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"Ooo, Ahh." Short Vowel O

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Annie Sedgwick

Rationale: 

This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence o= /o/. 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 o. They will learn a meaningful representation (the saying “ahhhh” when they found something amusing),they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence o= /o/.

 

Materials: 

Graphic image of the Toy Story aliens; whiteboard or smartboard, Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin boxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: e,c, d, k, n, o, p, r, s,t,l; list of spelling words on poster or white board to read: frost, sock, pop, rag, log, mom, spot, on, and frog, Pseudowords: trost and kot; decodable text: Mom and I at the Doc by: Sophie Taylor, and 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’ve learned the short vowels a=/a/, like the word cat, and e=/e/ like the word pet, and i=/i/, like big. Today we are going to learn o=/o/ like in the word dog. When I say “ahh”  I think of a funny little alien toy saying “Ooooo, Ahhhh!” [show graphic image]. When you see something cool do you say “Oooooo, Ahhhhhh?”

 

2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /o/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /o/ in words, I hear o say “ahhh”  and my mouth is open wide like this. [Make a vocal gesture for /o/.] Let’s listen to some words: First let’s listen to pot I heard o say “ahhh” and I felt my mouth open wide. [open mouth and make the ahh sound]. There is a short vowel sound o=/o/ in pot. Now we are going to see if it’s in rope . Hmm, I didn’t hear o say “ahh '' and my mouth did not open wide.. Now you try. If you hear /o/ say, “Ooooo, Ahhhhh'' If you don’t hear /o/say, “That’s not it.” Is it in frost, sock, pop, rag, log, mom spot, on, frog? [ Go through each word and have the students determine if they hear the /o/]

 

3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /o/ that we’ll learn today. To spell /o/ you just need to write the letter o. [Write o on the board.] What if I want to spell the word mom? To spell mom in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /m//o//m/. I need 3 boxes. The word starts with /m/, that’s easy; I need a m. I heard that /o/ just after the /m/ so I’m going to put an o in the 2nd box.  What do we hear at the end of the word /m/ /o/ /m/? I think I heard /m/ again so I’ll put a m at the end. Now all of my boxes are filled correctly!

 

4.Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for on. “Please turn on the light.” 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 that goes in the first box. Then listen for /o/. Here’s the word: pop.  [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: p –o –p and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: log; The frog sat on the log. [Have a student spell it in the letterbox on the front board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Next word. Listen to see if this word has /o/ in it before you spell it: rag; can you grab a rag. Did you hear the “ahhh” sound? Why not? Right, because we don’t use the short vowel /o/ . We spell it with our short vowel a. [ask a student to spell it on the front board.] Now let’s try 4 phonemes: spot; the spot was red on the paper. Let’s do one more then we can stop spelling, and this time you need five boxes: frost; There was frost on the ground. Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word. /f/ /r/ /o/ /s/ /t/. Let's try to read some other words. Have the students read and do letter boxes with trost, and kot, 

 

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 the tough word.[Display poster with frost on the top and model reading the word.] First First I see there’s an o in the middle of the word. It must say /o/. I’m going to use a cover-up to get the first part. (uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel). /f/     /f//r/     /f//r//o/. The end has an s /s/ and a t /t/ so the word is /f//r//o//s//t/ frost right! Let’s try the other words.  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 spelling for /o/. Now we are going to read a book called Mom and I at the Doc. This book is about a little girl that goes to the doctor with her mom. She is scared to get a shot. What do you think is going to happen? Let’s read the story and find out. 

7. Say: No that we have finished reading we are going to do a worksheet. On this worksheet, we have some pictures. Your job is to look at the picture choices, and decide which ones have the /o/ sound. Then next to those pictures I want you to try to spell the word. Reread your answers to see if the words you wrote have the “ahhh” sound. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

 

Resources: 

Examples:

“Oh, I Didn’t Know!” By: Geri Murray

https://auburn.instructure.com/courses/1321122/files/171664641/download?wrap=1

“The Dentist Makes You Say Ahh” By: Emily Anne Beauchaine

https://emilyannebeau123.wixsite.com/teachingfluency/beginning-reading

 

Worksheet:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_E0fDKYLQKALXFaSzBneTRjQnc/view

"Mom and I at the Doc" by Sophie Taylor

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