ELA GK:S4:C21:L107

Mystery Words

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Daily Learning Targets

Opening A: I can follow along in a shared text (poem). (RF.K.1)

I can count the number of words in a sentence.
I can point to the first word in a sentence.
I can point to the last word in a sentence.
I can point to words in a text.
I can move my finger under words as I read them on a page, left to right and top to bottom.

Work Time A: I can use clues from the text to identify the mystery words "one," "we," "all."

I can look at each consonant and say its sound.
I can identify the short sound for each vowel.
I can recognize and read many high-frequency words by sight.
I can count the number of letters in a word.

Ongoing Assessment

Observe students during the Opening and Work Time. Determine whether they demonstrate one-to-one correspondence with words.
Observe students during Work Time. Determine whether they can identify the sounds in the mystery words.
Record students' progress on the Snapshot Assessment.

Agenda

Agenda
1. Opening (5 minutes) A. Poem Launch: "One Thing We All Like to Do'" 2. Work Time (10-15 minutes) A. Clues to the Mystery Words B. Mystery Words: "one," "we," "all" 3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes) A. Reflecting on Learning 4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40-45 minutes)

In Advance

Prepare:

Enlarged poem: "One Thing We All Like to Do" (or write on chart paper/poster)
Poetry notebooks: Each student needs a spiral or composition book with a copy of the poem glued or taped inside, or else a loose copy of the poem in a plastic sleeve
Snapshot Assessment (optional; one per student)

Gather materials for differentiated small group instruction (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Vocabulary

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

mystery word, clues, frequently (L)
crew (T)

Materials

Enlarged poem: "One Thing We All Like to Do" (or handwritten on chart paper to display)
Large pointer (optional; for teacher to point to words in poem as the class recites)
Poetry notebooks (one per student; see Teaching Notes)
Poem: "One Thing We All Like to Do" (one per student in poetry notebooks)
Snapshot Assessment (optional; one per student)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Opening

Opening	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Poem Launch: "One Thing We All Like to Do" Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot": "Now let's read the poem, line by line. We'll figure out the words used all the time. When we read together, we sound like one. Start with me to have a lot of fun!" Begin the Poem Launch instructional practice: 1. Teacher says: "One day, when I was in Kindergarten, my teacher asked us to think of a game we could play. One of the boys in my crew--our teacher liked to call our class a 'crew' because a 'crew' is a group of people who work together to do something and we were just like a crew--had an idea. His name was Hank. Hank told us about this game called 'One Thing We All Like to Do.' We pretended that there was a lake with an island in the middle. Someone would swim out to the island and would say something like 'One thing we all like to do is jump.' Anyone who liked to jump would swim out to the island and then they would say, 'One thing we all like to do is jump.' Anyone who didn't like to jump would just stay on the bank. That was fine. Not everybody always liked to do all of the same things! I wrote a poem for you about that day. Listen really closely as I read this poem. The poem has our new mystery words. As I read it, you can be thinking about which words you hear frequently. Remember, our mystery words are words that are in the poem several times." 2. Teacher reads enlarged poem: "One Thing We All Like to Do" once or twice, pointing to each word as he or she reads it (with a finger or pointer). 3. Teacher says: "I saw many of you listening hard for words that I read several times in this poem. I bet you are wondering which words are our mystery words, and I am too! Let's read the poem together." 4. Teacher rereads the poem several times, encouraging students to read along chorally. During the shared reading of the poem, ask students to: Count the number of words in each line. Point to the first word in each line and then the last word in each line. 5. Distribute student poetry notebooks or student copies of the poem: "One Thing We All Like to Do" to individuals or partners. 6. Students follow along chorally as the teacher reads aloud, pointing to the words on their copies of the poem as they read. 7. Repeat as needed to ensure that most students have memorized the words. 8. Teacher says: "Next we will learn the clues that will help us discover the mystery words!"	To provide support or practice with left-to-right directionality and one-to-one matching, consider inviting individual students to come up to the enlarged poem and point to the words as the class chorally recites. Consider modeling how to count the words in each line for students who need help with this skill. Students may notice that when the name of the game "One Thing We All Like to Do" is written in the poem, most of the words begin with capital letters. Explain that this is because it is being talked about in that line as the name of the game. Hank suggests a game called "One Thing We All Like to Do." Hank's name is capitalized, as is the name of the game, because writers signal names by starting them with a capital letter.

