Rationale:  As children are learning to read, they must learn to blend words.  Therefore, they need adequate instruction in distinguishing phonemes and thus, blending them.  In this lesson, the children will learn how to combine the phoneme oo = /OO/ into readable text.

Materials:  Chant: "Boom Chicka Boom" (ON CHART PAPER)
                   Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.
                    & John Archambault
                   Markers and Dry Erase Board
                   Large Set of Elkonin Boxes and Letters to Display
                   Elkonin Boxes and Variety of Letters for Each Child
                   Pencil and Paper for every 2 children
                   Poster Board
                   Markers

Procedure:
1.  Begin the lesson by telling the children that we are going to be practicing a new sound today.  Ask if anyone can think of a word that contains the /OO/ sound.  If so, have the children say that word together.  Then ask if anyone knows how to spell that word.  If so, put it on the board.  If not, provide the spelling.
2. Now, ask the children if they see anything cool about that word.  "Oh you do!  What do you see?" . . . "Right!  It does have two ‘o’s right next to each other.  What do you suppose that could stand for?" . . . "Those 'o's do make the same sound.  But, guess what?!  When we put those 'o's together, they say /OO/! Pretty 'cool', huh?  Those letters look alike and sound alike.  Great job!"
3. Let’s make up a tongue twister using the /OO/ sound at least three times.  "The pool was cool under the moon."  "Good going!  You really know the /OO/ sound!  Let's have someone write that up on the board for us.  Now, let's underline the letters that make that /OO/ sound in these words."
Underline: pool, cool, moon
4. Give each child his or her own set of Elkonin boxes and letters. The teacher puts his or her large set on the board for a guided practice with the letterboxes.  "First, let's all put three boxes out.  Now, we will spell pool.  Remember that we only need three boxes because 'oo' says /OO/ and that is one sound."  The children will practice with several words, including moo, pool, noon, soon, cool, boot, tool, room, boom, moon, loose, loop.
5. I will then present the chant "Boom Chicka Boom" and we will keep a running tally of how many times we here /OO/.
6. After enough guided practice, the students will join a partner to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  They will be instructed to read the book through completely.  Then, they will go back through the book slowly and record each word in which they hear the /OO/ sound.
7. We will come back as a group to compare our findings.  (Hopefully, the children will have heard /OO/ in the same words.)
8. Assessment:  The children will be given a list of words with which they will say out loud (individually).  Then, the children will determine which words have the /OO/ sound and we will discard the others.  The words with /OO/ will then be transferred to a large poster (with marker) by the children.  The students will then illustrate the /OO/ words.  Then, as a class, we will review our /OO/ words and conclude with our chant, "Boom Chicka Boom".

References:  Jackson, Melissa.  "What does a cow say?"  Spring 2001
                     The Reading Genie Website:             http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/breakthroughs/jacksonbr.html
                     Murray, Bruce A.  and Lesniak, Theresa (1999).  “The
                        Letterbox Lesson:  A Hands-On  Approach for Teaching
                        Decoding”.  The Reading  Teacher   52, 622-650.

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