Beginning Reading Design

Ahhhhh Pooh Bear is Tired!

A Beginning Reading Design

Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence o = /o/. In order to be able to read successfully, 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 o. They will learn a meaningful representation (Pooh Bear yawning saying “ahhh”), 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 o = /o/.

Materials: Enlarged copy of Pooh Bear yawning image; cover-up critter; letterboxes for modeling and individual letterboxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and for teacher: j, o, g, s, p, o, t, b, x, c, l, c, k, f, r, d, d, m, n, b; poster with clock written on it; list of spelling words on white board to read: odd, mop, hot, blob, clock, tap (review word), set (review word), gtop (pseudoword), vlob (pseudoword); copy of decodable text Doc in the Fog; assessment worksheet [URL below].

Procedures:

1. Teacher says: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned about /a/ as in map, /e/ as in leg, and /i/ as in tip, and today we are going to learn about short o. When I say /o/ I think of Pooh Bear putting his hand over his mouth yawning saying, “Ahhh, Poor Bear is still tired!” [Show yawning Pooh Bear image and demonstrate.]

2. Teacher says: Before we learn about the spelling of /o/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /o/ in words, I hear o say “ahhh” and my mouth makes a big o shape like this. [Demonstrate mouth shape.] Now can everyone make a big o shape with your mouth? Good! Now that we know what sound o makes and the shape our mouths make when we say /o/, we will be able to recognize /o/ in words easier. I’ll show you first and then you will get some practice. Let’s use the word jog. Jooog I heard ahh in jog and I felt my mouth make a big o shape [Make a circle motion around lips]. There is a short o in jog. Now I’m going to see if short o is in note. Nooote. I didn’t hear /o/ in note and my mouth didn’t make a big o shape. There is no /o/ in note. Now you try. If you hear /o/ put your hand over your mouth like you are yawning. If you don’t hear /o/ shake your index finger. Do you hear /o/ in spot, send, flag, box, hill, clock? [Have students make a circle motion around their big o shaped lips when they feel /o/ say ”ahh”.]

3. Teacher says: Now let’s look at the spelling of /o/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /o/ is with the letter o. [Write o on the board.] What if I wanted to spell the word frog? “The frog sat on the lily pad.” To spell frog in the letterboxes, I need to know how many phonemes, or sounds, it has. To do this, I need to stretch out the word and count what I hear: /f/ /r/ /o/ /g/. How many sounds did you hear? That’s right! I heard four sounds, so we need four boxes. [Project letterboxes on the board.] I heard /o/ just before the /g/ so I’m going to put an o in the third box. The word starts with /f/, so I need to put f in first box. The next sound I hear is /r/ so I need to put the r in the second letterbox. The last sound I hear is /g/, so g goes in the fourth, last, box. Now let’s sound out each letter in the boxes and blend them together to see if we spelled frog correctly: /f/ /r/ /o/ /g/, frog! [Point to each letter in boxes when stretching out and blending the word.]

f r o g

4. Teacher says: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in the letterboxes. I will say the word and use it in a sentence. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for odd. Odd means unexpected in this sentence. “John saw something odd.” Odd. What should go in the first letter box? That’s correct, o goes in the first letter box! What goes in the second letter box? Dd goes in the second letter box because together they make one sound. I am going to walk around the room and check your spelling. [Observe progress.] You’ll need three letterboxes for next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box then listen for /o/. The word you are going to spell is mop. “I have to mop the floor when I get home today.” Mop. [Allow students to spell words.] Now let’s check your work. Everyone look at the board and watch how I spell mop in my letterboxes: m – o – p and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Your next word is hot. Hot uses three letterboxes. “It is a hot, sunny day.” Hot. [Allow students to spell word.] Does anyone want to come up and spell hot in the letterboxes on the board? [Have students volunteer to spell it on the letterboxes on the board for students to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Now let’s try a word with four phonemes! Your word is blob. Blob means a small drop of something thick. “I spilled a blob of toothpaste on my shirt.” Blob. [Volunteer spells it on the board.] Your next word still has four phonemes. The word is clock; “What time does the clock say?” Clock. This word is a little tricky. [Allow students to spell words.] Now let’s check your work. Watch how I spell clock in my letterboxes: c - l - o – ck. Be careful with ck; ck makes one sound so it goes in the same box.

5. Teacher says: Now I’m 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 clock on the top and model reading the word.] I’m going to use my cover-up critter to get the first part. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /c//l/ = /cl/. Now I’m going to blend that with /o/ = /clo/. Now all I need is the end, /ck/ = /clock/. Clock. The word is clock! Now it is your turn. Let’s read together. [Have students read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]

6. Teacher says: You’ve done a great job reading words with /o/. Now we are going to read a book called Doc in the Fog. Doc is a wizard who has a big hat and a magic wand. Doc loves changing items into new things. Doc starts out with a mop then zots it into a doll. Will Doc use his magic so much that he ends up with a problem or does Doc know how to control his magic? You will have to read to find out! Let’s pair up and take turns reading Doc in the Fog to find out what happens. [Students 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 Doc in the Fog aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]

7. Teacher says: That was good story. What happened to Doc? That’s right, the fog got him. [Pass out assessment worksheet.] Before we finish up with our lesson on /o/, I want to you to complete this worksheet. You are going to match the word with the picture it corresponds with. Once you are finished, turn your worksheet into me. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

References:

Yawning Pooh Bear: http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/pooh-yawn-55542313

Connally Harbarger, Ahhhhhh Said the Tired Girl: https://sites.google.com/site/msharbargersreadinglesson/home/ahhhh-said-the-tired-boy

Michele Czark, “Open up and Say AHH”:

http://mlc0039.wixsite.com/reading-designs/contact

Book:

Short Vowel Phonics Readers: Doc in the Fog by Sheila Cushman

Cushman, Sheila, and Patti Briles. Doc in the Fog. Dominguez, CA: Educational Insights, 1990. Print.

Assessment worksheet: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/alphabet/matchwordsandpix/shorto/

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