Setting Purpose: Reading the Printed Word | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G1:S1:C1:L3

Setting Purpose: Reading the Printed Word

In this Lesson

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Daily Learning Targets

  • Opening A: I can review the meaning of the poem "Open a Book, Unlock a Door" (act it out).
  • Opening B: Using evidence from the letter, I can add to my understanding of the author and her purpose.
  • Work Time A: I can match letters and sounds in the poem "Open a Book, Unlock a Door."(RF.K.3a, RF.K.3b, RF.1.2a)
    • I can look at a letter in a word and say its sound.
    • I can identify the most common single graphemes (letters) for short vowels.
    • I can identify long and short vowel sounds in (single-syllable) words that I hear.
    • I can name the five vowel letters and explain that these are the long vowel sounds.

Ongoing Assessment

  • Observe students during Work Time B.
    • Determine whether they can match letters to sounds and sounds to letters in words in the poem.
    •  Also determine whether they can identify the long and short sounds made by vowels in the poem.

Agenda

Agenda

1 .Opening (3-5 minutes)

A. Reviewing the Meaning: "Open a Book, Unlock a Door"

2. Work Time (10 minutes)

A. Read-aloud: Mystery Letter #3

B. Phonemes to Graphemes: Matching Sounds to Print in "Open a Book, Unlock a Door"

3. Closing and Assessment (3 minutes)

A. Reflecting on Learning: How Does a Person Figure Out What the Words on a Page Say?

4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40 minutes)

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Poem: "Open a Book, Unlock a Door," displayed on chart paper or projected onto a whiteboard
    • Copies of poem: "Open a Book, Unlock a Door" (see supporting Materials in Lesson 1) placed in clear plastic sleeves with cardboard (students will write on these)
  • Materials for Independent Work Rotations (paper, pencils, crayons, or other coloring materials; blank paper; books for independent reading)

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T)

  • decode (L)
  • chattering (T)

Materials

  • Poem: "Open a Book, Unlock a Door," displayed on chart paper or projected onto a whiteboard (from Lesson 1)
  • Mystery Letter #3
  • Copies of poem in clear plastic sleeves with cardboard or clipboards (if a hard surface is needed) (one per student or partners)
  • Whiteboard markers (one per student)
  • Whiteboard erasers (or tissues, socks, etc.; one per student)

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reviewing the Meaning: "Open a Book, Unlock a Door"

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"Sit down and come together, together, together, sit down and come together, together right now. It's time to read our poem and think about what we've learned.  Sit down and come together, together right now."

  • Teacher displays the poem "Open a Book, Unlock a Door" on chart paper or projected onto a whiteboard.
  • Teacher says: "We've been working with this poem for a few days now. We've recited it; identified rhyming words and words with one, two, or three syllables; and figured out what the poem was about and why the author wrote it for us. Now it's time to put all of that together."

1. Teacher invites a student volunteer to recite the poem aloud with expression and another to act out the poem.

2. If time allows, repeat one or two more times with different volunteers.
  • Consider tapping each beat (syllable) in the transition song with your fingers. Tapping the pointer and middle finger of the right hand together against the same fingers on the left hand works well. Sing the song again, a little more slowly, inviting students to do the same and emphasizing each beat with the finger tapping.
  • Consider asking students to give the volunteer speaker warm and cool feedback on how they recited the poem. For example: "The way you said the rhyming words a little louder made it really exciting" and, "Maybe if you pause for a second after each line, we could really think about what is happening in the poem."

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Read-aloud: Mystery Letter #3

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"Now it's time to read a letter, a letter, letter. Now it's time to read a letter and see what it says."

1. Teacher displays Mystery Letter #3 with much curiosity and drama.

2. Teacher reads the letter aloud to the students.

3. Teacher says: "She wrote these words to us. She's not here, but she wrote these words down and I read them."

4. Teacher asks:

"How does a reader figure out what words say?"

