Rationale:
Once students have a basic knowledge of reading, they must learn to
distinguish between long and short vowels. Also, it is important that
they understand correspondences can be seen different ways in different
words. This lesson will review a=/a/ and introduce a_e=/A/ using
instruction, a worksheet,
a decodable book, and pseudo-words.
Materials: white board, two different color dry erase markers,
worksheets(one per student), Jane and Babe, 1990(decodable text, one
per child), note cards with the following words: sade, nade, lat, yape,
snat, and labe
Procedure:
1. “Class, we already know that when we see ‘a’ alone in a word, it
makes the /a/ sound. Today we are going
to find out what happens when there is an
‘a’, then a consonant, then an ‘e’ at the end of the word.
(Write a_e on the board.) The ‘a’ says its name, /A/. For
example, (add to what you previously wrote: game)
what does this letter say? (point to the ‘g’).
Right, /g/. How about this letter? (Point to the ‘m’). Yes, /m/.
Since there is an ‘e’ at the end, what sound will the ‘a’
make? /A/, very good. Let’s put it all together
now- /g/ /A/ /m/.” Try a few more words like make,
fade, and came.
2. Next, write some words on the board for students to practice
distinguishing between a=/a/ and a_e=/A/.
Begin by writing ‘rat’ on the board and say, “What does
this word say? Great, /r/-/a/- /t/.” Use a different
color marker to add an ‘e’ to the end and ask,
“What sound will the ‘a’ make now? /A/, excellent job. Let’s
read the word together. (Point to each letter as
you read) /r/ /A/ /t/.” Practice with more words like fat/fate,
fad/fade, mad/made, can/can, plan/plane, etc.
3. Give each student a worksheet with the following pictures: plane, rake,
cane, face, gate, and snake (this
can be done easily on the internet). Read through all of
the words in the word bank together: plane, rake,
cane, face, gate, and snake. “Now I want you to
write the correct word under each picture. Look back at
your word bank to make sure you are spelling the word
correctly.” This activity reinforces the idea that the
‘e’ at the end of each word is what makes the ‘a’ a long
vowel sound.
4. Pass out copies of Jane and Babe. Have the students read the
book in pairs. “Class, I want you to try to
figure out each word with your partner. If you have a
word that you cannot figure out, raise your hand and
I will come help you.”
5. For assessment have each student come to your desk and read note
cards with pseudo-words. Some
words you can use include sade, nade, lat, yape, gat, and
labe. The will review a=/a/ and a_e=/A/ and
assure that the students know the difference.
References:
Eldredge, J. Lloyd. Teaching Decoding in
Holistic Classrooms. Merrill, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1995.
Rich, Meredith: Fast… Fluency!
- http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/elucid/richbr.html
Jane and Babe. Educational Insights, Carson
CA.,
1990.
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