This pronunciation lesson is designed for 3-6-year-old children to help them pronounce the letter ‘m’ using its phonic sound.
Learning phonic sounds is important for children as this helps them to learn how to read. This is the first step in learning spelling and vocabulary.
In our previous video lesson, we learned about phonics, the importance of learning phonics, and the phonic sound of the letter, the alphabet ‘l’. This pronunciation of ‘l’ video lesson is the 13th in a row of learning the sound of letters.
Why is it Important to Learn the Pronunciation Using Phonic Sounds?
Phonic sound videos help toddlers hear and associate sounds with the alphabet. This helps children communicate intelligently and understandingly.
The purpose of helping young children understand phonetics is to develop word recognition and spelling. This develops when children hear and identify letters and phonemes correctly.
It also helps to understand the relationship between phonemes and graphemes. As we discussed, the 2 stages of a) producing the correct sound of alphabet letters and b) details and combinations of letters, in the alphabet l blog, we will understand the function of the 2 stages now.
These 2 stages act as a learning mechanism and allow the child to recognize the previously unfamiliar words quicker the next time. This is a transition from decoding a new word and slowly sounding it by recognizing it. Phonics helps the children to do this transition flawlessly.
What is the Sound of the Letter ‘m’?
The /m/ sound is a “bilabial nasal,” which means you use both lips and breathe out through your nose to produce the sound.
The sound of the letter ‘m’, which is /mm/ is made when lips are pressed together, causing the air to be blocked from escaping the mouth. The soft palate drops, allowing the air to pass through the nose. This sound is voiced, making the vocal cords vibrate while producing the sound. Ask the child to make the /mmm/ sound.
What are the Words that Start with the Letter m?
As shown in the video, the consonant m produces the short consonant sound of /mm/ like we call out monkey; mop and mouse while helping children understand the sound as they speak.
Further, the letter m combines with the other alphabets and produces the sound /mm/, in words like milk, machine, magic, moon, etc.
How to Introduce the Pronunciation of the ‘m’ Sound to the Child?
- Invite the child to the table and tell them, today we are going to learn the sound of the letter ‘m’ produces.
- Show the child what the letter ‘m’ looks like and the sound of the letter ‘m’.
- Say it several times by producing the /mm/ sound as demonstrated in the video.
- Ask the child to repeat the sound after you.
- Show the child a picture or miniature of words starting with ‘m’ such as a mop.
- Repeat the sound of the letter m every time while showing the image of the mop.
- Now show another picture and again produce the letter ‘m’ sound.
- Ask the child to pronounce the letter ‘m’.
Other Ways to Introduce the Phonic Sound of ‘m’ to the Child
Introducing some fun activities would help the toddlers understand the sounds quickly, such as:
- Ask the child to help you with mopping the floor and emphasize the word MOP.
- Make some craft activities on how the letter ‘m’ looks like and introduce them while reaching there.
- Simple pictures can be drawn that begin with the alphabet m like muscle, mouth, mushroom, etc., and ask them to find more.
- M is for mud and children love playing in the mud and getting dirty. Head outside and play in nature for a bit with this fun activity of tracing ‘m’ in mud. Not possible outside; use brown paint pretending that it’s mud. The children will love getting their hands dirty while tracing this letter shape.
- A maze can be a good idea to not only focus on the pronunciation of the alphabet ‘m’ but also develop some cognitive skills.
This video allows the child to explore the short consonant sound of the English letter ‘m’ and learn words starting with it, such as a mouse, mop, and monkey.
Watch the video to learn how the sounds of the letter ‘m’ are repeated for each word so that the child can hear and pronounce the words accurately.
Related Pronunciation Videos:
- Pronunciation of the letter ‘j’
- Pronunciation of the letter ‘g’
- Pronunciation of the letter ‘e’
- Pronunciation of the letter ‘n’
For more pronunciation and English language resources, click here.
Video created by: Strykun Olena
