Ay, Don't Do That!
A Beginning Reading Lesson
Rationale:
This lesson will teach children about the long vowel correspondence a_e=/A/. For children to be able to read fluently, they must be able to identify the mappings in spelling and understand their correspondences. In this lesson, students will learn how to read, recognize, and spell words with the correspondence a_e=/A/. They will learn a meaningful representation (shaking finger), how to spell and read words in a letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence a_e=/A/.
Materials:
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Graphic image of a shaking finger
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Cover up critter
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Whiteboard, dry erase marker, eraser
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Elkonin boxes for modeling
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Individual Elkonin Boxes for each student
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Letter manipulative for each student
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Magnetic letters for teacher: a, t, e, g, c, n, s, k, r, p
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List of spelling words on white board to read: ate, cane, gate, sack, snake, scrape, stage
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Decodable text: James and the Good Day (Cushman & Kornblum, 1990)
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Assessment worksheet (enough for each student)
Procedures:
1. Say: In order to become fantastic readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned how to read short vowel words with a, like hat, and today we are going to learn about long A and the silent e signal that is used to make A say its name, /A/. When I say /A/ I think of person saying “Ay, Don't do that!” [Show graphic image].
2. Say: Before we learn how to spell /A/, lets listen to for it in some words. When I listen for /A/ in words I hear a say its name /A/ and my mouth open wide where I can see my teeth and tongue pulled back like this [model how to say /A/]. Let me show you how to find it first: late. I heard a say its name and I felt my mouth open wide and show my teeth [Point to teeth]. There is a long a in late. Now I’m going to see if it’s in bat. Hmmm, I didn't hear a say it’s name and my mouth didn't open wide to show my teeth. Now you try. If you hear /A/ say, “Ay, don't do that!” and shake your finger. If you don't hear /A/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in plate, bowl, car, lost, stay? [Have children shake their finger when they hear /A/ say its name.]
3. Say: Now lets look at the spelling of /A/ that we will learn today! One way we can spell /A/ is with the letter a and the silent e at the end of the word that tells me to say A’s name. This signal e is silent. [Write a_e on the board.] This blank that we see means there is a consonant after a, and at the end of the word is the silent e that signals a to say its name. What if I want to spell the word plane? “I see a plane in the air.” To spell plane in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes are in the word. To find how many phonemes are in the word I stretch it out and count /p//l//A//n/. I need four boxes. I heard /A/ just before the /n/ so I am going to put a in the third box and the silent e outside the last box. The word starts with /p/, and I know that's a p. Hmm, let’s say it again but slower: /p//l//A//n/. I think I heard /l/ so I am going to put an l after the p. I have one empty box now. [point to letters in boxes as stretching out the word.] The missing one is /n/ which is an n.
4. Say: Now I am going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You will start out easy with two boxes for ate. “I ate pizza for dinner last night.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What does in the second box? What about the silent e? Did you remember to put it outside the last box? I’ll check your spelling as I walk around the room. [Observe students.] You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for /A/ and don't forget to put the silent e on the outside of the boxes. Our next word is cane, my grandmother walks with a cane; cane. [Allow children to spell word.] Time to check our work! Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: c – a – n – e. Did you spell it the same way? Let’s try another with three boxes: gate, close the gate when you get home. [Have a student volunteer to spell it in the letterbox on the front board and the other student check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] New word. Listen to see if this word has /A/ in it before you spell it: sack; my mom put my lunch in a paper sack. Did you need a silent e? Why not? That’s right; we don't hear a say its name. We spell it with our short vowel a. [volunteer spells it on the front board.] Did you remember to spell /k/ with ck? Now let’s try a word with four phonemes: snake; I saw a snake in my front yard. Lets do one more word and then we will be done spelling for right now. This one we will need five boxes: scrape; be careful not to scrape your knee on the playground. Remember to stretch out the word to help you figure out its spelling. This one can be tough.
5. Say: Now I am going to let your read the words you've spelled, but first I will show you how I would read a tough word. [Write scrape on the board and model reading the word.] I see right away that there is a silent e at the end, so that tells me the vowel will say its name. I see the vowel a. It must say /A/. I am going to use a cover-up to understand the first part. [Uncover and blend letters before the vowel.] /s//c/ = /sc/+/r/ = /scr/. Now I am going to blend it with /A/ = /scrA/. Now all I need to do if figure out the ending, /p/ = /scrAp/. Scrape; that's it! Now it is your turn. Everyone read together. [Have children read in unison. Afterwards call on everyone until everyone has had a turn.]
6. Say: Everyone has done such a good job with reading words with our new spelling for /A/: a_e. Lets read a book called James and the Good Day. This is a story about a boy named James who wakes up and is determined to have a good day! James makes a plan of everything he wants to do. Let’s pair up and take turns reading James and the Good Day to find out what James does during his day. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads James and the Good Day aloud together and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]
7. Say: Oh no! Did James have a good day? That right, he did not have a good day. What happened to make James not have a good day? That’s right, he overflowed the tub and water got everywhere. It made Mom mad! Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /A/=a_e, I want to see you solve a reading problem. First read all the words in the word box, and then pick which word fits best with each sentence. Reread your answers to make sure they make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate students]
Resources:
Claire Koenig, What’d Ya Say, A??: http://csk0009.wixsite.com/eportfolio/beginning-reading
Cushman, Sheila & Kornblum, Rona. James and the Good Day. Educational Insights. (1990). pp. 1-8
Assessment Worksheet: http://www.tlsbooks.com/pdf/longasoundjake.pdf
