Getting to Know Letters (Part 1) | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA GK:S2:C6:L31

Getting to Know Letters (Part 1)

In this Lesson

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Daily Learning Targets

  • Opening A: I can identify a keyword for the vowel "i." I can act out the events from the Letter Story: "i."
    • I can identify the short vowel sound for every vowel letter.
  • Work Time A and B: I can identify the name and sound for the letters "i" and "g." (RF.K.3)
    • I can identify the name of each uppercase letter.
    • I can look at each consonant and say its sound.
    • I can identify the short vowel sound for every vowel letter.

Ongoing Assessment

  • Observe students during Work Time. Determine whether they can say the sounds for each letter correctly. Refer to the Articulatory Gestures chart as needed.
  • Record students' progress on the Snapshot Assessment.

Agenda

Agenda

1. Opening (5 minutes)

A. Read-aloud: Letter Story: "i"

2. Work Time (10-15 minutes)

A. Getting to Know Letters (Part 1): "i" and "g"

B. Letter-Sound Chant: "i" and "g"

3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes)

A. Reflecting on Learning

4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40-45 minutes)

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Letter Story: "i" (wrapped in colorful paper or placed in a decorative container; wrapping and container are optional)
    • Snapshot Assessment (optional; one per student)
  • Glue the Keyword Picture Card: "i" on colorful paper (see Cycle 1). This will distinguish the vowels from consonants as they are learned.
  • Gather materials for differentiated small group instruction (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Vocabulary

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

  • high-frequency word, keyword, vowel (L)
  • barren, horizon, prey, silhouettes, stout, trudged, vast (T)

Materials

  • Letter Story: "i" (wrapped in colorful paper or placed in a decorative container; wrapping and container are optional; found in the Learning Letters Book)
  • Keyword Picture Cards: "g" and "i" (one of each for teacher to display)
  • Articulatory Gestures chart (to post)
  • Snapshot Assessment (optional; one per student)

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Read-aloud: Letter Story: "i"

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

"Now let's read a story, word by word. Get yourselves ready to repeat what you heard. When we hear the vowel sound, we will say: This is the sound the vowel made today!"

  • Invite students to sit in a circle.
  • Begin a read-aloud of the Letter Story: "i":

1. Teacher displays the wrapped Letter Story: "i."

2. Teacher says, with expression: "I have here, in my hands, a story to tell. Lis-ten carefully ... lis-ten well."

3. Teacher slowly unwraps and reveals the story.

4. Teacher reads the story aloud expressively and without interruption, using movements to accompany what happens in the story.

5. Teacher invites the students to stand and silently act out the story in place with him or her while he or she reads it aloud again.

6. After the second read, teacher asks:

"Who did the children discover?" (iguana)

7. Teacher invites the students to turn to an elbow partner and asks:

"What can you tell each other about iguanas from what you heard in the story?"

8. Teacher invites one or two students to share with the group.

9. Teacher says: "Let's keep our eyes out for this /i/-/i/-/i/-guana today."
  • To heighten the anticipation and drama around the presentation of Letter Story: "i," consider wrapping it in colorful paper or placing it in a decorative container and revealing it slowly.
  • Consider having students lie on their stomachs with their heads oriented toward the center of the circle while reading the story aloud the first time through. This, together with the unwrapping of the story and the language in step 2, develops a storytelling ritual for the vowel letter stories.
  • Acting out the story the second time through not only engages the students but also develops Vocabulary. Example:
    • When reading how the children "trudge" through the thick and heavy dry air, the teacher models moving in a labor-intensive way, making signs that indicate feeling hot and thirsty.

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Getting to Know Letters (Part 1): "i" and "g"

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

"Now we'll learn the letters, short and tall. Get your bodies ready to write them all. When we learn the letters, we will shout. We know their names, we figured it out!"

  • Begin the Getting to Know Letters (Part 1) instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: "We are going to get to know two new letters today. We will learn the names, sounds, and keywords for these two letters."

2. Teacher holds up the Keyword Picture Card: "g," showing only the picture, and asks:

"What is the name of this animal?" ("goose")

"What sound do we hear at the beginning of the word 'goose'?" (/g/)

3. Teacher says: "Let's all say that sound together: /g/."

4. Students repeat sound: /g/.

5. Teacher says: "This is the letter 'g.'"

6. Teacher asks:

"What letter makes the sound: /g/?" ("g")

7. Teacher says: "Right! Underneath our goose is the letter 'g.' Let's use our arms as the pencil to skywrite the letter 'g' as we say the word: 'goose.'"

8. Teacher models skywriting and says: "When we make the letter 'g,' we start just like we did with the letter 'a.' We curve around, make our 'a,' and then pull down and make a little tail."

9. Teacher models skywriting of "g" with the keyword "goose."

10. Teacher says: "I wonder if we can think of more words that begin with that sound."

11. Teacher asks:

"Who can share a word that begins with /g/?"

