“Grandma’s Old Creaky
Door”
Short /e/
sound:
This lesson is
to help children with the short /e/ sound. Children need to
understand
that alphabet letters stand for phonemes and spellings map out phonemes
in
spoken words. Short vowels are the hardest phonemes for children
to learn
to identify. This lesson will help children to learn to identify
and
recognize the short /e/ sound in words. Through this lesson
children will
be able to not only identify the short /e/ sound in words but also
recognize
the letter /e/ when they are reading. The short /e/ sound is a
very
common letter in our English language so it is very important to be
able to
recognize it.
Materials:
Primary paper (writing)
Pencils
Cards with words that have the
short /e/ in them (see below)
Words on cards:
Eggs
Set
Fed
Net
Get
Red
Red and blue crayons for each
student
Chart with tongue twister: Eric
the Elf always begs for his eggs.
Book- Red Get’s Fed.
Cushman, Sheila and Kornblum,
Rona. Red Get’s Fed. Education Insights, 1990.
Procedure:
1.)
Ask students about creaky
door. “Have you ever heard
an old creaky door? A creaky door makes the short /e/
sound. Eeh! “
2.)
The creaky door says
eeeh! (short /e/) Why
don’t we practice our creaky door together! (open door) eeh!
(with hand
gesture for door). When we think of a creaky door we think of an
older
house. Maybe your Grandmother lives in an older home and her
door’s
sometimes creak. Our door maybe old but it helps us remember a
very
important sound the short /e/.
3.)
Read to the children the
tongue twister on the chart.
Tongue
Twister: Eric the Elf always begs for his eggs.
After
you read the tongue twister the first time repeat it with children
three more
times! The last time we say the twister we will hold out the
short /e/
sound’s in each word. As we read. “ Eeeric the Eeeelf always
beegs for his
eeegs.” Great Job!
4.)
Have students take out paper
and pencil. Who knows
what letter makes the short /e/ sound. Very Good! The
letter e.
Now let’s all together practice writing the letter e. To
start the
letter get in the center below the fence, then go towards the window
(or door)
up to the fence, around and up. Now practice this ten more times.
5.)
Name different words some
with short /e/ some without and
as you read them to the students have the students tell you which word
out of
the two that they hear the short /e/ sound in. Which word has the
short
/e/ sound:
bed or sat
Fred or block
sled or Rick
eggs or salad
Very Good!
6.)
Read Red Gets Fed and
talk about the story with
children. The second time you read the story have the children
“open
their door” every time they hear the short /e/ sound in a word in the
story.
Assessment:
When doing the activity notice which students are
understanding and which ones are having problems.
References: Linse, Caroline. 20 Fun-Filled
Games that
Build Early Reading skills: Quick and Easy.
Literacy Games
That Get Emergent Readers off to a Great Start! Scholastic Inc.,
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