Beginning Reading
Design
"Uhhh, do U know?"
Rationale: This lesson will help students identify the
short vowel correspondence u=/u/. Students will learn to recognize /u/ in spoken
words by learning a meaningful representation (scratching their heads, like
they’re confused). By using a letter box lesson, students will learn how to
spell and read words containing this correspondence. Students will practice
decoding /u/ words by reading a decodable book which focuses on u=/u/.
Materials: Letter boxes for each
student, document camera, letters for each student (b, c, f, G, j, k, l, m, n,
p, r, s, s, t, u), flashcards with (slush, fun, cut, sub, Gus, truck, jump,
luck, slump). Bud the Sub, assessment
worksheet (URL below).
Procedures:
1. Say: Our written language is like a code. In order to be
the best readers we can be, we have to learn how to read the code. We have to
learn how each letter sounds. Today we’re going to learn about short
u. When I say /u/, I think of a
person who is confused and doesn’t know the answer. Have you ever been asked a
question that you didn’t know and said /u/. Well every time we hear that sound I
want you to think of the letter u,
and I want you to scratch your head like you are confused and don’t know the
answer.
2. Before we start trying to spell /u/ words, we need to
listen for it in some words. When I listen for /u/ in words, I think of that
confused person, saying "Uhhh" (scratch your head). When I say /u/, I feel my
jaw drop and my mouth open. For example, when I say cup, I hear /u/ like the
confused person says, and I feel my mouth open up and my jaw drop down. Now I am
going to see if /u/ is in cute. I didn’t hear /u/ in cute. My jaw didn’t drop
and my mouth made more of a kissy face than opening up. Now let’s all try. I
want you to scratch your head like the confused person if you hear /u/ in a
word. If you don’t hear /u/, then don’t scratch your head. Do you hear /u/ in
cut? Paste? Walk? Run? Jump? Skip?
3. I’m going to show you how to spell the words for our
letter boxes. We are going to use the word slush. "The snow had melted with the
rain and now there was an icy slush on the roads." To spell slush in
letterboxes, we need to recognize the different sounds we hear in the word.
Lay out four boxes for your letterbox on the document camera to model,
because this word will have four sounds, we have to stretch it out to hear those
sounds. Sssllluuush. I heard the /u/ right before that last sound /sh/, so let’s
put that U in the third letterbox.
Then let’s look at the beginning of the word. First I heard that /s/, and we
know that sound is made by s. Then I
heard the /l/ sound. That sound is made by the letter
l. So now we have /s//l//u/ and all
we have left is that one sound /sh/. Now remember, even though it is only one
sound, doesn’t mean it is only one letter. What makes that /sh/ sound? It is the
letters sh. If I were to encounter
this word in my reading and I didn’t know how to say it, I would first look at
the /u/ because we know it makes that "Uhh" confused sound. Then I would go to
the beginning of the word and stretch out the sounds of each of those letters.
In slush, I would go ssslll, there’s that "uhhh". Then finally I would move on
to the last sound, that sshh. Slluuusssh, slush! That’s it! "There was slush on
the road that made it dangerous to drive."
4. Now you are going to try and spell some words in the
letterboxes. We are going to start with 3 boxes, and your word is
fun. "It is fun to play games with
my friends." Do you hear that confused /u/ somewhere in run? Good, that’s right,
it’s in the middle! So now we stretch out the word. What do you think goes in
the first box? Right! You heard /f/ and knew that f went in the first box. Ok,
so now you just have the last box. N,
good job! (Make sure to take a quick mental record, making sure you check that
each student is following along and assessing who is understanding the task).
Ok, the next word is cut. "I cut my
finger on the sharp knife". (Follow the same procedure as above for this word as
well as sub, Gus, truck, jump, luck, and slump.)
5. Good work everyone! I like the way you all were able to
identify that /u/ sound in your reading words! Now we are going to read a story
called Bud the Sub. This book is
about a submarine, can anyone tell me what a submarine is? That’s right, its
like a ship that is made to go underwater. Well this sub’s name is Bud. And bud
has a job to help other ships that are in trouble. Bud learns of one ship that
has been hit! Let’s see what Bud can do to help. Do you think he’ll be able to
save the ship? You are going to get with a partner and buddy read to find out
what Bud does. (Students buddy read as the teacher goes around to check the
student’s reading. After everyone finishes, the teachers reads
Bud the Sub to the class and stops
before she turns each page to ask questions, talk about the plot and review
u=/u/ words.)
6. For assessment, the students will be given a handout.
Say: Each student is going to work independently on this worksheet. I want to
see what you learned today! On the sgeet there are some pictures with words
written in. I want you to color the pictures that have that short u, /u/ sound.
You should not color the pictures that don’t have that /u/ sound in the words.
Are there any questions before you begin? No? Okay then you can start. I will
collect the worksheets when you are done. (collect and analyze each student’s
work to determine their knowledge of u=/u/.
References:
Bud the Sub. Carson. Educational Insights, 1990. p. 1-9.
Collier, Daniel. "Uhh I Don’t Know"
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/odysseys/danielbr.html
Short U, Set 04.
http://www.schoolexpress.com/fws/worksheet.php?id=65842