12. Teacher records the word on the board and asks:

"What letter makes our /g/ sound in this word?" ("g")

13. Teacher says: "Right! The letter 'g' says /g/. I'm going to circle the letter 'g' in the words we share."

14. Teacher invites students to share two or three more words that begin with /g/.

15. Teacher says: "These are great words! Now let's see if we can think of some words that END with the sound /g/."

16. If time allows, repeat steps 11-14 with words that end with /g/.

17. Teacher says: "What a great list of words we have created! And all our words have the sound /g/ made by the letter 'g,' just like in our goose!"

18. Teacher holds up the Keyword Picture Card: "i," showing only the picture, and asks:

"Who knows the name of this animal?" (iguana)

19. Teacher says: "That's right! There's that iguana we read about! I thought he might show up again! This is the letter 'i,' and it is a vowel, just like 'a'! We now have two of the five vowels. Vowels have super-important jobs in words: Every word has at least one vowel in it!"

20. Teacher displays the Keyword Picture Cards and shows how the vowels are all on colored paper to remind students that they are all vowels.

21. Teacher repeats steps 2-14 with the letter "i" and its sound, /i/.

22. Teacher says: "Now we've met 'i' and 'g.' In the next lesson, we'll get to know them even better--we'll learn how to write them!"
  • Have students use their arms in skywriting rather than just their hands or fingers. The large movement engages the physical connection to both the letter formation and phoneme.
  • Consider inviting students to share what they notice about how their mouths move when making the /i/ sound.
  • Remind students that the /g/ sound stops with the exhale of breath and does not include the "uh" that many students add to the sound.
  • If students need help thinking of new words beginning or ending with the /g/ sound, offer clues. Example: Point to your leg and ask:

"What part of the body is this?" (leg)

  • If students need help thinking of new words beginning with the /i/ sound, offer clues. Example:
    • Open the door and say: "I'm going out the door. Now I'm going _____ (in) the door."
  • If students offer a word that begins with a different sound, remind them to notice the way /i/ or /g/ feels in their mouths when they say each keyword. Ask them to repeat the word and notice if the beginning sound of the word feels the same in their mouths.
  • Encourage students to offer classmates' names as an option for beginning sounds.

B. Letter-Sound Chant: "i" and "g"

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

"Now let's say the alphabet, letter by letter. Here is the letter, here is the sound. When we chant together, we sound great. Listen up to the sounds we make!"

  • Begin the Letter-Sound Chant instructional practice:

1. Teacher models the Letter-Sound Chant for "i": "'i,' iguana, /i/," and repeats.

2. Teacher asks students to join in the Letter-Sound Chant for "i": "'i,' iguana, /i/," and repeats.

3. Repeat steps 1-2 with "g."

4. Teacher says: "Great job! When we learn new letters, we also learn a keyword to help us unlock the sound. Knowing the sounds for letters helps us become better readers."
  • Refer to the Articulatory Gestures chart (see supporting materials) as needed to support students in producing sounds for each letter.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting 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:

"When we see the letter 'i,' how can we remember the sound it makes?" (Think of our keyword, "iguana," and listen for the first sound or the sound that "i" makes at the beginning of the word.)

"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 'iguana,' I _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with the Pre-Alphabetic and Early Partial Alphabetic groups. Teacher may meet briefly with the Late Partial and Early Full Alphabetic groups to get them started on independent work.

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.

Pre-Alphabetic:

  • Practice activity: Teacher guides students in sorting pictures sharing initial sounds with keywords ("i" and "g").
    • Teacher cuts apart Initial Sound Sort Pictures.
    • Teacher guides students in sorting pictures by initial sound (/i/ and /g/).
    • Students paste pictures on Sort sheet (2 column).
    • If time allows, consider providing students with their own copies of the Initial Sound Sort Pictures and Initial Sound Sort sheets and having them do the activity again independently.
  • Consider also reading Letter Stories: "i" or "g," found in the Learning Letters Book. After reading the story, practice skywriting the letter. Repeat the following day with the remaining letter.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Initial Sound Sort Pictures (one for teacher use)
    • Initial Sound Sort sheet (one for teacher use)
    • Scissors (one for teacher use)
    • Glue sticks (one per student)

Early Partial Alphabetic:

  • Practice activity: Students sort pictures sharing initial sounds with keywords ("i" and "g").
    • Teacher reviews the names of the objects in the pictures and supports students as they isolate and identify the first sound.
    • Students cut apart Initial Sound Sort Pictures.
    • Students sort and paste pictures on Initial Sound Sort sheet (2 column).
  • Consider also reading Letter Stories: "i" or "g," found in the Learning Letters Book. After reading the story, practice skywriting the letter. Repeat the following day with the remaining letter.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Initial Sound Sort Pictures (one per student)
    • Initial Sound Sort sheet (one per student)
    • Scissors and glue sticks (one of each per student)

Late Partial and Early Full Alphabetic:

  • Practice activity: Students sort pictures sharing initial and final sounds with keywords ("i" and "g").
  • Students cut apart Initial and Final Sound Sort Pictures.
  • Students sort and paste pictures on Initial and Final Sound Sort sheet (3 column).
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Initial and Final Sound Sort Pictures (one per student)
    • Initial and Final Sound Sort sheet (one per student)
    • Scissors and glue sticks (one of each per student)

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