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Poem Launch: "One Thing We All Like to Do"

Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot":

"Now let's read the poem, line by line. We'll figure out the words used all the time. When we read together, we sound like one. Start with me to have a lot of fun!"

Begin the Poem Launch instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: "One day, when I was in Kindergarten, my teacher asked us to think of a game we could play. One of the boys in my crew--our teacher liked to call our class a 'crew' because a 'crew' is a group of people who work together to do something and we were just like a crew--had an idea. His name was Hank. Hank told us about this game called 'One Thing We All Like to Do.' We pretended that there was a lake with an island in the middle. Someone would swim out to the island and would say something like 'One thing we all like to do is jump.' Anyone who liked to jump would swim out to the island and then they would say, 'One thing we all like to do is jump.' Anyone who didn't like to jump would just stay on the bank. That was fine. Not everybody always liked to do all of the same things! I wrote a poem for you about that day. Listen really closely as I read this poem. The poem has our new mystery words. As I read it, you can be thinking about which words you hear frequently. Remember, our mystery words are words that are in the poem several times."

2. Teacher reads enlarged poem: "One Thing We All Like to Do" once or twice, pointing to each word as he or she reads it (with a finger or pointer).

3. Teacher says: "I saw many of you listening hard for words that I read several times in this poem. I bet you are wondering which words are our mystery words, and I am too! Let's read the poem together."

4. Teacher rereads the poem several times, encouraging students to read along chorally. During the shared reading of the poem, ask students to:

Count the number of words in each line.
Point to the first word in each line and then the last word in each line.

5. Distribute student poetry notebooks or student copies of the poem: "One Thing We All Like to Do" to individuals or partners.

6. Students follow along chorally as the teacher reads aloud, pointing to the words on their copies of the poem as they read.

7. Repeat as needed to ensure that most students have memorized the words.

8. Teacher says: "Next we will learn the clues that will help us discover the mystery words!"

To provide support or practice with left-to-right directionality and one-to-one matching, consider inviting individual students to come up to the enlarged poem and point to the words as the class chorally recites.
Consider modeling how to count the words in each line for students who need help with this skill.
Students may notice that when the name of the game "One Thing We All Like to Do" is written in the poem, most of the words begin with capital letters. Explain that this is because it is being talked about in that line as the name of the game. Hank suggests a game called "One Thing We All Like to Do." Hank's name is capitalized, as is the name of the game, because writers signal names by starting them with a capital letter.

Work Time

Work Time	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Clues to the Mystery Words 1. Teacher facilitates the Clues to the Mystery Words instructional practice with the words "one," "we," and "all." 2. Students refer to their poetry notebooks to search for the words.
B. Mystery Words: "one," "we," "all" Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "Three Blind Mice": "Let's solve the mystery, let's solve the mystery. Clue by clue, clue by clue. The clues will tell you what to do. To make the word become clearer to you. We'll know the word; we'll figure it out. Clue by clue, clue by clue." 1. Teacher facilitates the Mystery Words instructional practice with the word: "one." 2. Repeat with the words: "we" and then "all."	Students may notice that the words “we” and “one” both begin with the sound /w/ and that while “we” has a letter to match that sound, “one” does not. In addition, the word “one” has two vowels, neither of which are pronounced in the word. Consider explaining to students that this is a word that “doesn’t play fair.” The knowledge that the vowels contain their long sound embedded in their name (i.e., when saying “e,” the sound /ē/ is heard) will be explored in Cycles 23 and 24. Consider drawing students’ attention to this when identifying the new high-frequency word “we.”

