Miss Anna's Designs for Reading

Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long vowel correspondence a_e = /A/. In order to be able to read, children must learn to recognize the spellings that map word pronunciations. In this lesson students will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling a_e, as well as a meaningful representation (Fonzie’s thumbs up saying “Aye”). They will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence a_e = /A/.

 

Materials: Graphic image of Fonzie giving a thumbs up; cover-up critter; whiteboard or smartboard Elkonin boxes for modeling and a set for each student; letter manipulatives for each student and magnetic/smartboard letters for teacher: a, b, c, d, e, k, l, n, p, r, s; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: ace, pale, cake, band, brake, scrape, past, plate, trame; decodable text: The Race for Cake; assessment worksheet (URL below).

 

Procedures:

1. Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned 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 Fonzie saying “Aye!” and doing a thumbs up [show graphic image].

2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /A/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /A/ in words, I hear a say its name /A/ and the corners of my mouth pull back like I’m smiling. [Make vocal gesture for /A/.] I’ll show you first: name. I heard a say its name and I felt my mouth stretch to say it. There is a long A in name. Now let’s see if we hear a say its name in hand. Hmm, I didn’t. Now I want all of you to try. If you hear /A/ say, “Aye!” and give a thumbs up. If you don’t hear /A/ say “that’s not it” and give a thumbs down. Is it in ace, tin, rate, spot, run, make?

3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /A/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /A/ is with the letter a and a signal e at the end of the word that tells me I should say A’s name for that word. [Write a_e on board]. This blank line here means there is another letter, a consonant, after a, and at the end of the word there is a silent e. What if I want to spell the word plane? “I saw a big plane fly over my house”. To spell plane in my letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /p/ /l/ /A/ /n/. I need 4 boxes. I heard the /A/ right before the /n/, so I’ll put an a in the 3rd box. Because our e is silent, it goes on the outside of the boxes at the end. The word starts with /p/, so I need a p. Then I heard /l/, so I’ll put an l after the p. I have one empty box left between a and e. [Point to boxes when stretching out the word: /p/ /l/ /A/ /n/.] The last letter is /n/= n.

4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for ace. An ace is the playing card with only one symbol, and is the highest card in the deck. “I asked Johnny for aces when we were playing Go Fish.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers.] What goes in the second box? What about silent e? Remember to put it outside the boxes. I’m going to walk around and check your spelling. [Observe progress]. You’ll need three letterboxes for the next few words. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for /A/ and don’t forget to put the signal silent e at the end, outside the boxes. Here’s the word: pale, We painted the baby’s room pale blue, pale. [Allow children to spell words.] Let’s check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: p-a-l-e and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: cake. For my birthday I want a chocolate cake. [Have a 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. Listen to see if this word has /A/ in it before you spell it: band. The band played at halftime during the football game. Did you need a silent e? Why not? Right, because we don’t hear a say its name. We spell it with our short vowel a. [Volunteer spells it on the front board.] Now let’s try 4 phonemes: brake. I stopped my bike by pressing the brake. One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: scrape; When I fell I got a scrape on my knee. It’s kind of a tough word, so remember to stretch it out and say it slowly.

5. Say: Now we’re going to read the words we’ve spelled, but first I’ll show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with scrape on the top and model reading the word.] First I see there’s a silent e on the end; that’s my signal that the vowel will say its name. There’s the vowel a. It must say /A/. I’m going to use my cover-up critter to get the first part. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /s//c/= /sc/ + /r/ = /scr/. Now I’m going to blend that with /A/ = /scrA/. Now all I need is the end, /p/ = /scrAp/. Scrape; that’s it. Now it’s your turn, everyone together. [Show words and have students read in unison: ace, pale, cake, band, brake, scrape, extra words past and plate, and pseudoword trame. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]

6. Say: You’ve done a great job of reading words with our new spelling for /A/: a_e. Now we are going to read a book called The Race for Cake. This is a story of two kids, Ben and Jess, who are tired and hungry after swimming. While they’re on the way home, they smell a cake baking in their house. They are so hungry they decide to race home, and an unexpected visitor joins them. To find out who wins and if they get any cake or not, we’ll have to read the story. Let’s pair up and take turns reading The Race for Cake to find out what happens to Ben and Jess. [Students pair up and take turns reading alternate pages while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads the book aloud together, and practices TBYT- discussing what’s happening before each page turn.]

7. Say: That was a good story. Who joined in the race with Ben and Jess? Oh right, their dog Lad. Who came to the rescue at the end? Right, Mom! Before we finish up with our lesson about spelling /A/ with a_e, I want to see how you can solve some reading problems. On this worksheet, I want you to read and underline the words in the sentences that say /A/ with a_e. Next, you will practice spelling those words on the blanks given. At the end, you’ll come up with a new sentence using a word with /A/ = a_e.  [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

 

Resources:

Murray, G. The Race for Cake. Reading Genie: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/bookindex.html

 

Langhout, Grace. AYE, I get it! http://www.auburn.edu/~gel0001/langhoutbr.htm

 

Waldrum, Julia. “Aye!” http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/awakenings/waldrumbr.htm

 

Assessment worksheet: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-magic-e-a-e-activity-sheet-6211389