Heather Grenon
Rationale:
In order for a child to understand and be successful with phonics,
spelling development, and word recognition, they must have phonemic awareness.
Before a child can learn to spell, they must be able to isolate phonemes.
Vowels are the toughest for children to identify. This lesson will
help children identify a = /a/. They will listen to familiar
words and identify /a/ sounds.
Materials:
A chart that has pictures of objects that contain an /a/ sound
like apple, cat, skates, bat, hat, mat and objects without /a/ sounds like
a coke can, book, flute, etc., a picture of a crying baby for every student
in the class, blank drawing paper and markers or crayons, The Cat in the
Hat by Dr. Seuss.
Procedure:
1. I will begin by explaining to the students that we hear the sound
/a/ many times everyday. We will hear this when I give examples of
familiar words they know with a = /a/ like "cat" and "hat."
2. "Let's pay attention to the way our mouth moves when we make the
a
= /a/ sound. Watch my mouth… aaaple. Did you see the shape
of my mouth?"
3. Then I will teach the students how to remember the shape their mouth
makes by showing them a trick. "Have you ever heard a baby cry?
Can you pretend you are a baby and make the a = /a/ sound while
you cry? Let's try it together. AAAAAAAAA. Very good!"
4. Now, the children will hear a = /a/ sounds as I point to
pictures on the chart and say the words. "I am going to point to
some pictures and say it's name out loud. If you hear an "a"
sound, I want you to hold up your picture of a crying baby. Here is a cat
(point to cat). Here is a mat (point to mat). Very good!
You held up your picture because you heard a = /a/. Here is
a coke (point to coke). Good job. You didn't hold up you r
picture because coke doesn't have the a = /a/ sound." Continue
doing this until you have gone over all the pictures.
5. "Now lets read on of our favorite books, The Cat in the Hat by Dr.
Seuss. Let's listen really hard for the a = /a/ sound."
6. "Let's practice writing the letter "a." We know what sound
it makes, but what does it look like? Start your pencil between the
fence and the sidewalk. Go up to the fence line and curve down touching
the sidewalk and back up to where you started. You're going to make
a circle. The, bring your pencil back straight down to the sidewalk.
I'll come around and see you the a's you are making. Help your friends
next to you if they're having trouble. I want you to make at least
5."
7. For assessment, the students will draw pictures of objects they
can think of that have the a = /a/ sound. "I want each of
you to draw at least three objects that have an a = /a/ sound.
Use your blank paper and crayons or markers to complete this project."
References:
Eldrege, J.Lloyd. Teaching Decoding in Holistic Classrooms.
Prentice Hall, Inc, 1995. Chapter 3: Phonemic Awareness and the Alphabetic
Principle, 23-34.
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