Beginning Reading Design (BR)

Aaaa, you scared me!

​A Beginning Reading Lesson

By: AC Palmer

Materials:

A graphic image of Pumba screaming; whiteboard or smartboard Elkonin box to model and an Elkonin for each child; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: a, c, k, e, d, m, h, p, s, n, r, t; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: at, cat, map, rat, sand, stamp, strap ; decodable text: A Cat Nap, and activity sheet.

Procedures:

1. Say: For us to become expert readers, we need to learn the code that states to us how to pronounce words. Today we are going to learn about short a and we know that short a makes the sound /a/. We are going to practice reading the letter a with words like, map. When I say /a/ I think of Pumba being scared and saying, “Aaaaa, you scared me!”

2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /a/, we need to listen out for the letter in some words. When we listen for /a/ in words, hear a say its name /a/ and my lips create a smile like shape like this. [Make vocal gesture for /a/.] I’ll show you first: cat. I heard a say its name and I felt my lips open up and make a smile [make an open lips smile]. There is a short a in sand. Now I’m going to see if a is in school. Hmm, I didn’t hear a say its name and my lips didn’t make that open mouth smile. Now you try. If you hear /a/ say, “Aaa, you scared me!” If you don’t hear /a/ say, “Naaa that is wrong.” Is it in snow, ran, pots, coat, nose, lips? [Have children smile and make a gesture with their fingers making a smile when they say /a/.]

3. Say: Let’s study at the spelling of /a/ that we are going to learn today. One way to spell /a/ is with the letter a inside the word. [Write a on the board.] What if I want to spell the word stamp? “If I want to send a letter, I need to put a stamp on my envelope.” A stamp is a sticker that goes on postage. To spell stamp in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes the word has so I stretch it out and count: /s//t//a//m//p/. I need 5 boxes. I heard that /a/ just before the /m/ so I’m going to put an a in the 3rd box. The word starts with /s/, that’s easy; I need an s. Now it gets a little tricky so I’m going to say it slowly, /s//t//a//m//p/. I think I heard /t/ so I’ll put a t right after the s. One more before the /a/, hmm . . . /s//t//a//m//p/, I think I heard someone tasting yummy food /m/ so I need a p. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /s//t//a//m//p/.] 

4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for at. At means where your location is, “Where is our teacher at?” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? I’ll check your spelling while I go around the room. [Observe progress.] You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. The beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for /a/. Here’s the word: cat; I have a pet cat, cat. [Allow children to spell words.] It is time to check your work. Watch me spell it in my letterboxes on the board: c – a – t and see if you’ve spelled it this way. Let’s do another with three boxes: map; To find our way home, we need a map. [Have volunteer spell it in the letterbox on the front board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Next word. Before you spell it, make sure you hear /a/ in the word: rake; you need to rake the leaves in the fall. We spell it with our long vowel a. [volunteer spells it on the front board.] Did you use a silent e. Now let’s try 4 phonemes: sand; It is very hard to rake sand. One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: strap; I need to strap in before the car starts moving.

5. Say: I am going to let you read the words that you spelled, but I’ll show you how I would read a tough word first. [Display poster with stroke on the top and model reading the word.]  There’s the vowel a. It must say /a/. In order to understand the first part, use a cover-up. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /a//t/ = at, at that’s it. Now it’s your turn, everyone together. [Have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]

a

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6. Say: You’ve done a great job and reading words with our new spelling for /a/: a. Now we are going to read a book called A Cat Nap. This is a story of a cat named Tab, he is a fat cat that loves to take naps. Tab’s owner is Sam. One day, Tab falls asleep in Sam’s bag. Where will they go? [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads Cat Nap aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]

7. Say: That was such a fun story! Where did Tab and Sam end up? Right, he ended up going to school with Sam. Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /a/=a. I want to see if you can remember if short a goes with the word or not. On this worksheet, we have some letters missing in the word. Your job is to use your book, the pictures, and words we spelled to figure out what letter goes in the blank. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

Resources:

Worksheet- https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/short-a-words/

Oh, I didn’t know! By Geri Murray –
https://murraba.wixsite.com/readinglessons/beginning-reading

A Cat Nap - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15732706-a-cat-nap

Reading Genie Insights- http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/classroom/insights/