Rationale:   Children must be aware of the units of sound within words and the letters that represent them so that they can read and spell words.  This lesson will help children identify e = /e/ correspondence.  They will learn to recognize e = /e/ in spoken words and then practice finding /e/ in words.

Materials:  Primary paper and pencil, (chart) A chart that lists the tongue twister:  The egg in the shell rests in the nest., book- Pen Pals ( Educational Insights),  handout that lists pictures, ( picture of a bat, cat, bed, fish, hat, pig), a card that lists the letter e on one side and a ? question mark on the other.

Procedure:
1.   Introduce the lesson by explaining that we are going to play a game of hide and seek in writing.  The letter “e” is hiding in some words and it is our job to seek out or find that letter.  But first, I want to show you what sound the letter, e = /e/, makes.  This will make it  easier to find.  Watch my mouth move to form the sound it makes.

2.   Ask students:  What sound did you hear?  Then ask the student to think of a word that makes the /e/ sound.  Repeat the word slowly, stretch it out, and ask the student to see if they  hear e =/e/ in the word.   Yes, great job.

3.   Let’s try a tongue twister. (on chart)   The egg in the shell rests in the nest.  Everybody say it together.  Now say it again, and this time stretch the /e/ sound in the words.  The ee  gg  in the sh eee lll  r ee st s in the neeessts.   Great Job.

4.   We can use the  letter “c” to write the letter “e”.  Let’s write it.  Start at the fence line.  Write a letter “c”.  To do this, write up, over and around.  Then draw a small smile onto the  letter “c“.  This the letter “ e”.  I want to see everybody’s letter “ e”.  I want you to make a row of “ e”   ‘s.

5.   The letter /e/ is hiding in some words. (Word list:   bat, cat, , bed,  fish, hat, pig)
  Let’s see if you can find or seek the e =/e/ in some words.  Pass out the   “e/?”  card to each student.   Show me the letter “e” on the card if you hear the /e/ sound.  Show me the ? on the cart if you don’t hear the /e/ sound.

 6.   Read Pen Pals (Educational  Insights) and talk about the story.  Read it again,  and have students stand up when they hear words with /e/ sound.  List their words on the board.  Then have students draw a picture of the character in the book.  Have the students write a message about the picture using invented spelling.  Display their work.

7.   Assessment:  Give each individual student a handout  that lists several pictures.(  picture of a bat,  a cat,  a bed,  a  fish, a hat, a pig) Have the students circle the picture whose name have the e = /e/ sound.

Reference:   Teaching Decoding in Holistic Classrooms, Eldredge,  Lloyd J., Merrill, 1995, p. 16.

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