Rationale: I am teaching this lesson to students so that they will become more fluent readers. My goal is that student's comprehension of the text will increase as their frustration decreases and becomes diminished.  Through this lesson plan, students will learn /i/ (short i) by tongue twisters, identifying /i / in spoken language and recognizing /i/ in several words. Together through these strategies the child will feel more confident about reading /i/.

Materials:
 1. One large chart with the tongue twister, "The important Indian was ill
with injuries inside the igloo."
2. Each student needs a copy of Liz is Six Educational Insights
3. Each student needs a pencil and a piece of primary paper.
5. Large tablet paper with marker.
6. Lyrics to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" Walt Disney Records: Children's favorite Songs, Vol 23: Classic Tunes
7. Letterboxes for each child

Procedure: 

1. There are many different ways to help us remember words. Today we are going to learn some new tricks to help us remember that short i says /i/. 
2. Have you ever seen a bug and said the sound "IIIIIIIH".  Well, that is the sound that short i makes.  I am going to pretend to point to a bug and I want everyone to say "IIIIIIIIH" with me. Ready? (point) "IIIIIIIIH"
3. Now we have a tongue twister for the day!!!!  Reveal the chart with "The important Indian was ill with injuries inside the igloo". Now let's say it together.  When we say it we are going to hold out the /i/ "The IIIIIIII mportant IIIIIII ndian was IIIIIIII ll with IIIIIII njuries IIIIIIIII nside the IIIIIII gloo."  Great job!!!  Now, we are going to try and do the tongue twister again, but this time we are going to break-off the /i/ from the word: "The /i/mportant /I/ndian was /i/ll with /i/njuries /i/nside the /i/gloo"  Great job!!!  I like how everyone imagines a bug and says "IIIIIIH".  I want everyone to notice that on our tongue twister chart that all the i's do not say Ihh, because they are not short i's.  Some of the I's say its name /I/. 
4. Okay, now we are going to take out our special lined paper and we are going to practice making the letter I.  To make a lowercase i, start at the fence and go down. Then give it a feather.  I am going to walk around and look at all of your little i's and when I see one that looks just right, I am going to make a smiley face on your paper and then I want you to make a row of i's just like that one. Take your time when making them.
5. Now, we are going to sing a song that will let will let us know if we understand the little i sound.  We are going to sing the song, The Itsy Bitsy Spider.  (Most children should know this song from pre-school).  When we sing the song and we hear the Ihhh!!! Sound, we are going to stand up, and then we are going to sit down the next time we hear it.  Everybody begin!!!  "The /i/tsy b/i/tsy spider went up the water spout, down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain and the /i/tsy b/i/tsy spider went up the spout again." 
6. Everyone needs to put their thinking caps on and look up here.  I want you to think of as many words as you can that have the letter i in them.  You can look around the room and on the word wall and think about all our spelling words.  When you have thought of at least 3 words that have the letter i in them, I want you to raise your hand. Have the children call their i words out to you. Write them on a piece of tablet paper for all children to see. Ask the child, "Does this i say IIIIH?" Make sure all children have gone and understand the sound. If the students are having trouble, she will remind them of the tongue twister and the silly picture sound and the Itsy Bitsy song. Now I am going to draw letterboxes on the board and I want you to get your letterboxes out of your desk. First, I am going to put letters in my boxes and I want you to read the word. Remember that each box stands for one mouth move and some boxes can have more than one letter. Our first word is bill, it has three letterboxes. Everyone look at your neighbor and see if they have three letterboxes. Now I am going to call out words and I want everyone to spell them in their letterboxes. Sample words include: will, wish, six, if, fig, big, did, miss, bliss. When you are finished spelling each word wait and I will come around ad check your work. After all children have spelled the words tell them to put away their letterboxes. Now we are going to read the words without the boxes, is everyone ready? Write the words on the board and have the children read them out loud. 
7.  Today we are going to read a new book about a girl who is turning six. She gets a special present and we have to read to see what it is and if her pig friend can play with her. I am going to pass out a book to every student.  When you receive your copy of Liz is Six, you may begin whisper reading the book.  I am going to come around and listen to everyone read.  If you need help with a word, make sure that you remember your new strategies with the tongue twister, song, and the silly picture face. 
8. For assessment the teacher will go around and listen to each student whisper read.  She will make sure that they are no missing more than one word on each page and if they struggle over a word, have them go back and reread the sentence.  When the students are finished with the book, they are to write in their journal a summary of the book and describe special presents they have gotten for their birthdays.  The journals are a form of assessing comprehension.

Referenes: 
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/minkbr.html. Ahhh! Being Happy! by: Shay Mink, Spring 2003.

Return to Discoveries