"Uhh"
is When
We
Don't
Understand!
Beginning
Lauren Long
Rationale: When
children are learning how to read and spell words, they are beginning
to
understand that a grapheme (letter) also represents a phoneme (sound). This phoneme-grapheme relationship is vital
for a child to grasp in order for them to become spellers and readers. Oftentimes, short vowels are the most
difficult for children to identify. They
are also sometimes the most difficult for children to read correctly
and
utilize in spelling correctly. This
lesson will help children to identify the u = /u/ correspondence in
written
words. This lesson will also identify
the appropriate methods and placement of u = /u/ while spelling words,
and give
children practice in using u = /u/ in both reading and spelling.
Materials:
- Letterbox for each student (made out of multi-colored card
stock)
- Letter tiles or letter cutouts for each student in ziplock
bags (pre-picked for lesson—h, u, g, d, c, k, t, g, p, b, l, f, f, s,
m, r, s)
- Letterbox set for teacher (can be larger so students can
see letterbox when teacher models)
- Letters for teacher (a larger size, maybe on index cards)
- Phoneme picture
- Chart paper with tongue twister written on it ("The
ugly uncle holding an umbrella is upset.")
- Word cards: (duck, tug, puck, bug, club, bluff, scum,
bump, crust)
- Copy of decodable text Fuzz
and the Buzz for each student or pairs of student
- Primary writing paper (one or two per student)
- Pencils
- Chalkboard or whiteboard for activity
- "Circle
the Picture" worksheet
Procedures:
1. "Today we are going to learn a new sound for one of
our letters of the alphabet, the letter "u"! It
makes the sound /u/. Kind of like when you
don't understand
something. See how this man looks confused? (show phoneme picture). He says /u/.
Can you say /u/?
Good."
2. "Now let's scratch our heads like when we don't
understand something while we say /u/.
Like this. (teacher models /u/ by scratching head and saying the
sound
/u/ makes.) Ready? "uuuhhhh!" Very good!"
3. "Let's learn a tongue twister to practice our
/u/
sounds. (Use chart paper and point to
each word to help children with tongue twister). "The
ugly uncle holding an umbrella is
upset." Great work!" Practice
this several times, so the children
all understand the sequence of words.
4. "This time when we say our tongue twister, I
want
you to scratch your head and stretch out the /u/ sound you hear in each
word. Ready? 'The
uuu-gly uuu-ncle holding an uuu-mbrella
is uuu-pset. Great work!" (repeat this several times, emphasizing the
/u/
correspondence and using the "scratching head" phoneme gesture.
Be sure to tell students how many boxes they will
use for
each of the words in the letterbox lesson.
"Be sure to listen for each sound in a word.
Remember that each sound you hear goes in its
own box. It's ok to say the word over
and over to yourself to hear the sounds the word makes.
When you're finished, raise your hand quietly
and I will come and check your work. You
can also have a friend check your spelling too!"
7. After the letterbox lesson, introduce the book Fuzz and the Buzz. "Fuzz is
a cub who runs and plays
outside on a hot day. He tries really
hard to get nuts from the top of a tree, but they all fall down and bop
on his
head! With the nuts comes mad bugs! They swarm around him and buzz and buzz. Oh no! What will Fuzz do?
Let's read and find out!" Have
students read book to themselves or in
pairs. When everyone is finished, ask
students to raise their hands if they remember any words with the /u/
sound
they read in the text. Spell the words
together as teacher writes the words on the board, and the students
write the
words on primary paper.
8. Assessment activity: Give students picture
worksheet. Tell the students what the
pictures are in order to avoid any confusion the students have. Tell them to circle the picture in each pair
that has the /u/ sound in it. For reading
assessment, during one-on-one time with the teacher, each student can
reread Fuzz and the Buzz while the
teacher monitors the student's progress in taking a running record.
Boshell, Lindsay. Unopened
Umbrella. http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/insp/boshellbr.html.
Murray, B.A. & Lesniak, T
(1999). The Letterbox Lesson: A hands-on approach for teaching
decoding. The
(1990). Phonics Reader Short
Vowel, Fuzz and the Buzz.