Beginning Reading Lesson:
Icky Sticky Drippy /i/
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Rationale:
This lesson teaches children the short vowel correspondence i=/i/. For
children to read, they must be able to recognize the spelling that maps out word
pronunciation. In the lesson, children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words that contain /i/. They will learn a meaningful representation (shaking hands with icky sticky stuff dripping from hands), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a letterbox lesson, and they will read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i=/i/.
Materials:
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Image of drippy ice cream
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Cover-up Critter
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Whiteboard or smartboard Elkonin boxes (enough for the teacher and each student)
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Letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teachers- i, s, h, p, t, c, k, b, l, n, k, f.
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List of spelling words on poster- it, hip, shift, chest, blink
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Decodable text- Liz is Six
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Assessment worksheet
Procedures:
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"In order for us to get really good at reading, we must learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned to read short vowel words with e, like the word met, and today we are going to learn about short i. When I say /i/, I think of having something icky and sticky on my hands that I’m trying to shake off (show the grapheme and shake hands like you’re trying to get something off of them)."
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"Before we learn about the spelling of /i/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I say a word with /i/ in it, I feel my mouth opening and my teeth are not touching. (Make the vocal gesture for /i/.) Let me show you. I hear /i/ in the word gift. G-i-i-i-f-f-t. I felt my mouth open slightly and my teeth were not touching. Now let me see if I hear /i/ in wall. W-a-a-l-l. I don’t think my mouth makes the shape it makes for /i/. Let me try it one more time. Wall. Nope, it didn’t do it that time either. Now you try. If you hear /i/, shaking your hands like you’re trying to get something icky off of them. If you do not hear /i/, I want you to put your hands on your knees. Do you hear /i/ in grass, sit, twist, plant, ship, dress?"
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"Now let’s look at the spelling of /i/. We spell /i/ with the letter i. (write an upper case I and a lower case i on the board.) What if I want to spell the word grip? 'Make sure you have a good grip on the balloon so it does not float away.' In this sentence, grip means to hold on. Before I can spell the word grip in my letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes it has. /g/ /r/ /i/ /p/. I need four boxes. I heard /i/ just before the /p/ sound. I am going to put i in the third letterbox, and p in the fourth letterbox. The word starts with /g/. I know the letter g makes the /g/ sound, so I will put g in the first letterbox. What am I missing? /g/ /r/. Oh, that’s a growling sound so I know I need the letter r. I will put the letter r in the second letterbox." (Point to the letters in the boxes as you stretch out word, /g/ /r/ /i/ /p/.)
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"Now I am going to have you spell some words in your letterboxes. Let’s start out with two boxes. That means the word I am about to give you has two phonemes. Your first word is, it. 'I do not know where my favorite stuffed animal is. I think my brother hid it.' What should go in the first box? (Respond to children’s answers.) What should go in the second box? (Respond to children’s answers.) I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. (Observe progress.) Our next words will need three letterboxes because it has three phonemes. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box, then listen for /i/. The word is, hip. 'I accidentally hit my hip on the table and it hurt.' (Allow children to spell words.) Time to check your work. Watch how I spell hip in my letterboxes on the board: h-i-p. See if you have spelled it the same. Let’s try a new word with four letterboxes. This word has four letterboxes because there are four phonemes. Your next word is, shift. 'I need to shift over to the side of the room so I can get out of the way of the people carrying heavy boxes.' [Have volunteer spell it in the letterbox on the front board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Our next word also uses four letterboxes. Listen to see if this word has /i/ in it before you spell it. Your word is, chest. 'The little boy hugged the puppy to his chest.' Did you hear /i/ in chest? Why not? Right, because there is not an i in chest. There is an e. (Volunteer spells it on the board.) Now let’s try one last word with five letterboxes. If a word uses five letterboxes, that means it has five phonemes. Your word is, blink. 'I saw Matthew blink his eyes.'"
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"Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I will show you how I would read a tough word. (Display poster with the word shift on the top and model reading the word.) First, I see the word is spelled with an i in it. I know this word is going to have the sound /i/. I am going to use a cover-up critter for the first part of the word. (Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.) /sh/ = /sh/ + /i/ = /shi/. /shi/ + /f/ = /shif/. /shif/ + /t/ = shift. Now it’s your turn to try. I want everyone to try together. (Have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.)"
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"Each of you have done a great job reading words with our new spelling for i=/i/. Now we are going to read a book called Liz is Six. There is a little girl named Liz, and today is her birthday. One of Liz’s presents is a baseball mitt. Liz wants to play baseball with her friends, but guess what? There is a pig up to bat! Do you think the pig will get to play baseball with Liz? Let’s pair up and take turns reading to find out of the pig will play baseball with Liz." (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 aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.)
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"That was a fun story. Did the pig get to play baseball with Liz? You’re right, he did. Before we finish our lesson about how to spell /i/, I want everyone to complete a fun worksheet to see how well we know i=/i/. On this worksheet, I need you to circle the words that make the /i/ sound, and think of three words that have /i/ in them." (Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.)
Resources:
Katherine Sturim, Cry Baby Cry: http://katherinets8.wixsite.com/eportfolio/beginning-reading
Geri Murray. Oh! I Didn't Know: https://sites.google.com/site/readingwritingconnection/beggingreadingdesign
Assessment worksheet: https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/short-i-first/
Book: Cushman, S., Millie, P., & Briles, P. (1990). Liz is Six. Dominguez Hills, CA.: Educational Insights.
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