Rationale: For beginning readers,
vowels are very important to learn in their quest for fluent reading
skills. Students need to learn the vowels and their sounds to be
able to sound out words. This lesson works with the vowel a and
learning the /a/=/a/ correspondence by using letterboxes, reading words
and books that contain the /a/ correspondence.
Materials:
1. The book A Cat Nap by Educational
Insights c1990.
2. Picture with baby crying with the
/a/ sound (http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/).
3. A chart with the tongue twister.
"Alan and Ann asked if Amy's active animals were angry."
4. Letterboxes for each student. (a,
n, t, b, p, d, s, c, l)
6. List of the words the students
will spell.
~Ant, Bat, At, Pad, Fit, Sad, Cat,
Clap
7. Larger letterbox and letters for
demonstration
8. Primary paper
9. Pencils
10. Projector
11. Cards with different pseudowords
~dag, kam, wan, las, taf
Procedures:
1. "Today, boys and girls, we are
going to work with the letter a. Can anyone tell me what sound
the letter a makes? Great! It makes the sound /a/. It sounds like
a baby crying, doesn't it? Let's all cry like babies and make
that /a/ sound. aaaaaaa. Great! To help you can
remember the sound, I will hold up the picture of the baby crying
during our lesson."
2. "We hear that /a/ sound in a lot
of words we read and say, don't we? Like 'at', 'cat', or 'hat'."
Because we hear this sound so much we are going to learn all about it
today!"
3. "Now let's do a fun tongue twister
that has our /a/ sound in it! I will read it to you first then we will
read it all together. 'Alan and Ann asked if Amy's active animals were
angry'. Ok now everyone! 'Alan and Ann asked if Amy's active animals
were angry'. Great Job!"
4. Next, we will do a letterbox
lesson. I will give students their letterboxes and letters (a, n,
t, b, p, d, s, c, l). Then I will explain to the students what
they are going to do. "We are going to do our letterboxes now! I
will say a word and I want you to spell it using the letters and
letterboxes I gave you. Remember each letterbox represents one
sound!" I will then place my letterboxes on the projector and model how
to do it. "I am going to spell the word 'mad'. I am going to put
the m in the first box because it makes the /m/ sound. Next I
will put the a in the next box because it makes the /a/
sound. Now, for the third box I am going put the p because
the make the /p/ sound."
5. "Now I am going to give you some
words that I want you to spell in your letterboxes: 2. at 3. ant, pad,
bat, fit, sad, cat 4. clap
6. When everyone has spelled the
words I will spell them on the projector and have the students read
them to me. ("You all did a fantastic job with your letterbox lesson!
You did really well with the /a/ sound!").
7. "Now we are going to read the book
A Cat Nap! How many of you have cats at home? Are any of the cats
really lazy and like to sleep anywhere and anytime they can? Well, this
book is about a lazy cat that decided to take a nap in his owner's bag!
You'll never guess what happens when the owner takes the bag without
knowing his cat is in it! Let's read to find out‰¥Ï"
8. After we have read the book I will
give each student primary paper and pencils and they will write about a
funny cat they have. If they don't have one, they can make up a
story. "Ok everyone! Now we are all going to use the /a/ sound we
learned and write about a silly cat we know! If you do not know a cat
to write about you can be creative and make a story up!"
Assessment: Have each student read
pseudowords containing the a= /a/ correspondence. Use the
following pseudowords (dag, kam, wan, las, taf).
Reference:
1. A Cat Nap by Education Insights
c1990.
2. Powell, Megan. Allen the
Alligator. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education
reading_genie/voyages/powellbr.html.
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