Icky Sticky Bubblegum
Beginning Reading
Mary Kate Smith
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence i = /i/. In order to be able to read, children must learn to recognize spellings that map word pronunciations. In this lesson children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling i. They will learn a meaningful representation (hand gesture trying to get the icky sticky gum off your hands), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox Lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i = /i/.
Materials: Graphic image of woman trying to get the icky sticky gum off her hands; cover-up critter; 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: i, t, d, g, f, t, c, k, l, r, m, s, k, p; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: it, dig, fit, click, strip; decodable text: Lix is Six; 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 spell words with a, like tap, and with e, like bed. Today we are going to learn about short vowel i and its sound, /i/. When I say /i/ think about having sticky gum on your hands and you’re trying to shake it off (show image of woman with gum on her hands)
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /i/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /i/ in words, I hear i say its name /i/ and I can feel my mouth open a little bit while my tongues stays low like this, /i/. (Make vocal gesture for /i/). I’ll show you first: sit. I heard i say its name and I felt my mouth open slightly while my tongue stayed low when I said /i/. There is a short i in sit. Now I’m going to see if it’s in tire. Hmm, I didn’t hear i say its name and my mouth didn’t open slightly while my tongue stayed low. My throat also didn’t make the sound /i/. Now you try. If you hear /i/ say, “iii, that’s icky”. If you don’t here /i/ say, “That’s not it”. Is it in bit, bat, kick, kite, red, thick? (Have children point to their mouth if it opens and their tongue goes down as they hear /i/ say its name i.
3. Now let’s look at the spelling of /i/ that we’ll learn today. We spell i very simply, i. (Write i on the board). What if I want to spell the word lift? “I helped my friend lift boxes while she was moving.” Lift means to raise the boxes off the ground in this sentence. To spell lift in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /l//i//f//t/. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /i/ just before the /f/ so I’m going to put an i in the 2nd box. The word starts with /l/, that’s easy; I need an i in the first box. Now it gets a little tricky so I’m going to say it slowly, /l///i//f//t/. I have two boxes left now. Let’s really stretch the last part of this word. (Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /l//i//f//t/). I hear f before t, so I will put f in the third box and t in the last box.
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for it. What should go in the first box? (Respond to children’s answers). What goes in the second box? (Respond to children’s answers). I’ll check your spellings as 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 /i/. Here’s the word: dig, I like to dig in the soil to plant a flower; dig. (Allow children to spell words). Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: d-i-g and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: fit; I don’t think my clothes will fit in my suitcase. (Have volunteer spell it in the letterboxes on the front board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word). Next word. Now let’s try 4 phonemes: click; I click the remote to turn on the t.v. Did you remember to spell /k/ with a ck? One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: strip; Will you hand me a strip of tape? Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.
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 strip on the top and model reading the word.) First I see there is an i, which is our icky, sticky /i/. I’m going to use a cover-up critter to get the first part. (Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.) /s//t/ = /st/ +/r/ = /str/. Now I’m going to blend that with /i/ = /stri/. Now all I need is the end, /p/ = /strip/. Strip; 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 at reading words with our spelling for /i/= i. Now we are going to read a book called Liz is six. This is a story about a girl named Liz who is turning six. At her birthday party, Liz receives a mitt as a gift. Liz and the pig decide to play baseball. While the pig is at bat, he hits it and Liz catches it! When its Liz’s turn at bat, will the pig catch the ball? Let’s read to find out! Let’s pair up and take turns reading Liz is Six to find out if the pig catches the ball. (Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages to each other while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads Liz is Six aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.)
7. Say: That was a fun story. Did the pig catch the ball? Right, he did! What did Liz and the pig do at the end of the story? Right, a jig! Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /i/ = I, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this work sheet, your job is to look at the picture, read the word, and determine if it has our icky sticky /i/ sound. Circle the pictures that do. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. (Collect all worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.)
Resuorces:
LeighEllen Morrison, Icky Sticky Piggy: http://jellen894.wixsite.com/lemlessons/beginning-reading
Liz is Six. Carson, California. Educational Insights. (1990) pg. 1-9
Assessment worksheet: http://schoolexpress.com/fws/ws/phonics/vowels/Short_Vowel_Ii_Book_1.4.pdf
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