Say “Ahhhhh”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rationale: This lesson is designed to teach children the short vowel correspondence o=/o/. In order to be able to read, children must learn to recognize spellings that map our word pronunciations. In this lesson, children will recognize, spell, and read words with o=/o/. Children will learn a meaningful representation to help them understand o=/o/. The meaningful representation will include a picture or visual cue of a child saying “ahhh” as a doctor checks him out. Children will also spell and read words during a letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book focusing on the correspondence, o=/o/.

 

Materials: picture of a child saying “ahhh” at the doctor’s office; Elkonin letterboxes for each student and teacher; letterbox tiles containing the letters: o, n, p, t, b, a, r, c, k, s, e, f, g; a list of the words: on, pot, bok, bat, set, rock, soft, frog, and frost; the decodable book: In the Big Top; coverup critter; and an assessment sheet.

 

Procedures:

• Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned a few of the short vowels and the sounds they make like a=/a/, e=/e/, and i=/i/. Well today we are going to learn about the letter o and the sound that it makes /o/. When I say /o/, I want you to pretend you are at the doctor, and he needs to check out your throat. So you say “ahhh.” Show the graphic image and demonstrate.

 

• Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /o/, we need to listen to it in some words. When I listen for /o/ in words, I hear the patient at the doctor say “ahhh” and my mouth opens like I’m yawning. (Make the vocal gesture for/o/) Now we are going to practice listening to see if we hear the short o in some words. First, I will show you. I know that there is a short o in hop. Hoooop. Yes! I heard the patient at the doctor say “ahhh.” Now I’m going to see if it’s in soap. Hmm, I didn’t hear the patient say “ahhh,” and my mouth was shaped like an O. Now you try. If you hear /o/ say, “ahhh” like the doctor is checking your throat. If you don’t hear /o/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in frog, snake, hot, warm, dog, cat?

 

• Say: Now we are going to look at the spelling of /o/. We spell /o/ with the letter o. What if I want to spell the word frost. “There was a lot of frost on the ground this morning.” To spell frost in letterboxes, I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word. Phonemes are the number of sounds in the word. So I am going to stretch it out and count: /f/ /r/ /o/ /s/ /t/. I need 5 boxes. I heard that /o/ just before the /s/ so I’m going to put an o in the 3rd box. The word starts with /f/, that’s easy; I need an f. Next I hear /r/. Oh that’s an r so I put it in the 2nd box. Now I just need the last two boxes. Hmmm: /f/ /r/ /o/ /s/ /t/. Oh I hear a slithering snake so I know I need an s. Finally, What’s the last sound? /t/. Good, I know that’s a t. Great! Now we have spelled frost.

 

• Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for on. “I turned the light on.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] Now, you’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for /o/ like the patient at the doctor’s office. Here’s the word: pot. “I planted a flower in the pot.” Pot. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: p – o – t and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. [Allow children to spell remaining words, giving sentences for each word: bat, set, rock, soft, frog, and frost.] 

 

• Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled. First, I am going to show you how I would read one of these words. (Show frost on the board) I am going to take my coverup critter and coverup all the letters except the first letter, f. I know f=/f/. Then I uncover the second letter r. So I have /f/ /r/. Now, I move my cover up critter to show the third letter, o. I know that o=/o/ like the patient at the doctor.  Now, I move my critter to show one more letter, s. Oh, I hear /s/ like a slithering snake. Finally, I move my cover up critter to reveal the entire word. I see t and know that t=/t/. Now, I am going to blend all of my sounds together /f//r/o/s/ /t/.  Frost.  The word is frost!  [Show the words: on, pot, bok, bat, set, rock, soft, frog, and frost, and the pseudoword bok. Have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]

 

• Say: You’ve done a such great job of reading words with our new spelling for /o/: o. Now we are going to read a book called In the Big Top. This story is about a family of six who is heading to the circus, but first they have to figure out how they are going to all fit in their car to get there. Each of them has something they are bringing with them, too. Will they all fit in the car and make it to the circus in time for the show? Let’s pair up and take turns reading In the Big Top to find out if they make it in time. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages while the teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads In the Big Top aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]

 

• Say: That was a fun story. Did you think they were going to make it in time? Before we finish up with our lesson about o=/o/, I want you to complete this worksheet. On this worksheet, read each word, and color only the words that contain the short o. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

 

Resources:

Assessment: http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics/printables/mysterypicture-short-o-sock.pdf

 

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

 

In the Big Top. Phonics Readers-Short Vowel-Short o

 

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