Ellie Austin
Rationale: Blending is one of the important steps in learning to read. Students must know the consonants and short vowel sounds to master blending. The following activities will help students learn how to blend sounds in an enjoyable manner. Once the student learns how to blend, reading will be easier and more enjoyable for them. By the end of this lesson, the student should be able to blend sounds together in the consonant/vowel/consonant (CVC) form.
Materials: One large boat with 3 pockets, enough small boats with 3 letter blocks on them for each student, 3x5 cards for the large boat with the following letters on them: b, r, l, t, a, e, I, o, u, g, p, d, m, a set of letters (m, a, e, i, o, u, d, b, p, n, t, s, g) on paper in the shape of people for each student, a copy for each student, a copy for each student of "Tin Man Fix-It" (Educational Insights, 1990), copy of "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss (see references).
Procedures:
1. Tell students: I know everyone here wants
to learn how to read, right? Good. Well, to learn how to read words, first
you need to learn how to blend sounds. Blending is like rhyming. When blending
to form a word, you let the sounds run together smoothly. Now, let's review
the sounds of each letter in the alphabet. Great!
2. Read "Green Eggs and Ham" to class.
3. Pull words form the book to model secret
code which will be good blending practice. Tell the class, "I am going
to say a word in a secret code. See if you can figure out what I am saying.
(start with easy form) /ha/ /m/. Practice with a few words and if the class
seems to catch on to the concept move to a harder code. For example: /h/
/am/ and then to the hardest /h/ /a/ /m/. After they figure out the word
write it on the board to help the students relate each sound to the letters
that represent it.
4. Now, do a review of this concept with
the "Mulberry Bush" song: Now we will say the word out loud, the word out
loud, the word out loud, now we will say the word out loud, so put the
sounds to-geth-er. (Say "/be/ /d/" and let the students respond, "bed".
Then do /s/ /u/ /n/ (advanced level) and the children respond, sun. Do
as many as necessary for them to grasp the concept: van, red, jam, fog,
pot, cut,etc.
5. Use the large blending boats now. Tell
the story about Captain /b/ wanting to sail to Word Paradise. We all know
that one person can not handle such a large boat alone. He needed a complete
crew. So Captain /b/ went searching for the complete crew (complete crew
= a word). Have the large letter cards ready to model the activity.
6. While Captain /b/ is looking for his
crew help the students to realize that bt, bm, bc, etc. Do no make a complete
crew or word. He needs a vowel, r, or l. For example, be or bi or br could
lead to a crew. Let the students help you complete the words. Model the
use of the pockets on the boat for each sound in the words. Help them build
words with the letter b like: bet, bad, bop, etc.
7. Now let them have their own set of letters
in the shape of people and ship with 3 letter boxes on them. Start the
story for them with Captain /m/. Let the students find his crew for his
boat. Walk around noting the children's ability with blending the sounds
and forming words like mad, met, mop. Make sure they understand the foundations
of blending. Let the students write down the words they form on a sheet
of paper to check for assessing them.
8. Assessment: Give each child a
copy of "Tin Man Fix-It" to read. Go around and listen to each child reading
the book. Note the students' miscues. Tell the class if they finish the
book before you come by then go back and work on the blending boat with
Captain /p/. When you come by they can go back to read a page from the
book to you. Use your miscue notes to check for understanding.
Reference:
J. Lloyd Eldredge (1995). Teaching Decoding
in Holistic Classrooms. Engelwood Cliffs,
NJ: Merrill. P.
53. "Blending", p. 59 "Sound Blending".
Seuss, Dr. Green Eggs and Ham. New York: Random House, c.1960.
Cushman, Shelia. Tin Man Fix-It. Educational Insights: Carson, CA. 1990.
Maner, Anna. Blending Bumper Cars.
http://www.auburn.edu/rdggenie/breakthroughs/manerbr.html