Thump, Thump, Thump says Thinking
Thumper
Beginning to Read
Rationale: In this lesson, students will learn a
commonly used consonant digraph, and the sound that its two consonants
make when put together.
This lesson focuses on the correspondence th
= /th/. In order to be a fluent reader,
students grow an understanding that consonants can be put together and
will result in a new sound, which is called a digraph.
For example, in this lesson, th = /th/. We will focus on
this digraph in speech and print, and the students will use this
digraph to write words. It is also important for students to know and
understand that this digraph does not always have to be at the
beginning of the word.
Materials:
- Large Poster with Tongue Twister (Theodore gave them three things) written out on it
- Letter boxes for each student
- Letter tiles for each student (letters: a, b, e, f, h, h, i, k, l, n, o, r, s, t, t, u, w)
- LBL words written out on cards (thin, bathe, wrath, those, with, thank, truth, health, thrift)
- Copy of the poem TH is for Thumbs By: Annette Lombardi for each student on half sheets of cardstock
- List of pseudowords on index cards (thop, theg, thard, thibble)
-
Assessment Worksheet for each
student
Procedure:
1. ''We've learned all of the different
letters of the alphabet, but did ya'll know that when you put two
letters together they can make a whole different sound?'' I will
write the letters th on the board. ''Does anyone know what
sound th makes? That is right, /th/! You all sound
like thinking thumpers! Everyone tap your foot on the floor, just
like Thumper from the movie Bambi and say /th/''
2. ''Can you tell what your mouth is doing when you say /th/? You are
placing your tongue in between your top and bottom teeth and blowing
out air while your mouth is slightly open. Let's practice making
that noise as we say thinking thumper. I am going to say it
really slow and listen for the /th/ sound and tap your foot like
Thumper when you hear it! Thhhhhiinnnkkkinnngggg
Thhhhummppeerrr. There it was! I placed my tongue in-between
my teeth and blew out.''
3. Let's try a tongue twister together. ''Theodore gave them three
things. Let's all say it together and stretch out the /th/ sound.
Thhheodore gave thhhhem thhhhree thhhhings. Let's say it one
more time and tap your foot like Thumper when you hear /th/. /Th/eodore
gave /th/em /th/ree /th/ings.''
4. Call on students to answer and tell how they knew: ''Do you hear
/th/ in
thought or
bought?
Thrill or
will?
Teeth or tongue?
Cough or breath''
5. Now we are going to practice spelling and reading words that have
/th/ in them. ''Great! Now, I want
everyone to get out their letterboxes and get their tiles out.
Everyone look up to the board while I show you how to spell words with
your letterboxes. I put six letters up on the overhead. Our first
word is thrift. The letters t and h together
make what sound? That's right it is /th/! I put both the letters t
and h in the first box because they make the /th/ sound
together. Our second sound we hear is /r/. We put that one
in our second letterbox. Then what sound do we hear? That's
right, our vowel /i/! I put that one in my third letterbox.
Our next sound is /f/, and it goes in the fourth letter
box. Our last sound is /t/. We put that in our fifth
letterbox. So now I want you to spell a few words with your tiles
just like I did.'' I will read out the words individually and say
a sentence after I read the word. I will tell the students how
many letterboxes to use so they know how many sounds the word
has. The following words will be used: thin, bathe, wrath,
those, with (3); thank, truth, health (4). thrift
(5). I will walk around while students spell the words. If they
need help and cannot self correct I will help them.
After the students have put all the words in letter boxes, I
will hold up large cards with each word written on them, one at a time,
and the students will read aloud what the card says.
If I hear student(s) struggling with a word, I will return to
that word and model reading it.
And then I will let students come up to the over head and model
reading them in front of the class.
6. As an activity and assessment the students, use the poem below.
TH is for Thumbs
By: Annette Lombardi
Annette
My thumbs help me do so
much.
There's so much they can do.
Throw a ball. Pull a thread.
How about you?
Sewing's easy if I wear
a thimble on my thumb.
My thumbs are nimble
thanks to thimbles.
How about you?
Even though I like my toes
I can't throw a ball with those.
Thumbs help my fingers
throw humdingers.
How about you?
''Ok students; now let's practice listening for the /th/ sound in spoken words. I'm going to read you a poem, and I want you to thump your foot on the floor when you hear a /th/ sound.'' Read poem, threw one time. ''Great! You all did a great job of hearing the /th/ sound and thumping your feet.'' Pass out a copy of the poem to each student and allow them to circle the words with /th/ in them. Also, they will pair up and practice reading the poem to each other. ''Now, I want you to circle the words with /th/ in them as you and your partner read this poem aloud to one another. While you are doing that, I am going to call you each up to my desk to read some words for me.''
7. Assessment: Assess each
child's reading with pseudowords: (thop, theg, thard,
thibble). This assessment will show /th/
miscues. Also, take up the poems
and check and see if the students were able to recognize the grapheme
/th/ by circling the words with /th/ in it. Lastly,
assess students by giving them the phoneme awareness worksheet
attached.
References:
Amy Harris,
Chirping Chicks
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/harrisbr.html
Assessment Worksheet:
http://www.firstschoolyears.com/literacy/word/phonics/digraphs/digraphs.htm
Ballard, Peg (1999).
This and That: The Sound of TH. Child's World.
Bridget Clabby,
Chuck the Chimp Chomps on Cheese
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/projects/clabbybr.html
Lombardi, Annette. TH - That's the Truth! http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/insp/lombardibr.html