"What did she tell us in this letter about how words changed her life in first grade?" (that she, too, could learn how to read words)

"What else have we learned about the author/writer of this letter?" (really loves cocoa, books and words are important to her, and other text-based responses)
  • This letter provides an opportunity to build vocabulary and descriptive language. Consider rereading the first paragraph of the letter to draw attention to and determine the meaning of the language. For example:

"What does 'chattering' mean?" (talking)

"What does 'stream through' mean?"

B. Phonemes to Graphemes: Matching Sounds to Print in “Open a Book, Unlock a Door”

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The More We Get Together”):

“Now it’s time to match the sounds to their letters in these words, now it’s time to match the sounds to their letters, let’s go.”

  • Teacher says: “We’re going to search for the letters that match the sounds we hear in words.”
  • Display large version of poem “Open a Book, Unlock a Door” on chart paper or projected onto a whiteboard.
  • Distribute copies of poem in clear plastic sleeves with cardboard or clipboards, whiteboard markers, and whiteboard erasers.

1. Teacher invites students to “read” the text aloud together, following along with their eyes on their text and running their fingers below the words.

2. Teacher supports the students to match particular sounds to print. To do this, the teacher begins with a prompt (what the students will listen and look for) and then reads a line or lines that contain that information. Once the students have matched it, the teacher invites individuals to annotate (i.e., underline, circle, or highlight) the information on the enlarged version while students annotate it on their own.

  • Suggested prompts:
    • Find the rhyming words. Teacher asks:

“How do we know these words rhyme?” (same ending sound)

“How are the endings of these words spelled?”

      • Find a word that begins with a particular sound. For example: “Listen for a word that begins with the sound /k/.” Teacher asks:

“What letter in that word makes us know that it begins with that sound?”

      • Find a word that ends with a particular phoneme (sound). For example: “Find a word that ends with the sound /t/.” Teacher asks:

“What letter in that word makes us know that it ends with that sound?”

      • Find words that begin or end with particular letters. For example: “Find a word that starts with the letter ‘d.’” Teacher asks:

“What sound does that letter make?”

      • Find words that have particular vowel sounds. For example: “Find a word that has the sound /a/ in it,” or “Find a word with the sound /ē/ in it.”
      • Find high-frequency words that may be familiar to students.
  • Consider extending the depth of analysis of phoneme-grapheme connections by drawing students' attention to the fact that although the ending sound in "explore" and "door" is the same (/or/), the letters at the end that make that sound are a little different (there is an "e" after the "or" in "explore"). Yet the words "log" and "frog" have the same letters for their rhyming part. Challenge students to consider that sounds can be spelled in more than one way. Remind them that the sound /k/, for example, can be spelled with a "c" or a "k."
  • Consider drawing students' attention to the fact that the word "knight" starts with the sound /n/ despite having a "k" at the beginning.
  • Use the Articulatory Gestures chart as needed to support students' ability to differentiate short vowel sounds.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning: How Does a Person Figure Out What the Words on a Page Say?

  • Teacher asks:

"How does a person figure out what the words on a page say?" (i.e., How does a person read words?)

  • Teacher invites individual students to share their ideas.
  • Teacher asks:

"What are some things you do to figure out what the words on a page say?"

  • Teacher invites individual students to share their ideas.
  • Consider recording students' responses on a chart to revisit as they acquire more decoding knowledge and skills.

Independent Work Rotations

Suggested Plan: This first cycle provides time for students to practice what it means to work independently. A brief introduction is made to Materials and expectations for work habits, and social interactions are established.

Note: Three suggestions for independent activities are given. Consider using any or all of these. For example, you may want to have all students working on the same activity, or you may want to have two or three activities happening simultaneously for a set time and then rotate students through.

Independent Reading:

  • Students spend time looking at their own individual book(s).

Word Work:

  • Students work with partners to continue Work Time B. They take turns prompting each other to look for specific letters or sounds and then annotate them.

Or:

  • Suggested Activity Bank idea:
    • An Activity Bank activity from the Letter Recognition (LR) category

Responding to Text:

  • Students illustrate the poem.
  • Students underline their favorite word(s) in the poem and explain why they chose it/them.
  • Poems can be saved in Fluency Notebooks that will be created in Lesson 5.

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