The Creaky Door Says Ehh
Lesson for Partial Alphabetic Readers
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence e=/e/. 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 the spellings that map word pronunciations. In this lesson children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the letter sound e. They will learn a meaningful representation (creaky door says “ehhh”), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence e=/e/.
Materials: Graphic image of creaky-looking door; cover-up critter; white board or smart board; letterboxes for modeling and individual letterboxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smart board letters for teacher: r, e, d, n, t, b, s, e, k, p; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: red, net, best, see, kept; decodable text Elf in the Tent; 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. Today we are going to learn about short e, and how to recognize when a word says /e/ instead of /E/. When I say /e/ I think of a scary, creaky door making a noise that sounds like, “Ehhhhhh” when I open it [show graphic image and hand gesture that goes along with the sound]. Let’s say a tongue tickler together to help us say that /e/ sound: Ellen met Meg on the jet at eleven. Let’s stretch it out to listen for /e/: Eeeeeeelleeeeen meeeeeeeet Meeeeeeg on the jeeeeeeeet at eeeeeeleeeeeeveeeeen. I heard that /e/!
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /e/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /e/ in words, I think about a creaky door and my jaw and tongue move downwards just a little bit while I say /e/. [Make a vocal gesture for /e/.] I’ll show you first: bet. I heard /e/ and felt my jaw and tongue press down just a little bit [place a flat hand underneath chin and indicate the jaw touching down on hand when sounding /e/]. There is a short e in bet. Now, I’m going to see if it’s in me. Hmm, I didn’t hear the /e/ sound and my jaw and tongue weren’t down when I sounded out that E. Now you try. If you hear /e/ say, “Ehhh” and creak like a scary, creaky door. If you don’t hear /e/, say, “That’s not it.” Is it in keep, let, brave, web, beg, rag? [Have children open their creaky door when they hear /e/].
3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /e/ that we’ll learn today. Any time e is by itself with no a after it or another e after it, the e will say /e/. What if I want to spell the word red? “This apple looks so shiny and red.” Red is describing the color of the apple in this sentence. To spell red in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word, so I stretch it out and count: /r//e//d/. I need 3 boxes. I heard that /e/ just before the /d/ so I’m going to put an e in the 2nd box. The word starts with /r/, so I will put that in the first letterbox. Since I heard /d/ at the end, I’ll put d in the third letterbox. I’m going to say it slowly one more time to make sure I caught all of my letters and sounds, /r//e//d/. I did!
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with 3 boxes for net. A net is something you can catch fish or other things with, “I threw my net out into the water and caught four fish!” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? And the third? For the next word, we are going to try a 4 phoneme word, so you will need 4 letterboxes. Listen carefully for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Remember, we are separating the word into boxes by phonemes, so there can be more than one letter in each box. We are looking for the sounds made when we say the word. Here’s the word: best, I think the best kind of ice cream is chocolate; best. [Allow children to spell words]. Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it on my letterboxes on the board: b-e-s-t and see if you spelled it the same way. Next word- listen to see if this word has /e/ in it before you spell it: see; I do not see her in the crowd. Did you hear short e? What did you hear? When there is another e next to our first e, it makes the vowel say its name. What we hear in see is a long E. Now let’s try another 4 phoneme word: kept; I kept the letter that my father wrote me long ago. Remember to stretch the word out. /k//e//p//t/- put the letters in the box where you hear them.
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 tough word. [Display poster with swept on the top and model reading the word.] A sentence using this word might sound like, “I saw that the kitchen was dirty, so I swept the dirt off the floor.” First, I see that e is not accompanied by a or another e. That means the E will say /e/. 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.] /s//w/= /sw/. Now I’m going to blend that with /e/=/swe/. Next I will add the /p/ sound, and I’ll blend the whole first part together: /swep/. Now all I need is the end, /t/= /swept/. Swept; 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’ve done a great job reading words with our spelling for e=/e/. Now we are going to read a book called Elf in the Tent. This is a story of Jan and her father finding a surprising visitor in their tent when they go on a campout. We’ll have to see who that visitor is and what happens. Let’s pair up and take turns reading Elf in the Tent to find out what happens. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads the story together aloud, and stops between pages to discuss the plot.]
7. Say: That was a fun story. Why did Jan’s elf go back into the tent? Yes, because he was wet and wanted to dry off. How did Jan feel when she found her elf in the tent? Yes, she was glad! Before we finish up with our lesson about the spelling of /e/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some scrambled letters. Your job is to look at the scrambled letters and decide which order the letters should go in to spell the word the picture is showing. First try reading over all of the letters in the box, and then choose the word that fits the picture best in the space. Next, you can decide what the world should be and write the correct order of letters below the scrambled order. Afterwards, write your word on the dotted lines next to it. Check your answers to see if they make sense with the picture provided. All of your letters that you order to form the words should connect to form the answer. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
Resources:
Murray, G. (2007) Elf in the Tent.
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/bookindex.html
Assessment worksheet:
http://funfonix.com/worksheets/buildaword_shortvowels1.php
The Short Baby Cries W/a/! by Allie Mosher - found on the Reading Genie:
https://sites.google.com/site/alliesreadingpage/home/the-short-baby-cries-w-a-h
