Rationale: Children must learn to decode many different
correspondences in order to learn how to read. In this lesson,
the children will learn the o = /o/ correspondence. The children
will be able to recognize the letter o and associated with the phoneme
/o/ in written and spoken words.
Materials:
Elkonin Boxes for each student
Elkonin boxes for the teacher (h, o, t, r,d,m,p,l,I,b,f,g,s,p,l)
A set of letters for each child and teacher
Chart paper with the tongue twister on it – Oliver, the octopus, hopped
to Oz.
In the Big Top Educational Insights Phonics Reader
Worksheet containing pictures of words with the o = /o/ phoneme.
Primary writing paper and pencil for each student
Procedure:
1. Remind the students that the letter o = /o/ only when it is by
itself. If there is another vowel, it does not say this
sound. " Today we are going to learn about the letter o. (Write the letter on the
board) We are going to learn what one of the sounds this letter
makes is. I hear this sound a lot when I go to the doctor.
My doctor will tell me, “Open up and say Ahhh”. Has your doctor
ever said this to you? Well this is the same sound the letter o makes. It says /o/.
Let’s all say that sound together. Good, now this time, let’s
pretend like we are going to hold a stick on our tongue when we say
this. Remember, only use your hand, don’t really touch your
tongue. Let’s all try this. /o/.
2. Let’s try and see if we can find this sound in our tongue
twister. Oliver, the octopus, hopped to Oz. Now you all try
saying it with me. Oliver, the octopus, hopped to Oz.
Great! Now this time when we say it, I really want to hear our
doctor sound. Let’s try and break of the /o/ sound in the words
as we say them. I will show you how and then we will all try
together. O – liver, the o – ctopus, h – o – pped to O – z. Now
you try. O – liver, the o – ctopus, h – o – pped to O – z.
Good.
3. Now, let’s use our letter boxes (Elkonin Boxes) just like we
did yesterday with the short I = /i/ sound. When we do this, we
are going to review some of the words we already know using different
vowels and we are also going to learn some new words with our doctor
sound. Remember, we use the letter o to represent this
sound. (Pass out the boxes and the letters needed.)
OK. Please turn all of your letters over to the lower case
side. Before we all try some, watch me to make sure we remember
how to do this. Remember, each box stands for one sound.
Sometimes our sounds use more then one letter, so it is important
letter we listen for sounds in our words. I am going to try a
word with 3 sounds in it. (Put out three letter boxes) The
word I am going to try is hot. /h/ /o/ /t/. I hear 3 sounds
in this word, so in the first box, I am going to put the first
sound. /h/. I will put the letter h here. Next, I hear our
doctor sound, so I will put my o
in the middle. The last sound I hear is a t. I will put that letter
here. Hot! Now, let’s let you try some. As I call out a
word, I want you to put the letters in your boxes. I will come
around and help you if you need some help. (Call out words like,
rod, mop, hot, lid, bob, fog, spot, slob, frog, flip) (Tell the
students how many sounds there are in each word before you say the
word. This way they will know how many boxes to have ready.)
4. Now I am going to write some of the words we just did on the
board. I want you to read them aloud to me as a class. If
you hear the doctor sound in the word, I want you to show me your
tongue depressor move with your hand. Let me show you how and
then we will all do this together. (Write rock on the
board.) This word says, rock. See how our o is in the middle. This says
/o/. It starts with /r/ and ends with /k/. Put it all
together and this says rock. (Say it slowly and hold your hand up
to your mouth.) Now you try. (Write the words from the
letterboxes on the board) Great Job!
5. Let’s try writing a message on our paper. We are going
to write a message about our pet frog. (point to the frog in the
classroom. If you don’t have a pet frog, tell the students that
they will be writing about a frog they might see in the pond)
Let’s try and use some words that have the /o/ sound in them in our
message. (Allow the students to use their inventive spellings to
write their message)
6. (Pass out copies of In the Big Top to each pair of
students.) This book is about a family who is in the
circus. There are lots of people in this circus and they all have
a lot of stuff. They are trying to figure out how to get all of
their stuff into a little hot rod. How do they get everything and
everyone to fit? (Allow them to read with a buddy as you walk
around and scaffold when needed.)
7. Pass out the worksheet. This worksheet will have
pictures of things with the /o/ phoneme in them. Some of the
objects will not have this phoneme in them. Ask the children to
circle the pictures that have the doctor sound in them with a
pencil. Then ask them to write the name of the object underneath
it on the line using their inventive spellings. This worksheet
will be the students’ assessment.
References:
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/discov/adamsbr.html
(Whitney Adams, Hop Scotch)
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/openings/oglesbybr.html
(Kara Oglesby, Olly, Olly, Oxenfree)
In the Big Top. Phonics Readers Short Vowels. Educational
Insights.
Murray, B. A and T. Lesniak. (1999). The letterbox Lesson: A Hands on
approach to teaching decoding. The Reading Teacher, 52, 644-650
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