Rationale:

This lesson will help students learn and recognize the short vowel correspondence o=/o/. If students are not able to recognize this correspondence, they will not be able to read certain words correctly. In order to read, students need to be able to learn how to recognize spellings that map out word pronunciations. In this lesson, children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the o=/o/ correspondence. They will learn a meaningful representation of the correspondence (a child opening their mouth wide while at the doctor’s office and saying “Ahh”), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox Lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the o=/o/ correspondence.

 

Materials:

1. Graphic image of a child at the Doctor’s office with his or her mouth open saying “ah”

2. White board/Smart board for modeling Letterbox Lesson

3. Cover-up Critter

4. Elkonin letter boxes for modeling (Teacher’s)

5. Individual Elkonin letter boxes for each student

6. Letter manipulatives for each student: b, c, f, g, h, k, l, n, o, p, r, s, s, t, a, e, i

7. Magnetic or Smart board letters for teacher: b, c, f, g, h, k, l, n, o, p, r, s, s, t, a, e, i

8. List of spelling words on poster to read: on, cob, not, shop, frog, block, cross, frost, strong

9. Decodable text: Doc in the Fog

10. Assessment Worksheet (See link below)

 

Procedures:

1. Say: In order to be expert readers, we need to learn how to pronounce words. To learn how to pronounce words, we’re going to use a code that helps us do just that. We have already learned to read the short vowel words with our icky “i”, like chip, and today we are going to learn about short o and how it makes an “ah” sound. When I say “ah”, think about going to the doctor and how they make you open your mouth wide and say “ah” as they look at your throat. [Show graphic image]. You can also think about the shape of your mouth when you say “ah”. It looks just like a big o shape! Let’s all try saying “ah” together.

2. Say: We need to first listen for o in some words before we learn about the spelling of /o/. When I listen for /o/ in words, I check to see if my mouth is making a big o shape and I listen to see if I hear “ah” like I’m at the doctor getting my throat checked. I’ll show you first: long. I saw my mouth make a big o shape [make a circle motion around open mouth] and I heard the “ah” sound! There is a short o in long. Now I’m going to see if o is in pet. Hmmm, my mouth didn’t open wide enough to make a big o and I didn’t hear “ah”. Now you try. I’m going to say some words and if you hear the /o/ sound say, “Ah yeah!” If you don’t hear the /o/ sound, say, “Not it!” Are you ready to get started? Is /o/ in shot, pick, lap, plop, mom?

3. Say: Now let’s look over how to spell words with /o/. I want to spell the word crop. “My favorite crop to grow on the farm is corn.” In this sentence, crop means a plant that is grown as food to eat. To spell crop in my letterboxes, I need to know how many phonemes are in the word. Remember, phonemes are the sounds we hear in a word. To figure out the number of phonemes in crop I am going to stretch out my word and count: /k//r//o//p/. I need four letterboxes! Can you help me count again by counting on your fingers every time you hear a new sound: /k/ (one finger) /r/ (two fingers) /o/ (three fingers) /p/ (four fingers). Good job! Let me get out my four letterboxes. I heard /o/ right before the /p/ and right after the /r/, so I am going to put my letter o in the third letterbox. The first letter in my word starts with /k/. What letter starts with /k/? Very good, the first letter in the word is c! Now I am going to put my c in the first letterbox. What is the last sound you hear in crop? That’s right, we hear /p/! Now what letter makes the /p/ sound? P is correct! I am going to put my p letter tile onto my fourth letterbox. Now we have one more sound missing in our letterbox. This is harder, so let me say our word a little slower and listen to what sound may be missing: /c//r//o//p/. It sounds like I hear a car engine revving /r/, so I am going to put the letter in the second letterbox right after letter c. Look, we spelled crop! Now I will show you how to read a hard word. [Display poster with flock on the top and model reading the word.] I’m going to start with o; that part says /o/. Now I’m going to put the beginning letters with it: f-l-o, /flo/. Now I’ll put this chunk together with the last sound, /flo-ck/. This word is flock, like, “Did you see the flock of birds outside yesterday?”

4. Say: Now it’s your turn to practice spelling words in you letterboxes! The first word is really easy. Your first word is on, like, “I went on a hayride at the pumpkin patch.” What do you think goes in your first letterbox? I hear two sounds in on, so you’re going to need two letterboxes. What goes in your second letterbox? [Glance and walk around the room to see student progress.] You’re next word, you will need three letterboxes. Remember to listen for the beginning sound to spell in the first letterbox. After that, listen for the /o/ sound. Your next word is cob. “I love to eat corn on the cob for dinner; cob.” [Have students spell remaining words, giving example sentences per word: not, shop, frog, block, cross, flip, stag, best.

5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled! [Show the words on, cob, not, shop, frog, block, cross, flip, stag, best, the extra words frost, strong, and the pseudoword vop. [Have the students read the words together in unison. Afterwards, have individuals read one word on the list until everyone has had a chance to do so.]

6. Say: I am so impressed with the great job you have all done reading and spelling words with our new spelling for /o/: o. Now we are going to read book called Doc in the Fog. What do you call a person who has magical powers? A wizard! Well, this story is about a magical wizard names Doc. Doc loved to use his magic to change objects into new things! One day, after changing lots of different objects, a dark and gloomy fog began to surround him. What do you think happened with his magic? Will something bad happen to Doc? We’ll just have to keep reading to find out! [Have the children find a partner to read the book with. They will take turns and alternate reading pages while the teacher walks around and observes the class’s progress. After each pair finishes reading, come back together as a group and read Doc in the Fog aloud together. Stop between page turns to discuss what’s happening in the story.]

7. Say: That story was so exciting! What happened to Doc? The fog got him! That’s right! Before we end today’s lesson on o=/o/, I want to see how well you know /o/. Complete this worksheet by practicing reading and writing words with short o. You have to first identify whether the name of the picture has short o and then you have to read and identify which words have short o. [Collect worksheets to evaluate each student’s progress.]

 

 

Resources:

Cushman, Sheila. Doc in the Fog. Educational Insights, 1990

 

Susanna Fields, Oliver the Octopus Says ‘Ahhhhh’: http://susannafields95.wixsite.com/literacylessons/beginning-reading

 

Assessment Worksheet: https://www.myteachingstation.com/short-o-sound-worksheet

​

Click here to return to the Horizons index page.