Phonics Lesson: welded -all and bonus letters (s,f,l)

I started a new practicum and am now responsible for teaching phonics to three different groups of kindergartners. In our school, we use the two reading programs for K and 1st: Fundations and Lively Letters. These programs guide our whole and small group instruction. Below is a lesson plan I created that focuses on students practicing the welded sound –all and words that incorporate the bonus letters: s, f, and l.   As you will read, the lesson is extremely detailed and incorporates three different activities that allow students to practice these skills.  Throughout the lesson, I continually describe how I am checking for student understanding and emphasize the different modifications I made to adjust to students’ needs. At the bottom of this lesson, I included pictures of the games I created.

Lesson Title: Fundations-a focus on the Welded Sound -all and Words that use the Bonus Letter Rules

Essential Understanding: Students will practice reading words with the welded sound –all and words that incorporate the bonus letters: s, f, and l.

Student Learning Objective(s):

-Students will be able to identify words that use the bonus letter rule (f, l, s) in every activity listed below.

-Students will be able to recognize words that have the welded sound –all in the Don’t’ Get Buzz Game, Popcorn Game, and “The Big Mess” reading.

-Students will be able to read words with the welded sound –all and words that use the bonus letters: f, l, and s.

Materials necessary for today’s lesson:

For Students For Teacher
Pencils Fundation Cards (set), Popcorn game with sentence strips, Don’t Get Stung game with popsicle stick words, The Big Mess Reading

Academic Vocabulary:

-Bonus Letters: added to the end of the word that ends in f, l, and s when the vowel is short

-Welded Sound/Glued: All, is not one sound, it is two. The second l is silent.

THE LEARNING ACTIVITY

Motivational and Review Procedures (the “hook”): 

1. Review of Fundation Cards (3 to 4 minutes)

  • Familiar activity to students
  • Teacher shows cards, all students respond with the appropriate sound

Procedures to Accomplish Objectives:

  1. Say words with Fundation Cards (3 to 4 minutes)
  • Create groups with the cards (vowels in the middle, bonus letters to the side)
  • Have student read both real and nonsense words
  • Create opportunities for students to add the bonus letter
  • Some words include: mes (s), ful (l), mis (s), Jef (f), les(s), pas (s), shel (l)
  1. Don’t Get Stung (6-7 minutes)
  • Game where students pick popsicle sticks out of a container that is labeled “Don’t get stung”
  • The point of the game is for students to read the words on the stick
  • If they get the word correct, students keep the stick
  • If students pick out the stick with the bee, all students must put back their sticks in the container
  • If students pick out the fly repellent, students can use it as a “save” if they were to pick the bee stick
  • Words this week focus on the welded sound: all, and words that get a bonus letter
  • Words include: mall, puff, mill, tall, fuss, Bess, puff, Jeff, fell, huff, shell, wall, ball, mess, cuff, Bill, hill, chill, yell, miss, Jill, pass, less
  1. Popcorn Game (7-8 minutes)
  • Sentences are written on yellow pipe cleaners with popcorn pictures on top
  • Students pick a popcorn out of the popcorn container and read the sentence
  • Trick words are written in read, and regular words are written in black
  • Sentences used: 1. Did Dad yell at Tom? 2. I fell on the path. 3. This hall is a mess. 4. I got a chill in the tub. 5. The duck will quack at Bill. 6. Toss the ball to Kim. 7. Tim will fill the dish with fish. 8. Bess will go to the mall.
  • Ask students to read the sentence and then check for understanding by asking a follow up question related to the sentence meaning
  • To acknowledge the bonus letters or welded sound (particular focus of the Fundations unit), teachers can underline or highlight this part of the word. In this unit, I did not.
  1. The Big Mess Reading (6-7 minutes)
  • The hall was a big mess! “What a mess!” said Mom. “Pick this up.” Jill and Bill did the big job. Did they fuss? They did not fuss at all.
  • Students will read the text by themselves
  • Then we will read the text as a group
  • Students will be asked to mark up the text (Put a star over the bonus letters and put a box around the welded sound –all)

 Closing Procedures: 

How do we know when a word needs a bonus letter? Why do we need to pay careful attention to trick words?

Summary Statement:  Wrap Up 

Today we practiced reading words with the welded sound –all and words that use the bonus letter rule (f, l, and s). We will continue to identify words with these components in texts we read together.

Framework Standard(s):

MA.2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

  • Recognize and produce rhyming words.
  • Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
  • Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
  • Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.* (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
  • Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

MA.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

  • Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
  • Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
  • Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
  • Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.

MA.4. Fluency (The Big Mess Story and the Sentence Strips in the Popcorn Game)

  • Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.

