Who Am I?

Building academic language

Word

• Ask students to think about the book they just heard. What was the sentence used on each page?
• Write the word "am" on the board and review the sentence "Who am I?" by writing it on the board and reviewing it from a page in the read-aloud.
• Point to the word "am" on the board and say, "This is the sight word am. Can you read it with me?" Model directionality and sounding out here: Point under the A and say "ah, ah," point under M and repeat, "mm, mm." Then say, "Now blend the sounds together: 'am.'"

Sentence

• Provide an illustrated word bank with describing words like: "fur," "wings," "tail," and "feathers" to support students.
• Create a T-chart of animals parts/animal actions on the board for additional language support.
• Write the sentence starter "I am __ __ __ __" on the board. Show students the pre-cut sentence strips with the same sentence starter. Explain that each pair will get a sentence strip to use when playing with their partner.
• Demonstrate how to play "Who Am I?" with a student as your partner.
• Show students how to play by going over the following steps with the class. First, explain that students will work with a partner. Partner A will close their eyes while Partner B rolls the animal die. Partner B will then hide the die in their hand and Partner A will guess what animal was rolled. When guessing, each partner will practice reading the sentence, "I am __ __ __ __," written on the board to provide clues, such as, "I am an animal with fur."

Discourse

• Pair students with a partner and pass out dice and a sentence strip to each pair.
• Students should play several rounds of the "Who Am I?" game with their partner.
• As students are playing, encourage them to practice using the phrase "Who am I?" and "I am __ __ __ __."
• After several rounds (about 5–7 minutes), gather the class back together.
• Display the Animal Guess worksheet and go over the instructions. Explain that students will get to choose their favorite animal from the guessing game to use with the worksheet.
• Pass out the Animal Guess worksheet for students to complete independently.