"Aaaa, A Ghost!"
Rationale:
This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence a= /a/. In order to be able to read, children must learn to recognize the spellings that map word pronunciations. In this lesson children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling a=/a/. They will learn a meaningful representation (shocked person screaming Aa), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence a= /a/.
Materials:
Graphic image of a screaming person; cover-up critter; whiteboard or smartboard Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin letterboxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: a, b, c, d, f, h, k, m, n, p, r, s, t; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: pat, ask, fat, ram, land, crab, back, splat, chat; decodable text “A Cat Nap”, and assessment worksheet.
Procedures:
1. Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. All the letters in the alphabet have their own sound and make us move our mouths a certain way. Today we are going to learn about the letter a and the short sounds it makes, which is /a/. When I say /a/, I think of someone screaming at a ghost, “Aaaaa!”. Have you ever seen a spooky thing that made you say /a/?
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /a/, we need to listen for it in some words. First let’s read it in a tongue tickler to practice. When I listen for /a/ in words, I hear a say its name /a/ and my mouth is open with my tongue sitting at the bottom of my mouth like this. [Make vocal gesture for /a/.] I want you to listen to me say it first “Allie eats apples with Amy. Now I want you to repeat after me when I say it again. (repeat with students two times) Do you hear the /a/ sound? I hear /a/ in Allie, what other words have /a/ in them (apples, Amy)? Now lets say the tongue tickler for the last time but let’s stretch out the /a/ sound. “Aaaallie eats aaaapples with Aaaamy.”
3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /a/ that we’ll learn today. What if I wanted to spell the word back? “I can touch my back with my fingers.” (show hand motion of touching your back) To spell back in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word. Let’s stretch it out and count: /b//a//ck/. I need 3 boxes. I heard that /a/ just before the /ck/ so I am going to put it in the second box. The word starts with /b/, that’s easy; I need a b. Now let’s look at the last box. Let’s say it slowly /b//a//ck/. The last phoneme is k= /ck/.
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for pat. To pat means to touch something lightly, “I made a good grade so my dad gave me a pat on the back.” What should go in the first box? What goes in the second box? I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. (observe progress) You’ll need 3 letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for /a/. Here’s the word: ask, Raise your hand to ask a question; ask. (allow children to spell words) Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: a-s-k . See if you spelled it right. Try another word with three boxes: ram; I saw a ram at the zoo. (have a volunteer spell it in the letterboxes on the board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word. (have children also spell fat, land, crab, splat, chat).
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled. [Show the words pat, ask, ram, fat, land, crab, splat, chat). Have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]
6. Say: You’ve done a great job and 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 cat named Tab. She gets a full belly from eating and wants to take a nap. She finds a bag to sleep in but it’s her owner, Sam’s bat bag. He doesn’t know Tab is in the bag and takes her to his baseball game. Let’s see what happens when Sam realizes Tab is in the bag. Let’s pair up and take turns reading A Cat Nap to find out what happens. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads A Cat Nap aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]
7. Say: Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /a/ = a, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some pictures to color if they represent a word with the /a/ sound. Then the worksheet asks you to circle words with the /a/ sound. Finally, the worksheet asks you to write 3 words with the /a/ sound. I will walk around to see if anyone needs help.
Resources:
Molly Kubicki, Aaaaa! Goes the Rollercoaster
Murray, G. (2004) A Cat Nap. Reading Genie: file:///Users/annathompson/Downloads/Cat%20Nap%20(1).pdf
Assessment worksheet: file:///Users/annathompson/Desktop/CTRD/short%20a%20sheet.pdf