Liz is Six
Rationale: Students have to become familiar with the phoneme and shape of each letter to be able to become fluent reader. Students need to learn to understand the alphabetic code by decoding and blending the letters they see in written words. It is important for students to understand that each grapheme (written letter) has a phoneme (sound that is vocalized). In this lesson, students will learn the short vowel correspondence i=/i/. They will learn this correspondence through a tongue twister, group letter box lesson, decodable book, and a gesture.
-White board and marker
-Poster with tongue tickler: The iguana inched inside the igloo
-Poster with icky sticky picture
-Primary writing paper
-Assessment: 81/2 x 11 sheet with picture illustrating correspondence i=/i/
-Cards for read-aloud words: sit, dish, hit, pick, dip
-Letterboxes (one set for each student)
-Letterbox word list: [3-dip, hit, pin] [4- spit, list, swim, gift, trip, mist, flip, slick, swim].
-Letter tiles: [b,c,d,f,g,h,I,k,l,m,n,p,r,s,t]
-Liz is Six. Educational Insights, c 1990.
Today we are going to learn about the letter I and the sound it makes. The letter I makes the sound ihhhh (/i/). Practice that sound with me…
Here is a picture of what that sound reminds me of. [show Icky sticky picture, linked below] It reminds me of when I got something sticky on my hands and when I was shaking them off I said ihhh. Lets try the sound one more time and lets use the hand motion. [hold your hands like you were shaking something off of them]
[Display Tongue twister] Now class I am going to tell you a funny sentence that can help us remember the sound I makes. I'll say it first: The iguana inched inside the igloo. Now I am going to say it very slowly and I want you to listen for the ihhh (/i/) sound: the iiiiiguana iiiinched iiiiiinside the iiiiiigloo. Could you hear the ihh sounds that time? Now, say it with me slowly and when you hear the ihhh sound make your hands icky sticky. [all together] The iiiiiguana iiiinched iiiiiinside the iiiiiigloo. Let's say it again but this time let's break off the ihhh sound in each of these words: The /i/-guana /i/-nched /i/-nside the /i/-gloo. Very good!
Now, I need you to listen very closely! I am going to say a pair of words and I want you to tell me which word has the /i/ in it: twig or trunk? snake or sink? dig or shovel? pick or pack? six or three? Very good! You all are great listeners!
Now everyone needs to get their letterboxes and tiles out. Our first word is going to be him. It will need three boxes. I am going to show you how to do this one. The first sound I hear is /h/ so I am going to put h in the first box. Can everyone see that? (Walk around and show the children your letterbox and check theirs). The second sound I hear is /i/ so what letter do you think we should put there? That's right! We put i in the second box. Lastly, I hear the /m/ sound so I will put m in the last box. Can everyone see that? Now I want everyone to practice doing what I just did. I will tell you how many letterboxes you will need for each word. I will walk around helping you. (The students will spell: [3-dip, hit, pin] [4- spit, list, swim, gift, trip, mist, flip, slick, swim]. I will model and help as needed.
After they have spelled the words I will write the words on the board and have the class read them aloud as a group. Words: [him, dip, spit, list, trip, gift, slick, flip, mist, swim.
To get some practice with reading the short vowel I, we are going to read Liz is Six. I will introduce the book to students by saying: Liz turns six years old. She gets a really cool gift. Read and find out what gift Liz gets for her birthday. The students will partner up and read the book to their partner. Each student will get a chance to read aloud to their partner. I will be walking around to make sure students stay on task.
Assessment: I will be assessing students informally throughout the lesson by observing their responses. For a formal assessment I will give students a coloring sheet and they will color only the pictures whose names have i=/i/ in them. The sheet will consist of pictures of a stick, umbrella, bowling pin, gift, apple, and an igloo. Students should color all the images except for the umbrella and apple.
Cushman, Sheila. Liz is Six. Educational Insights. Carson, CA: 1990.Barrett, Lindsay. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/realizations/barrettbr.htm