Waaaaa says Anna
Beginning Reading Design- Anna Bolton
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Title: Waaaaa says Anna
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence a=/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’. They will learn a meaningful representation (crying baby ‘ahhh’), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence a=/a/.
Materials:
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Graphic image of crying baby
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Cover-up critter
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Whiteboard or smartboard with Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual boxes for each student
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Poster with tongue tickler “Adam and Anne asked if the Alan’s animals were angry.”
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Letter manipulatives for each child and letters for teacher: a, b, c, h, k, n, o, t, r, v
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List of spelling words on board to read: at, cat, van, rot, back, catch
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Decodable text: A Fat Hat
Procedures:
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Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. Every single letter has its own sound and we move our mouth differently with each letter. Today we are going to learn short a to say /a/. When I say /a/ I think of a baby crying. Like “ahhh” {with graphic image showing}
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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 think of how my mouth moves (make vocal gesture). I will show you first: bat. I heard a say its sound and felt my mouth open big like a baby crying. There is a short a in bat. Now I am going to see if it is in net. Hmm I did not hear the a sound and my mouth did not open big. Now you try, if you hear /a/ say “ahhh” like a baby crying. If you don’t hear /a/, say “that’s not it.” Is it in lid, bag, dot, get, sad, map, fit, lap? (Have children make an open mouth with tongue remaining on the bottom if they hear /a/ say its sound)
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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 when you hear the sound of a baby crying in a word. (write a on the board) What if I want to spell the word fast? “I want to be a racecar driver and drive fast.” In this sentence, fast means the speed like zooming fast! To spell fast in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /f/ /a/ /s/ /t/. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /a/ just before the /s/ so I am going to put an a in the 2nd letterbox and s in the third box. The word starts with /f/ so that’s easy, I need a f. Now it gets tricky so I’m going to say it slowly , /f /a/ /s/ /t/. I think I heard /t/ so I will put that after the s. That’s it, got it! /f/ /a/ /s/ /t/- fast!
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Say: Now I am going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for at. At can describe where I am, “I am at the store.” What should go in the first box? (respond to children’s answers). What goes in the second box? I’’ 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 that goes in the first box. Then listen for /a/. Here’s the word: Cat. I have a cat at home; cat (allow children to spell words). Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: c-a-t and see if you spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: van; My mom picked us up from school in her van. (have volunteer spell it in the letterbox on the board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word). Next word. Listen to see if this word has /a/ on it before you spell it: rot; eat that fruit before it will rot. Did you need an a? Why not? Right, because we do not hear a say its name. We spell it with our short vowel o. (volunteer spells it on the front board). Now let’s try 4 phonemes: back, my back got sunburnt at the beach. One more then we are done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: catch, I need to make the final catch of the baseball game. Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.
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Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you have spelled, but first I will show you how I would read a tough word. (Display poster with trap on top and model reading the word). First I see there is an a in the middle like a baby crying that signals I will have the letter 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). /t/ /r/= /tr/ now I am going to blend the vowel /a/, /tra/. Now all I need is the end, /p/ = /trap/. Trap, that’s it. Now your turn, everyone together. (have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has a turn.)
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Say: You’ve done a great job reading words with our new spelling for /a/: a. Now we are going to read a book called A Fat Hat. This is a story of a couple of friends, Pam and Tom that have a fat hat with dots, or a fad as they say. The hat flies away and they have to try to catch it until a it reaches a man. Let’s pair up and take turns reading A Fat Hat to see if Pam and Tom get the hat. (Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while the teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads A Fat Hat aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.)
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Say: That was a fun story. Did they get the hat? Right, the man sat on it when they got to it and it was no longer fat, it was a fad. Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /a/=a, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some words missing. Your job is to first say the name of each object and circle the ones with the short a. Then you will circle the words with short a ant lastly come up with 3 words with short a to write. (collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.)
Resources:
Robert Charles (2005) , A Fat Hat : http://englishworldschool.yolasite.com/resources/raz_d13_hat.pdf
Logan Boyd, Icky Sticky: https://lolomakayla99.wixsite.com/mysite/icky-sticky
Assessment worksheet: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/531143349780417525/?nic_v2=1a1sqOEoV
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