Yay!
Today is the Day we Play!
Beginning Literacy Design
By: Michel Fields
Rationale:
This lesson will help the class identify ay= /A/. In order for
children to learn fluently, they need to understand the
sounds letters
make when they are put together.
In this lesson children will learn to
recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling ay.
They will learn a meaningful representation (shaking arms and
hands excitedly), they will spell and read words containing
this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book
that focuses on the correspondence ay=
/A/.
Materials:
Primary paper, pencil, picture
of a happy girl with “Yay! Today is the Day we Play!”, Today is Monday by
Eric Carle, big letterbox to use as an example in front of the
class, small letterboxes for each student, magnetic letters: d, a, y, p, l, m, s,
and r, list of words
on a poster for them to read and write: day, cake, play, hit,
may, hop, say, cat, pray ; assessment worksheet
Procedures:
1. Say: We all want to be
wonderful readers, so we have to know how to pronounce the
words! Earlier we learned short vowel words with a, like hat, and today we’re
going to learn about the long A sound and how when it is with a
y it makes A say its
name, /A/. When I say /A/, I think of an excited girl saying,
“Yay! Today is the Day we Play.” Let’s look at how we can spell
/A/. The way we are going to learn today is ay together that makes
A say its name. [Write ay on the board.]
2. Say: Before we learn how to
spell /A/, we need to find it in some words. When I hear /A/ in
words, I hear a say
its name /A/. When I say /A/, my mouth opens a little and then
closes a little. Let me show you: hay. I heard a say its name and
felt my mouth open and close a little. There is a long A in hay. Now I’m going to
see if I hear it in hat.
I didn’t hear a say
its name. This time when I say a word, I want you to say, “Yay!
Today is the Day we Play” if you hear a say its name. If you
don’t hear a say its
name then don’t say anything at all. Is it in cat, way, boat,
lay, okay?
3. Say: Let’s work on
spelling. What if I want to spell the word play? “Do you want to
play outside?” To spell play in letterboxes, first I need to
know how many phonemes I have in the word. I am going to stretch
it out and count: /p//l//ay/. I need three boxes. I know that a said its name at the
end so I’m going to put the ay in the last box. Does everyone understand why a and y go in the same box?
The y tells a to say its name. The
word starts with a /p/, so I know to put a p in the first box.
Next I hear /l/, like licking a lollipop. That means I put an l after the p and before the ay.
4. Say: I want you to spell
the next few words on your own. For the first few words you will
need two boxes. The first word is day. “This is the third day of
the week.” What should go in the first box?[Let children
answer]. What goes in the second box? I am going to walk around
the room and check your spelling. The next word is may. You will
need two boxes again. Put the letters in the correct letterboxes
while I walk around and check. [Children will spell remaining
words: way and pray.]
5. Say: Listen to how I read
the word play. [Write play
on the board]. P-l-ay, play.
6. Say: Now let’s read the
words we have spelled together. [Read all the words as a class.
Let individuals read a word by themselves.]
7. Say: Great job reading and
spelling words with our new sound, /A/! Now I want us to read a
book called James and
the Good Day. This story is about a boy named James. His
morning is off to a good start! What all will James get to do on
his good day? [The students will read in pairs while I walk
around the room and listen. If we have time we will read the
book together aloud at the end.]
8. Say: We’re almost finished!
To assess the students’ learning, I will have students come
individually to my desk and read a few pages to me. I will
listen closely to see if they need any help. I will keep a
sticky note for each student with notes about their reading.
Refrences:
1. Murray,
Geralyn, “Oh, I didn’t know” http://www.auburn.edu/~murrag1/BRMurrayG.htm
2. Reading Genie Lesson, Rachel Edmundson: It’s May, Let’s Play! http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/catalysts/edmundsonbr.html