"Chocolate Chip Cookies for Lunch!"

ch = /ch/

Beginning Reading

Rationale: In order for children to learn to read and spell words, they need to understand that a phoneme can be represented by more than one letter and that each letter can represent different phonemes. This lesson will help children recognize what we call digraphs (two letters that make only one sound). An easy digraph to start with is ch = /ch/. Children will learn to recognize /ch/ by spelling and reading words that contain the digraph in them. They will know that c and h together make the sound /ch/.

Materials: Overhead projector, chalkboard, chalk, dry-erase boards and markers for the students, Elkonin letterboxes and letters for each student, list of real and pseudo words (chal, chat, chimp, rach, tich, lunch, chick, check), Choco-Louie books,chocolate chip cookies for each student, and letterboxes and needed letters (c,h,o,p,i,n,r,l,u,a,m,e,s,t,c) for the teacher.

Procedure:

1. To begin this lesson, I will begin by reviewing the sounds that c and h makes respectively. Then I will explain that when we put the two letters together it makes a different sound like /ch/. "Today we are going to learn that when you put the letter c and the letter h together it makes the sound /ch/. We are going to talk about the way our mouths move when we say /ch/. Watch my mouth as I say chain. Can everyone make that sound with me? Very good!"

2. I will then write the words chad, chunk, and much on the board. I will read the words to the students and then have the students read the words with me. Next, I will read the words more slowly, dramatizing the /ch/ sound. I will circle the ch in each word as we read it. Then I will have the students read the words again with the digraph circled and have then dramatize the sound.

3. Next I will write a tongue twister on the board. "Charlie chews his chocolate in his chair." I will have each student write this sentence on their boards and as we read it (dramatizing the /ch/) they will circle the digraph in each word. After reading them out loud and providing appropriate time, I will call on students to come to the board and circle the digraph in front of the class.

4. Next I will do a Letterbox Lesson. "I want everyone to get out their letterboxes and put three boxes showing." I will then pass out the letters they will need and tell them to put their letters on the lowercase side. I will then model for them how to do a letterbox word (they will already be familiar with this, but modeling never hurts). "If I want to spell chip in my letterboxes, I will think /ch/ - /iiii/ - /p/, and place the letters that make each sound in a different box." I will demonstrate this on the overhead projector. I will explain why the c and the h are taped together. "Why did I tape the c and h together? That's right, because they make one sound, so they go in one box, very good." Next I will slowly give them the words and have them complete the letterboxes for each word. Words will be: (3) chop, chin, rich; (4) lunch, champ, chest; (5) crunch. "Great job class, you have all done very well spelling these words. Now I'm going to put them on the overhead and we are going to read them together." I will spell the words one at a time and have the students read them.

5. For the reading portion of the lesson I will pass out the books Choco-Louie to the class. Book talk: Louie loves chocolate and he is challenged that he can't go a week without having some. Do you think he can do it? I will then pass out one chocolate chip cookie per child (no allergies I presume). I will then read the book aloud as the students follow along and have the students raise up their cookie each time they hear the /ch/ sound.

6. Assessment: I will wrap up the lesson by giving each child a list of real and pseudo words. "I am going to give everyone a list of words I printed out. Some of them are real and some of them are fake words. Don't let that bother you, just break the words up into sounds and I'm going to walk around and listen to you read them." (chal, chat, chimp, rach, tich, lunch, chick, check) I will let them practice reading the words aloud while I come by and listen to each student read the words while pointing to each letter/sound.

References:

Eldredge, J. Lloyd. Teaching Decoding in Holistic Classrooms. Prentice-Hall. 1995. pp. 50-70.

Murray, Bruce A. and Theresa Lesniak. "The Letterbox Lesson: A Hands-on Approach for Teaching Decoding." The Reading Teacher. Vol. 52, No. 6. March 1999. pp. 664-650.

http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/discov/hillbr.html – "Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies" by Tamara Hill
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/guides/roddambr.html– "Ch, Ch, Chocolate" by Melissa Roddam

Click here to go back to Beginnings!