| The Original Letter People
This article is about the original 1969 - 1996 Letter People
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Planning And Preparation: Huggable, Mr. M; Filmstrip, Meet Me At The Market; Alpha Time Master #4.
There should be plenty of floor space cleared before the Munch And Move game.
Introducing Action Words[]
Gather the children around Mr. M and play the Munch And Move game.
Mr. M says he wants all of us to munch along with him.
Let's show Mr. M how we we munch!
Mr. M would like us all to munch and move at the same time.
How can we move? (ex., running, jumping, hopping, skipping, crawling, galloping)
(Bobby) will stand next to Mr. M.
Mr. M will whisper to (Bobby) and then (Bobby) will tell is when Mr. M wants us to stop. We will all keep saying, "Munch, munch, munch!" while we are moving.
Remembering Sequence[]
Mr. M has watched us move. Now he wants to move from place to place. He wants to be with is in the block corner. He wants to be at the painting easel. He wants to go to the book corner, and he wants to visit the housekeeping corner.
Why can't Mr. M be in all these places at the same time?
Lead the children to the conclusion that Mr. M can visit only one area at a time.
Help them to decide where Mr. N will go first, second, third, and fourth. Have them repeat the sequence several times so that Mr. M will remember.
Where is Mr. M supposed to move? (ex. first the block corner; second the painting easel; third the book corner; fourth the housekeeping corner)
Where is Mr. M now? (ex., the block corner)
Where does he go after the block corner? (ex., the painting easel) (Ellen), you may take Mr. M to the painting easel.
Picture Reading[]
Meet Me At The Market. M Meet Me At The Market- from 1972 book film strip & vinyl
Show the children Mr. M's filmstrip "Meet Me At The Market" and discuss each frame.
Frame 1[]
Who is in this story? (Mr. M)
What is Mr. M doing? (munching marshmellows)
Where do you think Mr. M is going? (to the market)
Frame 2[]
What is this? (a clock)
What does a clock tell us? (the time)
This is a special kind of clock that wakes people. What is this kind of clock called? (an alarm clock)
Frame 3[]
Whom is this alarm clock waking? (Mr. M)
Who woke up? (Mr. M)
To what is Mr. M pointing? (calendar)
What does a calendar tel us? (the date)
Frame 4[]
Where is Mr. M? (in the market)
What kind of food is on the counter? (fruit)
How does Mr. M feel? (happy)
Who is with Mr. M? (the manager)
Frame 5[]
What do you think Mr. M is saying?
Frame 6[]
Why is the manager surprised? (Mr. M is standing on a mountain of marshmallows.)
Who else is in the picture? (a little boy)
How many marshmallows does the boy have? (four)
Frame 7[]
What are the people doing? (munching marshmallows)
What are some colors in this picture? (blue, orange etc.)
Frame 8[]
What does the manager have in his mouth? (marshmallows)
How do you think the marshmallows got into the manager's mouth?
Frame 9[]
Why are the people following Mr. M?
How do they feel? (happy)
How can you tell how they feel? (their faces)
About how many people do you think are following Mr. M?
Frame 10[]
How does Mr. M look? (upset)
What is in the boxes? (macaroni)
Why do you think the boxes are tumbling down?
Frame 11[]
What are the people doing? (tasting the macaroni)
How do they look? (upset)
Why don't they like the macaroni? (it doesn't taste good; it is not cooked)
Frame 12[]
What do you think Mr. M is saying?
What do you think the manager is telling him?
What gas to be done to the macaroni? (it has to be cooked)
Frame 13[]
Tell us some things that the people are holding?
What jobs do some of the people have?
Frame 14[]
Why do you think Mr. M is looking at his clock? (e.g., it is getting late; time to go)
When else did we see a clock in this story? (at the beginning)
Frame 15[]
What is Mr. M giving the lady at the check-out counter? (money)
For what is he paying? (the things he munched)
Why are his shopping carts empty? (he munched all the things)
How does the manager feel?
What is the little boy thinking?
Frame 16[]
What did the people bring with them? (forks, knives, napkins)
Why did they bring these things? (they will munch with Mr. M)
Frame 17[]
What does the sign painter have in his hand? (paint brushes)
What is he painting? (a new sign)
What do you think the sign says? (Munching Monday Market)
Tying It Together[]
Give each child a copy of Alpha Time Master #4.
Where is Mr. M? (at the market)
What things do you see on the shelves behind Mr. M?
What things could go on the empty part of the shelves?
What are some things that are packed in cans?
What are some things that are packed in boxes?
What would happen if you put grape soda in a cardboard box?
On Their Own[]
Children may choose from the following activities:
- Coloring all the bottles on Alpha Time Master #4 red, the boxes blue, and the cans green.
- Marking all the objects on Alpha Time Master #4 that have the shapes of circles, triangles, and squares- each in a different color.
- Playing Store. A mini-market may be set up on a table- with a variety of items which the children may box, bottle, or wrap. Empty milk containers, plastic jars, cans, and bottles should be available for the liquids. A variety of wrapping paper, plastic and paper bags, and aluminum foil- plus a variety of empty cardboard boxes- should be available for the dry items. Such things as dry Lima beans, split peas, nuts, soup, juice, milk (in pitchers), canned corn, jelly beans, dry macaroni, peanut butter, soap powder, cakes of soap, cookies, and pretzels make good groceries. If a scale is available, the children may weigh the groceries they buy and sell.