words and create a list of onomatopoeia. The teacher will write sentences containing onomatopoeia on sentence strips and will assign a sound word to each of the students. The students will practice their sound words and the class will then reread the story and perform their assigned sounds.
The teacher will provide each student with a sound chart. The sound chart has three columns. The students listen to everyday sounds either on tape on in person and write what is making the sound in the first column. On the second column the students write the onomatopoeia that describes the sound and then use the sound word in a sentence in the third column.
Assess Primary Student Understanding of Onomatopoeia
The primary students will use their sound charts to create their own Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You? page. Depending on the age and ability of the students the teacher can have them write rhyming or not rhyming sentences. While the students are creating their own sound page the teacher will circulate throughout the group to assess understanding of the lesson and provide further instruction if necessary.
After students have demonstrated that they understand and can use onomatopoeia by adding to the story Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You? teachers can collect the pages and create a class book. Students can illustrate their sound word page and the book can be placed in the class library for students to practice reading.
For more Dr. Seuss lessons read: Dr. Seuss Writing and Vocabulary Lesson Plan, The Cat in the Hat Language Arts Lesson Plan, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Lesson Plan.
Megan Sheakoski - Megan Sheakoski is a teacher, mom and writer whose ideas have been featured in college text books, graduate courses, on websites and on ...
Join the Conversation