"Home
Alone"
Emergent
Literacy
Rationale: To begin to learn how to read and spell
words, students need alphabetic lessons that teach them to understand
that
letters stand for phonemes and spellings show phonemes in spoken words. Before they can achieve that, they have to be
able to distinguish phonemes in spoken words.
Short vowels are usually what a beginning reader should begin
with
because they are the hardest to grasp.
This lesson will help children identify /a/ or short a. They will be able to recognize /a/ in spoken
words by learning a significant representation and a letter symbol, as
well as
finding /a/ in words.
Materials:
-primary
paper
-pencil
-chart
with "Matt sat by fat apples that ran from
Pat"
-drawing
paper and crayons
-A Cat Nap
(Educational Insight)
-picture
page with at,
hat, sack, fat, class, fast, mask (Modern Press Phonics, Level A)
Procedures:
1.
Introduce the lesson by explaining that our written
language is a secret code. The hard part
to understand is what letters stand for and how the mouth moves we make
as we
say words. "Today we are going to
work on spotting the mouth move /a/. at
first /a/ will be difficult to understand, but with practice and as you
get to
know it, you will be able to spot /a/ in all kinds of words."
2.
Ask students, "Have you ever seen "Home
Alone" where Kevin was left alone and scared?" "When someone
screams can you hear /a/?" "That’s the mouth move we're looking for
in words. Let's pretend we're scared and make the sound /a/. (Put your
hands to
your face and look scared, and make the sound /a/) We scream when we
are
scared. Pretend you are scared: /a/."
3.
"Let's try a tongue twister (on chart). Matt sat by
fat apples that ran from Pat. Everybody say it three times together.
Now say it
again, and this time stretch the /a/ sound. Maaaat saaaat by faaaat
aaaaples
thaaat raaan from Paaat. Try it again, and this time break up the
words. M/a/tt
s/a/t by f/a/t a/pples th/a/t r/a/n from P/a/t."
4.
(Have students take out primary paper and pencil.)
"We can use letter /a/ to spell /a/.
Let's write it. Start below the fence
and draw a half circle down the sidewalk, pick up your pencil and draw
a line
closing the circle from the fence down to the sidewalk.
I want to see everybody's /a/. After I put a
smile on it, I want you to make nine more just like it.
When you see the letter a all by itself in a
word, that’s the signal to say /a/."
5.
Say: "Let me show you how to find /a/ in the word fast.
I'm going to stretch fast out
in super slow motion and listen for the scared sound.
F-f-f-f-a-a-s-t. (Repeat a few times) There it is! I do hear the
scared sound /a/ in fast."
6.
Say: "Call on students to answer and tell how they knew:
Do you hear /a/ in fast or slow? Sat
or sit? Ran or walk?
Man or boy? (Pass out a card to each
student) Say: Let's see if you can
spot the mouth move /a/ in some words. Make a scared face if you hear
/a/. It, bat, sit, sack, fat, up, master, tall,
lab."
7.
Say: "Tab is a very fat cat. Tab naps a lot. Sam
plays baseball and finds something in his bag." Read A Cat
Nap and talk about the story.
Read it again, and have students raise their hands when they
hear the
words with the sound /a/. List their
words on the board. Then have each student draw a submarine and write a
message
about it using invented spelling. Then display their work.
Assessment: Distribute the picture page and help students
name each picture. Ask each student to circle the pictures whose names
have
/a/.
References:
Murray,
Bruce. How
to Teach Letterbox Lessons (Reading Genie website)
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/letbox.html
A
Cat Nap.
Educational Insights 1990.