Allie the Alligator
Allie the Alligator
Rationale: Before a child can read and spell the words of the English language, they must have the knowledge of the alphabetic principle. The alphabetic principle is the realization that the flow of speech comes from interchangeable units, which are called phonemes. In addition, it includes phonemic awareness and knowledge of phonics. The purpose of this lesson is to help students learn to associate the appropriate sound of /a/ (short a) with a specific vowel letter and learn to identify written words associated with this sound. Upon completion of this lesson, children will understand the relationship between the grapheme, a, and the phoneme, /a/.
Materials: Primary paper and pencil, large cutout of an alligator with the following tongue twister written in the middle: “Allie the Alligator angrily sat near the back of the shack”, A Cat Nap (Educational Insights), 2 copies of the assessment worksheet per student (refer to step 8), stopwatch, board and marker/chalk.
Procedure: 1. Begin the lesson by stating that “writing words may be
confusing, but once we learn some basic concepts, we’ll be writing messages
in no time. Today we’ll start by focusing on the first short vowel,
a. Sometimes it may be hard to locate the /a/ sound in words, but
by the time we finish this lesson, you’ll be hearing the sound as soon
as you approach a word!”
2. Write the words am, as, and at on the board. Circle the letter
a in each of the words and tell the students to “Notice that each word
I have written on the board begins with the same letter. Because
they begin with the same letter, they also have the same sound. Listen
carefully as I say the words slowly to hear the /a/ sound at the beginning
of each word.” Read each word slowly and emphasize the /a/ sound
while pointing to the letter.
3. Ask students what action they may perform which produces this /a/
sound. If they have a hard time coming up with ideas, provide them
with the example of getting scared. Ask students, “What sound would
you make if an alligator came out of a hiding spot to scare you?”
Discuss how when you scream, “Aaahhhhh”, you produce the short vowel sound
of a.
4. “Let’s try a tongue twister (display alligator cutout): “Allie the
Alligator angrily sat near the back of the shack. Now let’s say it
together, stretching out every sound in every word. “AA-lee tthhee
Aalligaatoor aaangrrrilly saaaat neeear tthhee bbaaaaack oooff tthhee sshhaaaaackk.
Great, now put your hand on your head and say the tongue twister once more.
Every time you hear the /a/ sound, pat your head. Everyone did so
well!” (If students had a hard time with the activity and do not
all pat their heads at the same time, repeat this activity.)
5. (Have students take out primary paper and pencil) “There are
so many neat words we can make using the letter a. Now let’s practice
making a lowercase a so we can use it in our writing. Start halfway
between the bridge and the swamp water, curve up and around to the left
until you come back to the starting point. Then without lifting up
your pencil, come straight down to the water where the alligators roam.
If you think you’re a looks great, raise your hand and I will come around
to check. Once I put an alligator sticker on your paper, continue
to use the process to produce an entire row of a’s. When you see
this letter all by itself, remember to make the sound /a/, just like how
you would scream if an alligator walked up behind you!
6. Give a book talk of A Cat Nap. (i.e. "This orange cat likes
to nap every chance it gets. When the owner starts to gather his
belongings and head to the baseball field, he leaves his bag open...)
Then proceed to reading the full story from beginning to end and discuss
the content. Have students place their hands on their head when they
hear the /a/ sound and stop to write each word on the board. After
the story is over, review the words on the board by calling on students
to read a single word, while stretching out the /a/ sound.
7. Have students get primary paper and pencil out to write a message,
using invented spelling, about the story (i.e. whether or not they like
it, their favorite part, where the cat hid, etc.) Encourage students
to incorporate the /a/ sound within their message. Ask students if
they want to share their message with the class. Afterwards, put
student’s work on display in their personal art section of the wall.
8. There is an individual assessment for mastering this correlation
between the grapheme and phoneme, a=/a/. Tell students to “circle
the word which describes the picture to it’s left:
cat cot
rag rug
pat put
bag big
Reference: Eldredge, J. (1995). Teaching Decoding in Holistic Classrooms. Prentice Hall Publishers. Chapter 5 & 6 & Appendix H.