The Crying Baby Says "Aaaa"
Sarah Allaway
Rationale: This lesson will focus on a = /a/. Children need a lot of explicit and systematic phonics instruction in order to be able to read. Beginning readers need to know that words are made up of sounds. They also need to know which letters make each sound. Because all words contain vowels, it is best to start by teaching vowels first. Short vowels should be taught before long vowels because they are most commonly found in words with only one vowel. In this lesson students will review the short /a/ sound, and then the students will practice spelling and reading words with the /a/ sound. They will practice spelling and reading words containing /a/ in a letterbox lesson and reading a decodable book.
Materials:
Class set of letterboxes
Class set of letter manipulatives
Overhead letterboxes and letter manipulatives (a, t, g, l, p, f, h, n, d, c, r, s, m, k)
Class set of “Pat’s Jam" Cushman, Sheila. 1990
Cover up critter
Large picture of a crying baby to show the class
Flash cards with words containing /a/ and some that do not. (at, cat, tap, slap, glad, pal, crash, mask, drag, scamp)
Worksheet
Procedure:
1. Say: “In order to become great readers, we first need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. Today we are going to be learning about the short vowel A and the sound that it makes. Every time you see an /a/ in a word, you will make the sound of a crying baby. Now I want everyone to make the sound of a crying baby, aaaaaa! When I say /a/ I think of a crying baby (show graphic image).”
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /a/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /a/ in words, I hear a say its name /a/ and my jaw drops and my tongue is down. [Make vocal gesture for /a/.] I’ll show you first: glad. I heard a say its name and I felt my jaw drop and my tongue go down. There is a short a in glad. Now I’m going to see if it’s in seat. Hmm, I didn’t hear a say its name and my jaw didn’t drop. Now you try. If you hear /a/ say, “I hear the crying baby.” If you don’t hear /a/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in tap, pat, knee, spot, pal, crash? [Have children make their jaws drop when they feel /a/ say its name.]
3. Say: Now we are going to look at some words we are going to spell today. What if I want to spell the word jam? “I want strawberry jam on my sandwich.” Jam is a condiment in this sentence. To spell path in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /p//a//th//. I need 3 boxes. I heard that /a/ just before the /th/ so I’m going to put the letter a in the 2nd box. The word starts with /p/, that’s easy; I need a p. Now I’ll show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with slash on the top and model reading the word.] I’m going to start with the a; that part says /a/. Now I’m going to put the beginning letters with it: s-l-a, /sla/. Now I’ll put that chunk together with the last sound, /sla-sh/. Oh, slash like “I slash my tires”.
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for at. Like, “I was at the game yesterday”. 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.] You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound to spell in the first box. Then listen for /a/. Here’s the word: chat, I like to chat with my friends at school; chat. [Allow children to spell remaining words: cat, slash, chat, crash, mask, drag, scamp].
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I’ll show you how I would read a difficult word. [Display poster with crash on the top and model the reading word.] First, I see there is a sh on then end. That lets me know that I put those letters in one box because they make one sound. Then, there is my vowel a. It must say a=/a/. I’m going to use a cover-up critter to get the first part of the word. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /c//r/=/cr/. Now I’m going to blend that with /a/=/cra/. Now all I need is the end, /sh/=/crash/. Crash; that’s it! Now it’s your turn, everyone together. [Have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]
6. Say: “You have done a great job with our new vowel. Now will everyone please take the book Pat’s Jam. Pat and her friend go to the store and when they try to drive away, their van doesn’t work! Let’s read to find out what happens. Get into small groups and read the book aloud. Students can assess each other by grading each other on reading speed, expression, and knowing more words. Remember to you can use your cover up critter if you are struggling with a word.
7. To assess, I will listen to everyone in the class read. I will call them up individually to my desk and have them read 1-2 pages of Pat’s Jam. While listening, I will make individual miscues for the students. The other students will do a worksheet while their peers are reading out loud so I can make sure they all have a great understanding of a=/a/. They must turn the worksheet into me before they leave class, so I can fully know they understand a=/a/ before they leave class that day.
Resources:
Murray Panompto Recording: Directions BR Design:
https://auburn.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=a900376b-beae-4d9f-980d-c19cb326caf1
Cushman, Sheila, and Patti Briles. Pat's Jam. Dominguez Hills, CA.: Educational Insights, 1990. Print
Kelly Kerr: “A Crying Baby Says aaaaa”
http://klk0024.wixsite.com/design/copy-of-emergent-literacy-design
Sami Moccia: “A Crying Baby Says, Aaaaa!”
http://samimoccia.wixsite.com/samimoccia/beginning-reading
Assessment:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Short-a-Worksheet-1414920
Horizons:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/horizons.html
