Oscar the Ostrich and Ollie the Octopus
Beginning Reading
Rationale:
Children must understand that every letter has a sound associated with it. In
order to read, children must blend words beginning with the vowel sound, then
the body and coda. In this lesson, students will be learning o=/o/.
They will learn ways to remember that o=/o/ through introduction of the phoneme
with image and mouth placement, reciting a tongue tickler, practice using the
letterboxes, and then practice by reading a decodable book.
Materials:
Six boxes per student for letterbox lesson
Picture of the letter O with octopus legs coming out of it
Poster with "Oscar the Ostrich and Ollie the Octopus"
Decodable book Doc in the Fog for each student
Cards with phoneme awareness words printed: top/tip, fog/fig, lock/land,
frog/free, doc/duck
Copies of worksheets for each student (url below)
Procedures:
1. Introduce the letter O by asking students what your mouth looks like
when you say /o/. Let students make the sound.
2. Have all of the students say /o/ and feel the shape of their mouth as they
say the sound. Ask, "What words have this letter in it?" Have the students
feel their mouths as they say the word "top".
3.
Show the students the picture of the octopus with the tongue tickler written on
it. Read it aloud at a regular pace first, then slowly. The third
time exaggerate the /o/ sound on each word. O-o-o-oscar the O-o-o-strich and
O-o-o-ollie the O-o-o-ctopus. Have all of the students say it with you.
Repeat.
4. Say, "Now we are going to work on
recognizing the letter /o/ on words. I am going to say two words and I
want you to tell me which word you hear the letter o in. Do you hear /o/
in top or tip, fog or fig, land or lock,
frog or free, dock or duck? "
5. Say, "Since everyone did such a
great job at recognizing which words have the /o/ sound we are going to practice
spelling some words that have the letter /o/ in them. Everyone get your
letterboxes out and place them flat on your desk. Line up all the letter
neatly and right side up so you can see them. Be sure to only put one
sound in each box." Model the word strong on the board. S-t-r-o-n-g. (one
phoneme in each box). The students should work individually on spelling the
words. [words: 3-sob, rock, top, job 4-frog, smog, block, stop, flop 5-strong]
Say, "Raise your hand once you think you have the word spelled out so I can
check it". Write all the words on the board and have the students say them
after they have spelled them all out.
6. Say, "We will now read the book
Doc in the Fog. In this book, Doc does some magic to turn tops into
dolls and dolls into mops! Uh-oh, what do you think happens when Doc messes with
the fog? We'll have to read to find out!"
7. Have the students read in pairs. Each student should read one
page then let the other read the next page. Encourage the students to help
each other with words.
Assessment:
Have all the students complete the work sheet by saying the words to you, then
coloring them and practicing writing o.
References:
Victoria Barron "Ollie the Ostrich and Oliver the Octopus"
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/caravans/barronbr.htm
http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/learning-letters/o.htm
King, Michaela. Oscar the Ostrich loves Olive.
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/journeys/kingbr.htm