Aaaahhh at the Dentist
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence for 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 (saying ahhh when opening up their mouth for the dentist to clean their teeth), they will learn to spell and read words that contain the short o in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence o=/o/.
Materials: Graphic image of a child saying “ah” at the dentist office, whiteboard and markers, Cover Up Critter, Two sets of Letterboxes (one for child and one for modeling by teacher), Letter tiles for student (), List of spelling words for student to read (), Decodable Text: Doc in the Fog, Assessment worksheet on short o.
Procedures:
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If we want to become an expert reader, it is necessary for us to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned to read a few other short vowel sounds, including short a (like in sad and hat) and short e (like in bed and ten). Today we get to learn about the short o sound that is used when the o makes an /o/ sound. When I say /o/ I like to think of when the dentist asks you to say “Ahhhhh” so he can look at your teeth [Show Graphic Image of boy in dentist chair].
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Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /o/, we need to listen for it in some words and see if we can hear our sound like we make at the dentist. When I listen for /o/ in words, I listen for the “ahh” sound and my lips make a wide o shape [make vocal gestures for /o/]. I’ll show you first: mom. I heard the “ahh” sound and I felt my lips make a wide circle shape [make a circle around the open mouth]. There is a short o in mom. Now you try. If you hear /o/ say, “Say ahh at the dentist.” If you hear /o/ say, “There is no o!”. Is it in a cat, dog, bird, frog, pan, or pot? [Have children make a circle over a wide mouth when they feel the /o/ make an “ahhh” sound.]
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Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /o/ that we are going to learn today. When you spell the short vowel /o/ sound, you use the letter o [write the letter o on whiteboard]. What if I want to spell the word dog? “I threw a bone to my dog after he did his trick.” To spell dogs in letterboxes, I first need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /d/o/g/. I need three boxes. I heard the /o/ right before the /g/ so I’m going to put an /o/ in the 2nd box. The word starts with /d/, that’s easy; I need a d in the first box. Now it gets a little tricky so I am going to say it slowly, /d/o/g/. I heard a /g/ at the end of the word, so a g goes in the last letterbox.
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Say: Now I am going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for on. The word on is used when you are physically touching something, “The puppy sat on top of the chair.” 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 the /o/ sound. Here’s the word: box, “I put the present in a box.” [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: b-o-x and see if you spelled it the same way. Let’s try another with three boxes: sock; “I put the sock on before my shoe.” [Have volunteers spell it in a letterbox on the front of the board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Dot; “The pen made a dot on her hand.” With this next word make sure to listen to see if it has a /o/ in it before you spell it: tap; “The water came out of the tap.” Did you use the short /o/? Why not? Right, because we don’t hear the “ahhh” sound. We spell it with the short vowel a. [volunteer spells it out on the front board.] Now let’s try 4 phonemes; clock; “The clock told me it was 1:30 in the afternoon.” Nice job! Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word!
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Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I’ll show you how to read a tough word. [Display poster with the word chop on the top and model reading the word.] First I see the o in the middle of the word, it must say /o/. I’m going to use a coverup for the first part. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /ch/ + /o/= /cho/ Now all I need is the end, /p/ = /chop/. Chop; 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.]
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Say: You’ve done a great job reading words with our new spelling for o=/o/. Now we are going to read a book called Doc in the Fog. This is a story about Doc. Doc is a wizard with magic powers. He is trying out his new wand by turning things into silly creatures. What will Dot change the pot into next? Let’s pair up and take turns reading Doc in the Fog to find out what the pot turns into! [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while the teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After paired readings, the class rereads Doc in the Fog aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]
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Say: That was a fun story. What happened to the pot? That’s right! It turned into more fog. And what happened to Doc? The fog got him! Before we finish up with our lesson about how we spell /o/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some letters missing. Your job is to look in the word and at the picture and decide what letter makes sense. Reread your answers to see if it makes sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
Resources:
Assessment Worksheet:
https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics-long-short-o/short-o-words-missing-letters.pdf
Curtis, Elly, The Frog Likes to Hop! https://ellycurtis317.wixsite.com/lessondesigns/beginning-reading
Cushman, Shelia (1990), Doc in the Fog.
Willis, Abigail, Aaaaa, That’s Scary! https://agwillis7.wixsite.com/mysite-3/beginning-reading
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Back to Reading Genie:
http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/classroom/breakthroughs/
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Back to Homepage:
https://lcs0050.wixsite.com/lessons
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