Rationale:
In order to
read and spell words, children must have the knowledge of the
alphabetic principle, the idea that letters represent phonemes and
spellings map out phonemes in spoken words. Knowledge of
letter-sound correspondences must be present in order for children to
successfully decode words and have future reading success.
Furthermore, being able to decode words with appropriate speed and ease
is essential for fluent reading. Short vowel are among the first
letter-sound correspondences taught in beginning reading
instruction. This lesson is aimed at helping children identify
the correspondence i = /i/. Children will learn
the sound that makes by learning a meaningful representation, and they
will learn to identify /i/ in spoken words. In addition, children
will learn to spell and read words with the i = /i/ correspondence through the use of
a letterbox lesson and by reading a new book.
Materials:
1. Primary paper and pencils
for each child
2. Letterboxes and letters (i,
s, t, n, l, p, k, f, a, e, g, m, k, and w)
3. Chart with "Iggy is an icky,
sticky iguana."
4. Large Elkonin letterboxes
and letters for teacher
5. Copies of Liz is Six for
each student (Educational Insights)
6. List of words used in
letterbox lesson (2-{is}, 3-{sit, tin}, 4-{slip, milk, lift}, 5-{swift})
7. Chalk
8. Handout with pictures of a
fish, a twig, an inch, a kid, and a pig (also include pictures of words
without the i = /i/ correspondence)
Procedures:
1. Introduce the lesson by explaining to the
students that they are going to learn about the letter i
and its corresponding sound. "We are going to learn i = /i/. The letter i is a vowel that we see in many
words. I am sure that you remember the other vowels that we have
learned so far, a and e. Do you know why the letter i is so important? We find i in so many words like milk, hit,
kick, and drip. Today, we are going to learn how to spell and
read words that have i = /i/."
2. Show children a gesture for remembering
i = /i/. "Have you ever gotten
something really sticky on your hands, like glue? Well, to
remember the /i/ sound, I want you to make this motion with your
hands. (Model rubbing your hands together as if something were
stuck on them.) Great! We are about to do a tongue-twister,
and every time you hear /i/ in a word, I want you to rub your hands
together like something sticky is on them."
3. Practice finding /i/ in spoken words. "I want you
to practice findin /i/ in spoken words. Do you hear /i/ in lick
or slurp? chip or chew? lace or lip? Very good!"
4. Have children direct their attention to
the tongue-twister chart. "To practice our /i/ sound,
let's say a tongue-twister. Remember to make our motion when you
hear /i/. (Model the tongue-twister and get the students to
repeat.) Let's say it again, but this time, I want you to really
stretch out the /i/ in each word. IIIIggy iiiiiiis
an iiiiiiicky stiiiiiiicky iiiiiiiguana. Did everyone hear the /i/
sound? Great!"
5. Hand out the letters and letterboxes to
each student. Words included are is, sit, tin,
slip, milk, and lift. Review words are lap and peg. "Today, we are going to do a
letterbox lesson using i = /i/. Everyone turn your
letters over so that only the lower case sides are showing. Each
of your boxes represents a phoneme, or sound, in a word. Be sure
to listen so that you can hear how many boxes you will use for each
word. I will show you an example of how to spell a word.
For my word, I have three phonemes. So, I am going to use three
boxes. (Model how to spell sit by sounding out each of the
phonemes and placing the appropriate letters in the letterboxes.)
Now, I am going to show you how to read a word." (Model how to
read lift using body-coda blending. The
letter
i says /i/. First,
I have /i/. Then I will add /l/. Finally, I will add the
/f/ and /t/ to make "lift.") The
teacher will then proceed with the letterbox lesson. Start with
two phoneme words and move up to five phoneme words. After each
word is spelled, the teacher should walk around the room to check each
student's work. If a student misspells a word, the teacher should
pronounce the word as it appears and ask the student to fix the
word. After the spelling of each word, the teacher writes the
word on the chalkboard.
6. After spelling all of the words, have
students read the words as the teacher spells them. "After
everyone has spelled all of the words, we are going to read them.
I am going to use my large letters to spell the words, and you will
read them." The teacher should pay close attention to each
student to assess whether or not the child is able to read each
word. If a child cannot read a word, the teacher should use
body-coda blending to facilitate reading.
7. Hand out copies of "Liz is Six
"to each student. "Now, we are going to read a story
called Lis is Six. This book is about Liz, a
little girl who is having a birthday party. One of her presents
is a mitt. She and her friend, a pig, play a game of softball
with Liz's new mitt. It is a very close game. We need to
read the book to find out who wins!"
8. Have students read "Lis is Six."
"Everyone is going to read the book. While you read, I will be
walking around the room to hear your reading."
9. Help the students identify the pictures on
the handout. "Everyone take out his or her picture
handout. Let's help one another identify the pictures." The
teacher should walk around the room and make sure each child had
identified the pictures.
10. Have each student write a message while
other students are being called to the teacher's desk. "I
want each of you to think about your most favorite activity. For
example, in our story, Liz enjoyed playing softball. After you
have chosen your activity, write a message."
Assessment:
For
assessment, each child should individually come up to the teacher's
desk. Each child should bring the picture handout. The
teacher may say, "I want you to circle all of the pictures that show
words containing /i/. Then, I want you to choose a word that you
would like to write." (Provide
primary paper.) For other assessment, the teacher could
have each student individually read Lis is Six. The teacher could take a
running record of the student's miscues.
Sources:
1. Eldredge, J. Lloyd, Teaching
Decoding in Holistic Classrooms. Upper Saddle River, NJ. 1995.
2. www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/insp/ritterbr.html.
Icky Sticky!!!! by Shannon Ritter
3. www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/insp/hillbr.html.
Icky Sticky Pig by Courtney Hill.
4. Murray, B.A., & Lesniak,
T. (1999). The Letterbox Lessoon: A hands-on approach for teaching
decoding. The Reading Teacher, 52, 644-650.
5. Liz is Six. Educational
Insights, 1990.
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