Teaching Techniques:

Direct Instruction: Help with tapping out the words and reading words, Help with attention and having students get back on task

Collaborative: Popcorn Game, Don’t Get Stung Game, Review of Fundation Cards, Reading “The Big Mess” together as a group

Learning Considerations:

Improving access to learning for all students (Hint: Consider UDL Principles) Associated Accommodations(s)/Modification(s)(Supports and Challenges)
Multiple Means of Representation

  1. Visual: Fundation Cards, Popcorn strips, Words on Popsicle Sticks
  2. Auditory: saying the sounds and words
  3. Kinesthetic: circling & underlining components in word, tapping out the sounds

 Multiple Means of Expression

  1. Visual: underlining, writing, circling, highlighting bonus letters and words with the welded sound
  2. Auditory: saying the word and sentence out loud
  3. Kinesthetic-circling, underlining, tapping out word

Multiple Means of Engagement

  1. Students play games that practice their word reading.
  2. Students work with partners and in small groups
  3. Students have their own material
  4. Students play a variety of activities that focus on word reading

1-2 most important factors for improving access to learning for all students

Consider UDL and academic vocabulary

  1. Explicit review and practice with the welded sound –all, and use of the bonus letters (f, l, s). Students will be given many opportunities to mark up the text and to highlight words that use these two rules.
  2. Students will be given their own popsicle sticks, and sentence strips, as well as their own story to highlight. In addition, students will be able to manipulative Fundation cards at the beginning to add the bonus letter to words created by the teacher.

Modifications for students who need additional support:

A. Content:

  1. Help individual students sound out the word
  2. Ask guiding questions (what sound to hear you at the beginning of the word (________)
  3. Repeat the word
  4. Slow down and emphasize certain parts of the word (whether the beginning, middle, or end)
  5. Assist student in tapping out words
  6. Model when needed

B. Behavior:

  1. Help the student regain focus by calling them back to the activity
  2. Give clear directions and written directions/visual pictures if necessary
  3. Remind students of expectations for behavior (feet on the ground, in chair, head up, good attitude, staying on task)
  4. Create a reward system
  5. Encourage good behavior by praising child using their name and specifically saying how they are doing well
  6. Provide clear and short directions for students before and leaving the table and returning to group (Go back to your class quietly and slowly)
  7. Have each student repeat directions before returning back to group
  8. Tell each student what he or she is doing well

C. For students who need to be challenged:

  1. Students will read more words in a sentence
  2. Students can create words that use the welded sound
  3. Students can create words that use the bonus letter rule.

 

EVALUATION- The Assessment Plan:

I will assess student understanding….
Formative  During the lesson plan by:

  • Are students able to identify the beginning sound?-Are students able to identify the middle sound?
  • Are students able to identify the ending sound?
  • Are students able to match the appropriate sound with a letter/symbol?
  • Are students able to sweep their hand under the individual sounds and say the sounds all together to form a real/nonsense word?
  • Are students able to read word on popsicle stick?
  • Are students able to read sentence on popcorn strip?
  • Can students understand the meaning of the sentence?
Summative   At the end of the learning opportunity by:

  • Can students read the story “The Big Mess” as a group and box the welded sounds and put a star above the bonus letter words?

 

The c/k spelling rule

I learned a great spelling trick today about c/k rule. The rules is as follows: k takes and e while c takes the other three vowels: aou.

spelling rules, spelling tips, c/k rule, teacher spelling tips

To help students remember, point out that the k, which is made with a straight line, goes with the two vowels made with a straight line: i and e. As the document shows above, a triangle (a shape made with straight lines) surrounds  the three straight-made letters to reinforce this concept. When introducing the c rule, show students how c is made with a curved line. Allow students to trace their finger around the curve. Then show the three vowels: a, o, and u. Point out how these letters are all curved as well. Have students draw a circle around the three letters to reinforce that c, a curved letter, takes the other three curved letters: a, o, and u. Tricks like these are helpful for students who have trouble memorizing basic spelling rules and facts.

 

A Shared Vision of Access

The president of my school, Dr. Michael Lindsay, recently wrote an article for the Huffington Post commenting on The Accessible Icon Project and Beyond Disabilities Week, the focus week I hosted at my college. He explained his understanding of  “shared vision” and wrote how Gordon College  from its beginning has always been a place that valued access and opportunity.

The recent focus week has generated a lot of conversation that concentrates on how society views individuals with disabilities. These conversations, which have been informally held in the cafeteria and dorm rooms, have also taken an academic approach through various research papers presented in class. Many professors have also started hosting conversations in their classrooms and have been assigning reading materials that get students to think about access, ability, and disability within the context of education and society.

Please join the conversation by reading my President’s article here: A Shared Vision of Access.