"Uhhh, I dunno?!?"
A Beginning Reading Lesson Design
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence u = /u/. In order to be able to read, 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 u. They will learn meaningful representation (confused girl saying “Uhhh, I dunno?!?”), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox Lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence u = /u/.
Materials: image of confused girl; whiteboard; Elkonin boxes for teacher and each student; letter manipulatives for teacher and each student (letters: m, u, d, p, n, s, t, m, p, h, n, c, h); list of spelling words (mud, pun, stump, hunch); decodable text: Bud the Sub; assessment worksheet
Procedures:
1. Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned to read short vowel words with a, like cat, e , like bed, i, like stick, and today we are going to learn about short U and how it says /u/. When I say /u/ I think of a funny little confused girl saying “Uhh, I dunno?!?” [show graphic image]
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /u/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /u/ in words, I hear u and says its name /u/ and my mouth is open and my tongue is down. [Make vocal gesture for /u/.] I’ll show you first: club. Now I’m going to see if it’s in rule. Hmm, I didn’t hear u say it’s name and my mouth wasn’t open with my tongue down. Now you try. If you hear /u/ say “Uhhh, I dunno?!?.” If you don’t hear /u/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in cluck, moo, jump, stand, thrust, blunt, sharp?
3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /u/ that we’ll learn today. We spell /u/ with the letter u. [Write u on the board.] What if I want to spell the word gum? “Chewing gum is only a nickel.” Gum is candy that you chew in this sentence. To spell gum in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /g/ /u/ /m/. I need 3 boxes. I head that /u/ just before the /m/ so I’m going to put a u in the 2nd box. The word starts with /g/, that’s easy – I need a g. Now I have /g/ /u/ and I just need /m/ so I’ll put an m in the 3rd box. Now we have /g/ /u/ /m/ for gum.
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some word in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with mud. “After it rained, the ground was covered in mud.” [Guide students in spelling out words in letterboxes.] Words: mud, pun, stump, hunch (letters: m, u, d, p, n, s, t, m, p, h, n, c, h)
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled. Remember u says “Uhhh, I dunno?!?”. 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’ve done a great job spelling and reading words with our new correspondence /u/. Now we are going to read a book called Bud the Sub. Bud is a sub whose boss’s name is Gus. Bud and Gus are out one day and see a tug that has hit some rocks! Will Bud be able to save the tug boat? Let’s pair up and take turn reading Bud the Sub to find out what happens. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class reads Bud the Sub aloud together, and stops between pages to discuss the plot.]
7. Say: That was an exciting story. Before we finish up with our lesson about how u = /u/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. Read all the words in each box and decide which word with the short /u/ sound fits the picture. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
Resources:
Cushman, S. (1990) Bud the sub. Educational Insights. Carson, CA.
Assessment worksheet: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/letters/shortu.shtml
