A Cat Nap
Beginning Reading Design
Primary
paper and a pencil for each child
Elkonin
letterbox sets for each child
Large
Elkonin letterbox set for teacher
Letters
for each child: a,b,c,d,g,h,k,l,n,p,r,s(2),t
Words
for letterbox lessons: 3 phonemes- cat, hat, nap, sad; 4 phonemes-
grab, camp,
snack, glad, black, bank, prank, glass; 5 phonemes- crash, stand
Chart
with Tongue Twister on it: Abby the
alligator ate apples in the afternoon.
Copies
of A Cat Nap for each child
Handout
with pictures of the color black, a glass, a bank, and a cat (along
with
pictures that do not include the a=/a/ correspondence: bee, cow, clock)
- one per child.
Chalk/Chalkboard
1. Introduce
the lesson and explain to the children that they will be
learning about the letter a and its corresponding sound. Then write the
letter a on the board for the children to see.
"Good morning class. Today we will be learning about the letter a
and that it makes the sound /a/. Everyone
say that with me. /a/. Good. The letter a
is an important letter in the alphabet. It is a vowel that is seen in
many
words. Can someone name a word that has an a
in it? That’s right, cat, hat, camp,
snack, glass, and many more all have the letter a
in it and they all make the /a/ sound. Today we are going to
learn to spell and read words that make the /a/ sound."
2. Introduce
a gesture to remember the /a/ sound. "Now we
need to have a way to remember the /a/ sound. I can remember it by
putting my
fists next to my eyes and rubbing. It can hurt but it can feel good to
so I
want to make the /a/ sound. Now you try. (Put fists next to eyes and
rub then
make the /a/ sound). Excellent!"
3. Practice!
"Let’s see if you can point out some words
that make the /a/ sound. Listen carefully to the words I say and when
you hear
the /a/ sound, I want you to put your fists next to your eyes and rub.
Do you
hear /a/ in cat or bird? Apple or eggs?
White or black? Nap or
Sleep?
4. Have
everyone turn their attention to the tongue twister chart.
First, model the tongue twister for them and use the hand gesture every
time
you hear the sound /a/. Then have the children try it a few times. Make
sure
they stretch the sound /a/. Also, remind them to make the hand gesture
when
they hear the /a/ sound. "Now we are going to practice the
sound
/a/ using a tongue twister. I am going to say it first and then I want
you to
say it with me. Remember to put your fists to your eyes and rub when
you hear
the /a/ sound. Great job! Ok, let’s say it again, together but this
time, let’s
stretch out the /a/ sound. Abby the
Alligator ate apples in the afternoon. Did everyone hear and make
the
/a/
sound? Excellent!
5. Pass
out the handout with the different pictures on it to each
child. "Boys and girls, on this handout are different pictures.
Some make the /a/ sound and some do not. I want you to circle the ones
that
make the /a/ sound. I will pick these up when you are finished so make
sure you
put your name on your paper."
6. Pass
out letters and letterboxes to each student. Explain to the
children that each box represents a sound in the word. Tell the
children that
every time you say a word, they are to listen to the sounds and place
the
appropriate letters in the appropriate boxes. Model this by placing the
letter b while
saying /b/ in the
first box, l
while saying /l/ in the second box, a
while saying /a/ goes in the
third box, and ck while
saying /ck/ in the fourth box, making the word black. "Today
we are
going to be using the letterbox lessons to help us learn that a makes
the /a/
sound. Everyone turn your letters so that the lower-case side is facing
up.
Remember that each of the boxes represents a sound in a word. Be sure
to listen
so you will know how many sounds are in your word. I am going to show
you the
word black. This word has
four sounds,
so I will use four boxes. First I hear /b/, so I will put a b in the first box, then I hear
/l/, so
I will place an l in the
second box. Next, I hear /a/, so I will put an a
in the third box. Finally, I hear /ck/, so I will put a ck in the final box. "
Continue
on with the letterbox lesson.
Start with the three phoneme words and move to the five phoneme words.
Say each
word- cat, hat, nap, sad, grab, camp, snack, glad, black, bank, prank,
glass,
crash, stand- one at a time, giving the children enough time to place
the
letters in the boxes. Make sure to remind them that the boxes are for
the
sounds of a word, not the letters. Make sure to give each student the
time they
need to make the words. While the children are making their words, be
sure to
walk around and observe what they are doing. If the child makes a
mistake in
the word, pronounce it as they have spelled it and have them try and
fix it.
Don’t ask questions! After everyone has spelled the word correctly,
model it
for the class (like you did with black).
Do that for each word so the students will understand the way it is
supposed to
be. Make sure the children do not read the words while in the
letterboxes. Only
have them read them without the letterboxes.
7. After
the letterbox lesson, have the students read the words to you.
Use the larger set of letters to spell the words and have the children
read the
words aloud. "Okay, class, now that I know you can spell all of
the words, I want you to read them. I am going to spell the word for
you and
then I want you to read that word to me." Make sure to watch each child
to
make sure they are able to read the words. If a child cannot read a
word, the
teacher should help the child split the word (body-coda) to help with
their
reading.
8. Hand
out a copy of A Cat Nap
to each child. Give a short book talk. "Ok class, now you get
to
read a book with words that make the /a/ sound. You are going to be
reading A Cat Nap. This story is about a cat named
Tab. Tab is a fat cat who likes to nap in a bag. Sam is the man who
owns Tab.
Sam plays baseball. Sam has a bat in his bag. To
find out if Tab is near by, you need to
read the book."
9. Have
the children read the book A
Cat Nap while you walk around and observe their reading.
"Now,
I want everyone to pick up your copy of the book and start reading.
While you
are reading, I will be walking around to see how you are doing."
10. Pass
out the primary paper and a pencil to each student. Have the
students write a message as to whether or not they like baseball and if
cats
should be at a baseball game. "Now that we have finished with
the
handout, I want each of you to write whether or not you like baseball
and if
you think cats should be at a baseball game."
Sources:
A Cat Nap. Educational Insights, 1990.
Murray,
B.A.,
& Lesniak, T. (1999). The Letterbox Lesson: A hands-on approach for
teaching decoding. The
Davis, Haley. Red Gets Fed. http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/invent/davisbr.html