Rationale: In order for
students to develop fluency they must obtain word recognition
(Eldredge, 46). This lesson will assist students in gaining a
deeper understanding of the digraph /ch/. Digraphs are two
letters that make only one sound. This lesson will give students
practice making and reading the digraph /ch/.
Materials:
Elkonin letterboxes (large size for demonstration)
Letters (teacher demonstration)
Sandwich bags with letter for each student
Letterboxes for each student
Fromental, Jean-Luc. Broadway Chicken. Hyperion Press, 1995.
Primary Paper and pencil
Straws
Tape (Chicken
sticks (pointers) can be made by taping clipart to
Clip art of a chicken the top of a straw. Use this during
the assessment.
Sentence strip with Charlie Chicken chatters and chirps while playing
chess on a choo-choo train.
Procedures:
1. Begin lesson by explaining that two letters sometimes work
together to make only one sound. Explain: Let’s review the letters c and h.
Have students make the the phonemes /c/ and /h/ as a review. Now let’s talk about the sound we hear when
we combine c and h and make one sound. Everyone say /ch/.
Good job! Do you notice that your tongue moves from the roof of
your mouth to the bottom as your mouth forces air out? Now let’s
practice making and recognizing the /ch/ sound. Everyone say
/ch/. Repeat three times. Good job! Now I am going to
tell you a funny tongue twister. Are you ready? Charlie
Chicken chatters and chirps while playing chess on a choo-choo
train. Have students repeat the twister 3-4 more times. Now
when I say the twister I want you to give me a thumbs up when you hear
/ch/.
2. Begin letterbox lesson. Today
we will be using letterboxes to help us practice /ch/.
Have all the materials already underneath the students’ chairs to save
time. First, model for the students by using the large
letterboxes and letters as a demonstration. Explain: Each box stands for one sound. We
learned that /ch/ represents one sound so they go in the same
box. Now, let’s spell chip. I sometimes chip my fingernail
polish when I wash dishes. Have students talk about which letters
go in each of the boxes. Remove the letterboxes and using
only the letters have students read the word. Great! We have spelled the word
chip. How many sounds did we hear in chip? 3
3. Students will now work with their own letters and
letterboxes. Have students spell the following words:
3 phonemes- chip, much, chop, inch, chat
4 phonemes- punch, champ, bunch,
*Letters: a, b, c, h, I, m, n, o, p, t
Some students may need scaffolding to prevent frustration.
Read Broadway Chicken aloud using student copies or a big book.
Introduction: Charlie the
dancing chicken becomes an instant star when he is discovered by a
theatrical agent in Chinatown. Will Charlie shine in the
spotlight forever? You’ll have to read the rest of the book to
find out what happens next to Charlie.
4. Reread the story and have students raise their hands each time
they hear /ch/. Activity: Have students write a message to
a friend about a chicken using as many /ch/ words as possible.
5. Assessment:
Have students listen to the following tongue twisters and identify /ch/
by raising their chicken sticks.
Charlie Chicken chatters and chirps
while playing chess on a choo-choo train.
Chocolate covered chickens were chosen
for the champ’s Easter basket.
Chirping chickens chatter while
chopping on wild cherries.
References:
Eldredge, J.L. Teaching Decoding in Holistic Classrooms.
Merrill Prentice Hall. New Jersey: 1995.
Murray, B.A. and Lesniak, T. The Letterbox Lesson: A
Hands-On Approach for Teaching Decoding. The Reading Teacher. Ps.
644-650
Shelton, Christie. Chirping Chickens. 3/12/04. http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/insp/sheltongf.html
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