Miss Davis's Reading Lessons
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence i = /i/. 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 /i/. They will learn a meaningful representation (a kitten chewing on a baseball mitt), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i = /i/.
Materials: Graphic image of kitten chewing on a baseball mitt; cover-up critter; whiteboard or smart board, Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin letterboxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smart board letters for teacher: w, I, n, d, g, p, t, s, l, k, f, h, t, v, e; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: win, dig, pit, silk, fish, spin, twin, give, stint, pilk; decodable text "Liz is Six", and assessment worksheet.
Procedures: 1. Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. Today we are going to learn about short /i/. When I say /i/, I think of a hungry, icky kitten chewing on a baseball mitt [Show graphic image]. Now let’s look at the spelling of /i/ that we will learn today. We use the letter i to spell /i/. [Write /i/ on the board.]
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /i/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /i/ in words, I hear /i/. Say /i/ and my mouth goes slightly together as my teeth are parallel on top of each other without actually touching. [Make vocal gesture for /i/.] I’ll show you first: lick. I heard /i/ say its short vowel /i/ sound and I felt my lips come closer together and my bottom teeth move under my top teeth [make a straight line with your finger showing your teeth]. There is a short /i/ in lick. Now I’m going to see if it’s in bike. Hmm, I didn’t hear /i/ say its short vowel sound and my mouth was open like a yawn. Now you try. If you hear /i/ say, “Iiiiii, the icky kitten knew that” If you don’t hear /i/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in gift, rain, chant, chip, slip, bet? [Have children make a horizontal line motion across their teeth when they feel /i/ say its short vowel sound.]
3. What if I want to spell the word stick? “If I throw the stick to the dog, the dog will run and pick it up.” Stick means dog in this sentence. To spell stick in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /s//t//i//ck//. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /i/ just before the /ck/ so I’m going to put an i 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//i//ck/. I think I heard /t/ so I’ll put a “t” right after the “s”. One more after the /i/, hmm . . . /s//t//i//ck/, I think I heard /ck/. The digraph /ck/ goes together in the same box. I’ll put that after the /i/. I have filled in all of the boxes. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /s//t//i//ck/.]
Now I’ll show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with stick on the top and model reading the word.] I’m going to start with the i; that part says /i/. Now I’m going to put the beginning letters with it: s-t-i-, /sti/. Now I’ll put that digraph together with the last sound, /sti-ck/. Oh, stick, like “That stick fell off of the tree.”
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for it. An it is used to refer to a thing previously mentioned or easily identified, “The cat ran after it.” I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound to spell in the first box. Then listen for /i/. Here’s the word: bit, I bit into my sandwich; bit. [Allow children to spell remaining words, giving sentences for each word: dig, spin, fish, bike, stint]
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled. [Show the words it, bit, dog, spin, fish, bike, stint, the extra words trick and kite, and the pseudoword lish. 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 and reading words with our new spelling for /i=: i. Now we are going to read a book called "Liz is Six". Liz is having a birthday party as she is turning six. All of her friends come, even her animal friends. Liz gets a mitt for her birthday, so they all go out to play a baseball game. As Liz hits the ball really far, will Pig be able to catch it? We’ll have to keep reading to find out. Let’s pair up and take turns reading Liz is Six to find out what happens. [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 Liz is Six chorally, stopping between page turns to discuss the story.]
7. Say: Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /i/ = i, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have a list of words with different vowels in them and all different spellings. Your job is to read each word to yourself and circle the words that say the short vowel /i/ sound. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. Then below, there are lines to write the words on. Write the words in alphabetical order. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
References
Lauren Romano, Pigs Love Pickles:
Liz is Six. Educational Insights, 1990
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