Chuga Chuga Choo Choo
by
Beginning Reading Design
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. This lesson will
help
children recognize digraphs. Digraphs are two letters that make only
one sound.
An easy digraph to start with is the correspondence ch = /ch/. It is
important
for children to learn that when certain letters are together in a word,
they
make one specific sound. Children will learn to recognize /ch/ by
spelling and
reading words that contain the digraph ch. After the lesson, students
will know
that when the two letters, c and h,
appear together they make the sound
/ch/.
Materials: primary paper and pencil
chart with "Chip chases Charlie to get the chocolate cherry."
class set of Elkonin boxes, one big set of Elkonin boxes and letters
baggies with letters: ch, o, p, r,
i, m, u, l, n, s, t, a, d, e, c
class set of books: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and
John
Archambault (Aladdin, 2000)
cards with ch on them (1 per student)
crayons
worksheets with /ch/ pictures for
assessment (1 per student)
chalkboard and chalk
Procedures:
1. Introduce the
lesson by saying, "I know that we've been learning how one letter makes
one
certain sound, but today we are going to look at two specific letters
that make
one certain sound. We will see that when we put c and h together, they
make the /ch/ sound like in choo choo. Sometimes in our funny alphabet
strange
things happen, like when two letters make one sound. We are about
to
become experts at spelling and reading the /ch/ sound in words."
2. Ask students: "Have you ever been outside and heard a train pass by?
What sound does a train make? Good /ch/ /ch/. It goes
/ch-ch-ch-ch/
/ch-ch-ch-ch/. That's the sound that we are going to learn to spell and
read
today. Now let's all pretend that we are a big choo choo train and make
the
/ch/ sound together. /ch-ch-ch-ch-ch/."
3. Let's try a tongue twister (on chart): I am going to say a silly
sentence,
and I want you to listen for the /ch/ sound. "Chip chases Charlie to
get the
chocolate cherry." I want you to give me a thumbs up if you heard the
/ch/
sound in that silly sentence. I am going to say the silly sentence
again very
slowly. This time, every time you hear the /ch/ sound I want you to
give me a
thumbs up. (Read the sentence slowly. Point to each word on the chart
as you
say it.) Now let's say our silly sentence together. Good! This time
let's
separate the /ch/ sound in each word. (Model by saying /ch/--/ip/.)
Class: "Ch-ip
ch-ases Ch-arlie to get the ch-ocolate ch-erry."
4. Practice finding
/ch/ in spoken
words: I am going to say a few pairs of words two times.
The first
time I just want you to listen for the /ch/ sound. The second
time I say
the words, I want you to hold up your card with ch on
it when you hear the word that has the /ch/ sound. chimp or
monkey? change or money? chart or graph? eraser or chalk? catch or
throw? cheat
or win? Great!
5. Letterbox Lesson: I
want everyone to get out your letterboxes. First, fold
them so that only three boxes are showing. (Pass out baggies with only
the
letters that will be used in the lesson in them.) I want everyone to
make sure
your letters are on the lower-case side. I am going to say a few words
and I
want you to separate the words into the different sounds that make up
the word.
Model: If I say chip, I am going to think /ch/ /iii/ /p/, and place the
letters
in the correct boxes. (Teacher should model this on the chalkboard with
big
boxes and letters.) Do you see how we all have our c
and h taped together? I
taped these two letters together because when they are next to each
other in a
word, they make one sound /ch/, which means they go in the same box.
Let's all
try it! When I say a word, I want you to put the letters in the right
boxes
according to the sounds in the word. (Say words to them one at a time
and walk
around to check for understanding.) 3 phoneme words: chat, chop, rich,
much,
6. Read text with /ch/ sounds: Have students take turns
reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom with a partner.
Say: "After you and your partner have each read the book to one
another,
I want you to each make your own list of words that you found in the
book that
had the /ch/ sound on your primary paper. After your lists are
complete,
you and your partner should compare lists to make sure you found all of
the
words with /ch/ in them." (The teacher should walk around while the
groups are
reading and writing to make sure each group is on task and does not
need help.)
7. Assessment: Give each student a worksheet that has different
pictures of
words that have the /ch/ sound in them. Also have a couple of
words that
do not have the /ch/ sound. Have the students write what the picture is
beside
each illustration. The pictures include: chimp, cheetah, mouse, chips,
chocolate, lunch, chair, bird, chalk, crayons, chicken, and a radio.
The students
should color the pictures that do have the /ch/ sound in them and
should not
color the pictures that do not have the /ch/ sound in them. The teacher
should
walk around and observe the students while they work. Also, have the
students
read the words to you that each illustration represents.
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/willoughbybr.html