Maddie Gorman
Annie the Crying Alligator says Aaaa!
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long 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= /a/. They will learn a meaningful representation (acting like a whining alligator), 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:
1. Graphic image of Annie the Alligator crying
2. Cover-up critter
3. Whiteboard or Smart Board
4. Letter boxes for modeling and for each student
5. Letter manipulatives for each child
6. Magnetic or Smart Board letters for teacher: a, t, c, n, g, l, d, m, d, s, s, h;
7. List of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: at, can, glad, mat, mad, smash; decodable text: A Cat Nap 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 the short a and the mouth movements we do in order to say /a/. When I say /a/ I think of an alligator crying, “Aaaa!” [show graphic image]. Now let’s look at the spelling of /a/ that we’ll learn today. We use the letter a to spell /a/.
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 jaw drops and my tongue is down and hits my bottom teeth. [Make vocal gesture for /a/.] I’ll show you first: map. I heard a say its name and I felt my jaw drop and my tongue goes down. There is a short a in map. Now I’m going to see if it’s in set. Hmm, I didn’t hear a say its name and my jaw did not drop down. Now you try to see if the word set has a short a in it. If you hear /a/ say, “Ah, I hear it.” If you don’t hear /a/ say, “Ah? That’s not it.” Is it in bask, pool, sent, in, or man? [Have children make their jaws drop when they feel /a/ say its name.]
3. What if I want to spell the word stamp? “I need a stamp to mail my letter.” Stamp means an adhesive piece of paper to show the amount of money has been paid to mail a letter in this sentence. To spell stamp in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /s//t//a//mp/. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /a/ just before the /mp/ so I’m going to put an a in the 3rd box. The word starts with /s/, that’s pretty simple; I need an s. Now it gets a little tricky so I’m going to say it slowly, /s//t//a//mp/ I think I heard /t/ so I’ll put a t right after the s. One more before the /a/, hmm . .. /s//t//a//mp/, I have one empty box now. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /s//t//a//mp/ The missing one is /mp/. So I put both letters m and p in the last box. Now I’ll show you how I would read another word. [Display poster with bag on the top and model reading the word.] I’m going to start with the a; that part says /a/. Now I’m going to put the beginning letters with it: b-a, /ba/. Now I’ll put that chunk together with the last sound, /ba-g/. Oh, bag like “I was at the grocery store and I had to bag my items to take home.”
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in your letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for at. Like, “I was at the movie theater yesterday”. What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers- a]. What goes in the second box?- t. I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room and check other students work as well. [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 /a/. Here’s the word: can, “I can go to school tomorrow.”; can. [Allow children to spell remaining words: glad, mat, mad, smash.]
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I’ll model to you how I would read a difficult word. [Display poster with crash on the top and model the reading word.] First, I see there is a sh on then end. That lets me know that I put those letters in one box because they make one sound. Then, there is my vowel a. It must say a=/a/. I’m going to use a cover-up to get the first part of the word. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /c//r/=/cr/. Now I’m going to blend that with /a/=/cra/. Now all I need is the end, /sh/=/crash/. Crash; that’s it! “ I was in a car crash last year.” 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 reading at least one word.]
6. Say: Class, 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 Cat Nap. Tab is a very fat cat. He is very lazy and loves to take naps. Tab goes inside an empty bag and falls asleep. A man named Sam takes the bag. You'll have to read to find out where the bag travels and what happens to Tab when he wakes up. Let’s pair up and take turns reading A Cat Nap to find out what happens. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring their progress and making sure they are on task. After individual paired reading, the class rereads A Cat Nap aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]
7. Assessment: I will listen to everyone in the class read out loud. I will call on them individually to read 1-2 pages of A Cat Nap at my desk. I will listen and make notes of miscues during the reading. While I am assessing the students individually, the other students will be reading with partners. After this they will do a worksheet that has them circle words that start with the letter a. Then once they circle all the words, they will go back and reread them for a final review.
Worksheet: (printed below)
Choose the word that contains the 'Aaaaa!' sound from the short vowel a.
1. Hand bet sun
2. Fret ham hike
3. Nice nap note
4. Fake fill grind
5. Pin mop pan
Resources:
Murray PowerPoint: Creating Literacy Design:
https://sites.google.com/site/readingwritingconnection/beggingreadingdesign
Lydia Moore Literacy Design: “Aaaa!” Says the Crying Baby
https://sites.google.com/site/lydiasreadinglessons/home/-aaaaa-says-the-crying-baby
Reading Genie: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/
Travel Index:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/travels.html
