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 children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling a_e. They will learn a meaningful representation (pretending to mix a cake in a bowl), 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 of a character saying mate,

cover-up critter

whiteboard or smartboard 

Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin letterboxes for each student 

letter tiles for each child and magnetix or smartboard letters for teacher: f, v, k, e, s, c, t, a, p, l, a, n, r

list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: skate, face, cave, plane, map, scrape, trace 

decodable text: Jake and his Beehive 

assessment worksheet. 

 

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 lap, 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 a cake that was just baked [show graphic image]. Now let’s look at the spelling of /A/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /A/ with the letter a and a signal e at the of the word to tell me to say A’s name. [Write a-e on the board.] This blank line here means there is a consonant after a, and at the end of the word there is a little silent e signal.

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 my lips make a little a shape like this. [Make vocal gesture for /A/.] I’ll show you first: skate. I heard a say its name and I felt my lips make a little a [make an oval shape with your mouth around pursed lips]. There is a long A in skate. Now I’m going to see if it’s in apple. Hmm, I didn’t hear a say its name and my lips didn’t make that oval shape. Now you try. If you hear /A/ say, “Oh, I didn’t know.” If you don’t hear /A/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in gap, brave, ant, mate, mat, rate? [Have children make an oval shape around their pursed lips when they feel /A/ say its name.]

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 to tell me to say A’s name. [Write a_e on the board.] This blank line here means there is a consonant after a, and at the end of the word there is a little silent e signal. What if I want to spell the word face? “Emma has a big smile on her face.” To spell face in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /f//A//c/. I need 3 boxes. I heard that /A/ just before the /c/ so I’m going to put an a in the 2nd box and the silent e signal outside the last box. The word starts with /f/, that’s easy; I need an f. Now I need an /A/ after the /f/. Now it’s a little tricky, do I hear an /s/ or a /c/? I am going to say it slowly, /f//A//c/, I heard a /c/, so I need a c in the last box. Now I’ll show you how I would read through a tough word. [Display poster with shame on top and model reading the word.] I’m going to start with the a_e; that part says /A/. Now I’m going to put the beginning letters with it: s-h-a_e, /spA/. Now I’ll put that chunk together with the last sound, /shA-m/. Oh, shame, like “It’s a shame the cake didn’t bake properly.”

4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with three boxes for cave. A cave is a large underground chamber, typically in a hill or mountainside. “Three bears live in that dark cave inside of that mountain.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? Lastly, what goes in the third box? What about silent e, did you remember to put it outside the boxes? I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress] You’ll need four 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 out the signal silent e at the end, outside the boxes. Here’s the word: plane, I flew on a plane yesterday; plane. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterbox on the board, p - l - a - n - e and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with four boxes: flame; the burning candle has a red flame, flame. [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 an /A/ in it before you spell it: map; let’s locate the US on a map. 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: trace; I will trace the leaf to get the perfect shape on my paper. One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: scrape; Be careful not to scrape your knee on the ground when you crawl. Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.

5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’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 a cover-up 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. [Have children read words in unison. 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 reading words with our new spelling for /A/: a_e. Now we are going to read a book called Jake and his Beehive. This is a story about a boy named Jake who has a beehive. Jake is explaining how Beehives work to all of his neighborhood friends. Let’s pair up to read about honeybees. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages while the teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class reads the story aloud all together while taking breaks to discuss what is happening in the book.]

7. Say: That was a fun story. What did you learn about Jake’s honeybees? He only keeps native honeybees in his hive. Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /A/ = a_e, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet I want you to put a box around all of the words that have a long A vowel sound and that use a_e. Double check your work to make sure you selected the right words. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

 

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

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Russo, S. (2014) Jake and his Beehives. Speld: https://www.speld-sa.org.au/component/flippingbook/book/111/1.html?page=10

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Assessment worksheet: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/327777679110327847/ 

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