Ms. Kelley's Reading Site

Rationale: This lesson is designed to teach students about the short vowel correspondence a = /a/. In order to be a successful reader, children must learn to recognize the spellings that map word pronunciations. The students will learn a meaningful representation (baby crying), spell and read words that contain this correspondence in a letterbox lesson, and also read a decodable book that focuses on the a = /a/ correspondence in this lesson.

Materials: Image of crying/sleeping baby, cover up critter, whiteboard, Elkonin boxes for modeling, individual Elkonin boxes for each student, letter manipulatives for each child or smartboard letters for teacher: a, b, c, f, h, k, l, n, p, q, s, u, list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: [2--at, 3-van, sash, 4-flap, snack, black] decodable text: A Cat Nap, assessment worksheet

 

Procedures:
1. Say: For us to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. Today we are going to learn about the short a and the mouth movements we do in order to say /a/. When I say /a/ I think of a baby crying, "aaaaa…" [show picture of baby crying]. We use the letter A to spell /a/ [show letter a].

2. Say: Let’s review the correspondence a = /a/ by listening for it in some words. When I listen for /a/ in words, I hear a say /aaaa/ and my jaw drops and my tongue is down. [Show vocal gesture for /a/]. I’ll show you first: mask. I heard /a/ say its name and I felt my jaw drop as well as my tongue go down. There is a short /a/ in mask. Now I am going to see if it is in Mmmm-eeeeee-ttttt. Hmmm, I did not hear the baby crying /aaaa/ and my jaw did not drop. Now, it is your turn to try. If you hear /a/, say "Aaa..I hear it." If you do not hear /a/, say "Aaaa..not this time." Is it in apple, sweet, clap, mat, yell? [Have students make their jaws drop when they feel /a/ cry like the baby].

3. Say: What if I want to spell the word mash? "I like to mash the potatoes." Mash means to mix the food together in this sentence. To spell mash in letter boxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word, so I stretch it out and count /m/ /a/ /sh/. I need three boxes. I heard the /a/ before the /sh/, so I am going to put an a in the second box. The word starts with /m/, that’s easy; I need a m. I have one empty box. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word /m//a//sh/]. The missing one is /sh/. Now, I will put both s and h in the last box. Now I am going to show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with bad on the top and model reading the word]. I am going to start with the a; that part says /a/. Now I am going to put the beginning letter with it, b-a, /b-a/. Then, I will put that together with the last sound: d, b-a-d, /ba-d/. Oh, bad, like "Sally was bad at school yesterday."

 

4. Say: Now I am going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You will start out with two boxes for at. Like, I was at the ballgame Saturday. What should go in the box first? [Respond to students’ answers]. What goes in the second box? I will be checking your spelling as I walk around the room. [Observe progress]. For the next word, you will need three letterboxes. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then, listen for /a/. Here’s the word: van. "The students will ride in the van to school today"; van. [Allow students to spell remaining words: flap, sash, snack, black,]. Pseudowords: glap, jash, dlack

5. Say: Now I am going to let you read to words you have spelled. [Have students read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read on word on the list until everyone has had a turn].

6. Say: You have done a great job reading words with our new spelling for a = /a/. Now we are going to read a book called A Cat Nap. This is a story of a fat cat named Tab who likes to sleep a lot. One day Tab sleeps in a place not meant for a cat. Let us pair up and take turns reading A Cat Nap to find out where Tab falls asleep. [Students pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each, while the teacher is walking around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class will reread A Cat Nap aloud together, and stop between page turns to discuss the plot].

 

7. Say: That was a good story. Where did Tab fall asleep? Right, in the bag. Before we finish up with our lesson I will listen to everyone in the class read. I will call each student up to my desk individually and have them read 1-2 pages of A Cat Nap. I will listen and make miscue notes while students are reading. While I am assessing, the class will complete a worksheet to make sure they understand a = /a/. The students will trace words with /a/ and match the pictures to the word. [Worksheet attached].

Resources:
Book: A Cat Nap. Educational Insights. 1990.

Worksheet:
http://www.funfonix.com/worksheets/book1_page5.php

Beginning Reading Sample:

Murray, Geri: Oh, I didn't know

Milner, Emily: Don't Wake The Baby, "Aaaa!"