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Clues to the Mystery Words

1. Teacher facilitates the Clues to the Mystery Words instructional practice with the words "one," "we," and "all."

2. Students refer to their poetry notebooks to search for the words.

B. Mystery Words: "one," "we," "all"

Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "Three Blind Mice":

"Let's solve the mystery, let's solve the mystery. Clue by clue, clue by clue. The clues will tell you what to do. To make the word become clearer to you. We'll know the word; we'll figure it out. Clue by clue, clue by clue."

1. Teacher facilitates the Mystery Words instructional practice with the word: "one."

2. Repeat with the words: "we" and then "all."

Students may notice that the words “we” and “one” both begin with the sound /w/ and that while “we” has a letter to match that sound, “one” does not. In addition, the word “one” has two vowels, neither of which are pronounced in the word. Consider explaining to students that this is a word that “doesn’t play fair.”
The knowledge that the vowels contain their long sound embedded in their name (i.e., when saying “e,” the sound
/ē/ is heard) will be explored in Cycles 23 and 24. Consider drawing students’ attention to this when identifying the new high-frequency word “we.”

Closing & Assessments

Closing	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Reflecting on Learning Emphasize that successful learners think about what they've learned and why it's important. Consider using a metaphor, such as a baseball player learning to keep his or her eye on the ball to know exactly when to hit it. Ask: "What can we do to help ourselves get the high-frequency words in our memories?" (Look for them in our books, think about the letters in them that we know.) "How will that help us with reading or writing?" (Responses will vary.)	For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Example: "When I said the word 'we,' I _____."

Closing

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning

Emphasize that successful learners think about what they've learned and why it's important. Consider using a metaphor, such as a baseball player learning to keep his or her eye on the ball to know exactly when to hit it.
Ask:

"What can we do to help ourselves get the high-frequency words in our memories?" (Look for them in our books, think about the letters in them that we know.)

"How will that help us with reading or writing?" (Responses will vary.)

For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Example:

"When I said the word 'we,' I _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with the Pre-Alphabetic and Partial Alphabetic groups. At this point in the year, the teacher may be ready to meet with three rather than just two groups per day. If so, the teacher should work with students in the Full and Consolidated Alphabetic phases at least once per week. The teacher may choose to guide students through the suggested independent activity or refer to the possible practice activities.

Note: Groups not working with the teacher at a given time should be engaged in purposeful independent rotation work. Refer to the Independent and Small Group Work guidance document (see K-2 Skills Resource Manual) for more details.

All Groups

The Reader's Toolbox routine should be used with every group today or another day this week. Teachers may also choose to use a flex day to teach the routine in whole group. See Lesson 97 or Independent and Small Group Work guidance document for full routine and see supporting materials for Reader's Toolbox Planning and Recording Template.

Pre-Alphabetic:

Practice activity: Teacher leads the students in pointing to each word in the poem "One Thing We All Like to Do" in their poetry notebooks. Teacher has students identify and highlight or circle specific letters they might need practice with. Consider starting with just initial letters/sounds. Consider asking questions such as:

"Can you find a word that starts with the letter that makes the sound /t/?"

"Can you find a word that starts with the letter 'w'?"

Partial Alphabetic:

Practice activity: Teacher guides students in a Mystery Word Search and Rainbow Write.

Students find the words "one," "all," and "we" in their copies of the poem: "One Thing We Like to Do."
Students circle the word every time they see it.
Students practice writing the word with different-colored markers, crayons, or colored pencils.

Full and Consolidated Alphabetic:

Practice activity: Students complete a Mystery Word Write.

Students write a story using the word "one," "all," or "we" as many times as they can, reinforcing the idea that these are high-frequency words used often by authors to communicate ideas.

Conference with students about Accountable Independent Reading.

EL Education Curriculum

ELA GK:S4:C21:L107

Mystery Words

In this Lesson

You are here:

Like what you see?

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Daily Learning Targets

Ongoing Assessment

Agenda

In Advance

Vocabulary

Materials

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Opening

Work Time

Closing & Assessments

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

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