AAAAAAAA! Cry
LIKE a BABY!
Beginning Reading
By: Ashley Troha
Rationale:
This
lesson will help students recognize the vowel correspondence
represented by a, which makes the /a/
sound. By using hand
gestures, visual representation, and different reading words involving
the phoneme /a/, students will have more help in recognizing
that phoneme /a/. The
tongue tickler will not only aid in the students being able to think
about the movement of mouth, but will also help as well in recognizing
the letter a and it's phoneme /a/.
Materials:
Primary
paper and pencil for each student
Picture
of a crying baby with phoneme /a/
Chart
with the tongue tickler "Allie the alligator acts aggravated."
Individual
letterboxes for each student
Individual
letter tiles for each student a, s, s, m, h, t, d, r, g, f, l, b, c, c,
k
Teacher
letterboxes and letter tiles
A
= /a/ sound worksheet
Overhead
Projector
Individual
copies of A Cat Nap for each student and one for teacher
Word
card with take, zap, hot, fat, zag, mud, flip, flap, glass, maze, part,
track
Word
card with be, ab, great, pat, fly, dog, that, glad, ring, shack
Word
cards with RAP, CRASH TRASH, SLAB, MAT
assessment
worksheet identifying pictures with a = /a/ (URL below)
Procedures:
1. Say: "Our written language is a secret code. The tricky part
is
learning
what letters stand for the mouth moves we make as we say words. Today
we're going to work on spotting the mouth move /a/. We spell /a/ with
letter a and demonstrate it with the sound of a crying baby."
2. Say: "Let's pretend to cry like a
baby. "aaaaaa." [Pantomime crying like a baby]. Did you notice that when we make the /a/
sound we open our mouth big and wide? Let's
try one more time to make sure our mouth is open big and wide. "aaaaaa." Good job!"
3. Say: "Let me show you how to find the
/a/ sound in the word bat. Bb-aa-tt. Hmm, if I say it slower like b-b-b-a-a-a-a-a-t-t-t,
I feel my mouth open big and wide in the middle of the word. So
the a must be in the middle. Now you try it. Do you
hear /a/ in map?"
4. Say: "Do you know what this is a
picture of? Yes, you're right! It's a crying baby! Remember the /a/
sound a baby makes, "aaaaaa." Now
let's try a fun tongue tickler. [Listed on picture sheet] "Allie the alligator acts aggravated." If
you hear the /a/ sound, I want you to pretend that you're crying
like a baby. Now lets say it together slowly
stretching the /a/ sound at the beginning of the words. "Aaaallie the aaaalligator aaaacts aaaagravated." Remember
the /a/ sound makes our mouth open big and wide like a baby's
mouth when he or she cries. This
time let's break off the words as we say them.
Here is an example of how to say the words: /a/ llie.
Now let's go. "/a/ llie the /a/ lligator /a/ cts /a/ ggravated."
5.
Say: "We are now going to use our letterboxes and our letter tiles to
spell some words that have our special sound in them. Remember that all of our words our
going to include the a = /a/ sound and that for each word one
sound goes in each letterbox. <
The word list we are going to use will be: (2)
as, am; (3) - hat, mad, rag, dash; (4) flag, grab, crack, grass
and the letters needed are: a, s, s, m, h, t, d, r, g, f, l, b, c, c, k
> Watch as I spell the word trap in my
letterboxes < t-r-a-p> . (I
will use the overhead projector to model the use of the letterbox and
the spelling of the word, making sure to show the students each
specific sound.) Now watch
and listen as I read the word black. < b-l-a-ck> (I will use the overhead projector to
model how to read a word using the vowel-body-coda method." Then I will pass out individual
letterboxes and bags of letters.) "Now
all the words I say I would like you all to spell in your letterboxes." (I will remind students that the
letterboxes are for the sounds of words, not the letters of the words. I will have a list of students and
write the words they missed next to their name so they can read it
again later when I come back to them and after the lesson is over. I will walk around and observe as the
students make the words and be sure that each student has enough time
to make the words. If a
student makes a mistake creating the word, I will pronounce it the way
they spelled it and then pronounce the word we actually want. Then I will give them one more chance
to fix it and then model the spelling never asking questions, because
that will confuse them. After
everyone has the word correctly in their letterboxes, I will model for
the class as I did with trap. I
will do this for each word so the students will understand exactly how
each word should be spelled. We
will now put away our letterboxes. I will also make sure to leave time
after the letterbox lesson for reading the words.)
6. Say: "I
now have a word list on the overhead and I would like you all to read
the words out loud." (I will
make sure each student can read the word and if a student has trouble I
will help the student use the vowel-body-coda method to help.)
7. Say: "We
are now going to read a book titled, A Cat Nap which is full of
words that make the /a/ sound. (I
will hand out copies of A Cat Nap to each student and then give
them a short book talk.) This
story is about a cat named Tab. Tab
likes to take naps in a baseball bag. Tab's
owner Sam takes his baseball bag to his game.
To find out what happens next, you will have to read the
story. (I will then have the
students read the book and during the process I will observe their
reading.)
8. (I will have students take out paper
and pencil). Say: "We
use the letter a to spell /a/. Let's write the
lowercase letter a. Begin
with your pencil on the fence of your paper and first draw little c.
After you draw little c then go back to the fence and draw a line
straight down on the right side of little c.
After I put a smile on it, I want you to make nine more
just like it."
9. Call on students to answer and tell
how they know: Say: "Do you
hear /a/ in take or zap? hot or fat?
zag or mud?
flip or flap? glass
or maze? part
or track? Say: Let's see if you can spot your mouth open big and
wide in some /a/ words. Pretend to cry like a baby if you hear
the a = /a/ sound: be, ab, great, pat, fly,
dog, that, glad, ring, shack"
10. Say: "I have an a = /a/
worksheet want you all to do. You
will look at the pictures and draw lines from the astronauts to the
pictures that represent a = /a/.
You can then color the pictures as well." (I will walk around the room and
observe students while they are working on the worksheet.)
11. Show ADD and model how to decide if
it is add or odd: Say:
"The /a/ tells me to open my mouth big and wide, aaaaa, so
this word is aaa-dd, add. You try some: RAP: rap or rip?
CRASH: trash or CRUSH? TRAP: trap or trip? SLAB: slab or slob? MAT: mat or met"?
12. For assessment, I will distribute the
worksheet. Students are to draw lines from the astronauts to the
pictures that represent a = /a/ and then may color the
pictures. I will then call students individually to read the phonetic
cue words from step #11.
References:
Cushman, Sheila. A Cat Nap. Educational Insights, 1990.
Murray,
B.A., & Lesniak, T. (1999). The Letterbox Lesson: A hands-on
approach for teaching decoding. The Reading Teacher, 52, 644-650.
Young
Emily, Aaaaaa! Cry Like a Baby!
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/odysseys/youngbr.html
Assessment worksheet: http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/vowels/a-begins1.htm