Words Rule | EL Education Curriculum

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Daily Learning Targets

  • Opening A: I can identify one- and two-syllable /ə/ words spelled with “e” and “o” in a shared text (poem). (RF.2.3)
    • I can use knowledge of vowel sounds to help me decode words with different spelling patterns.
  • Work Time A: I can read, identify the /ə/ sound, and spell /ə/ words spelled with “e” and “o.” (RF.2.3, L.2.2)
    • I can use knowledge of vowel sounds to help me decode words with different spelling patterns.
    • I can identify spelling patterns based on vowel sounds.

Ongoing Assessment

  • Observe students during Opening A. Determine whether they can identify words that share the
    /ə/ sound in two-syllable words from the poem: “Nighttime Fun.”
  • Observe students during Work Time A. Determine whether they can apply the spelling pattern “e” or “o” for /ə/ in writing words on whiteboards.
  • Exit ticket (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Agenda

Agenda

1. Opening (3–5 minutes)

A. Poem Launch: “Nighttime Fun”

2. Work Time (10 minutes)

A. Words Rule; One- and Two-Syllable/ə/Words Spelled “e” and “o”: “brother,” “monkey,” “lovely,” “kitten,” “some,” “even,” “chickens,” “covered,” “garden,” “front,” “among,” “covers,” “above,” “welcome”

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: "Nighttime Fun" for display (or write on chart paper for display)
    • Enlarged T-chart for Work Time A (optional)
  • Copy and cut apart Words Rule Word Cards for Work Time A (one set per pair).
  • Copy T-chart for Work Time A (one per pair).
  • Predetermine partners for Work Time A.
  • Gather materials for differentiated small group instruction (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Vocabulary

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

  • schwa, similar (L)
  • sheep, wool (T)

Materials

  • Enlarged poem: "Nighttime Fun" (or write on chart paper to display)
  • Enlarged T-chart (optional)
  • Words Rule Word Cards (one set per pair)
  • T-chart (one per pair)
  • Writing utensils (one per student)
  • Cycle 22 Assessment (optional)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Poem Launch: “Nighttime Fun”

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”):

“Now let’s read the poem, line by line. Open up your ears to find the rhyme. When we read together, we sound great. Listen up to the rhymes we make.”

  • Begin the Poem Launch instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: “Today we are going to read a poem together. First, you will follow along as I read. Then, we will read it together and think about the words we read.”

2. Teacher reads aloud from enlarged poem: “Nighttime Fun.”

3. Teacher says: “Now let’s read this poem aloud together. While we are reading, we can practice our rules of fluency so that we read smoothly, with expression, with meaning, and at just the right speed.”

4. Students read poem aloud with teacher.

5. Teacher says: “Great reading! Now take a minute to read the poem to yourself while you think about words that share the same sound. See if you can find some words that all share the same sound, and then you will share your thoughts with an elbow partner.”

6. Students read poem silently.

7. Teacher says: “Now turn to an elbow partner and talk about the words you discovered that share the same sound.”

8. Students share with an elbow partner. (words containing /ə/sound)

9. Teacher asks:

“What sound did you hear in many of the words in this poem?” (many had an /ə/ sound; it sounds like there were many two-syllable words with the short u or the short i sound).

10. Teacher says: “Right. We have learned that a schwa sound can be made by different vowels in a word with more than one syllable. When the schwa sound is spelled with the vowel ‘a’, and sounds like /ə/, like in the words across and panda. In words where the vowel ‘o’ is a schwa, it makes a sound like /ŭ/. In these words where the vowel ‘e’ is a schwa, it sounds like /ĭ/. Let’s read the poem together, listening closely for that schwa sound in words.”

11. Students read poem aloud with teacher.

12. Teacher says: “Great reading! Now we will take a closer look at those words you discovered.”

  • For students who need help in Opening A, including ELLs, consider providing picture cards of nouns in “Nighttime Fun” to support comprehension.
  • Consider that ELLs may have difficulty differentiating stressed versus unstressed syllables in words. As the schwa sound appears only in unstressed syllables, provide additional support and practice with these words as needed. Example:
    • Provide hand mirrors for students to see the difference in mouth appearance when saying stressed versus unstressed syllables.
  • Consider exaggerating the /ə/ sound as poem is read aloud to support students’ identification of words with the schwa sound.
  • Consider partnering students in the Partial Alphabetic phase with students in the Consolidated phase for step 5, allowing them to whisper-read the poem aloud.

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Words Rule: One- and Two-Syllable /ə/; Words Spelled “e” and “o”: “brother,” “monkey,” “lovely,” “kitten,” “some,” “even,” “chickens,” “covered,” “garden,” “front,” “among,” “covers,” “above,” “welcome”

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The Muffin Man”):

Teacher: “Can you take a closer look, a closer look, a closer look? Can you take a closer look at these words today?"

Students: “Yes, we’ll take a closer look, a closer look, a closer look. Yes, we’ll take a closer look to group the words today.”

  • Begin the Word Rules instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: “Remember, a schwa sound can be made by different vowels in a word with more than one syllable, and in some one-syllable words as well! The schwa sound comes in the unstressed syllable when a vowel doesn’t sound like it’s supposed to. In words where the vowel o is a schwa, it sounds like /ŭ/. In words where the vowel ‘e’ is a schwa, it sounds like /ĭ/. Let’s make a list of the words in our poem that have the schwa sound spelled with ‘e’ or ‘o’.”

2. Teacher asks:

“Who can identify one of those words?”

3. Student volunteers a word from poem; teacher writes word on the board.

4. Repeat step 2 until all words with the schwa sound spelled with “e” and “o” have been added to the list (“brother,” “monkey,” “lovely,” “kitten,” “some,” “even,” “chickens,” “covered,” “garden,” “front,” “among,” “covers,” “above,” “welcome”).

5. Teacher says: “So these are the words we read in the poem that share the schwa sound spelled with ‘e’ and ‘o’. Take a minute to examine these words, then share your thinking about how they are similar with an elbow partner.”

6. Students read words silently and notice similarities. (/ə/ sound spelled with “o” before “m,” “n,” “v,” and “th”; spelled with “e” at end of word as “en” ending)

7. Students share their thinking about similarities with an elbow partner.

8. Teacher asks:

“Who would like to share what they noticed about these words?” (/ə/ sound spelled with “o” before “m,” “n,” “v,” and “th”; spelled with “e” at end of word as “en” ending)

9. Teacher says: “Yes! When we hear the schwa sound before ‘m,’ ‘n,’ ‘v,’ and ‘th,’ it is spelled with ‘o.’ Instead of its long or short sound, the o makes a schwa sound similar to a u. When we hear the schwa in the second syllable before an ‘n,’ it is spelled with ‘e.’ Listen for the vowel sound in the second syllable of ‘garden’. Instead of its long or short sound, the e makes a schwa sound similar to an i.”

10. Teacher says: “Let’s put these words into two groups: schwa sound spelled with ‘e’ and schwa sound spelled with ‘o.’ I’ll read the word, then we will decide where to write it on this T-chart. The first word is ‘brother.’ Think of where you hear the schwa sound to identify the spelling with ‘e’ or ‘o.’”

11. Teacher asks:

“Does this word go in the ‘e’ column or in the ‘o’ column?” (“o” column)

“And how did you know the schwa sound in ‘brother’ is spelled with ‘o’?” (it sounds like /ŭ/; because it comes before “th”)

12. Teacher writes “brother” in the “o” column on the enlarged T-chart.

13. Teacher says: “Now let’s practice reading and writing these words with a partner. First, you will read a word, and your partner will write it on the chart under the  ‘e’ or ‘o’ column, and you will check it together with the Word Card. Then you will switch roles so your partner will read a Word Card and you will write the word in the ‘e’ or ‘o’ column. When you have written all the words on the T-chart, you will take turns reading the words.”

14. Teacher distributes Words Rule Word Cards and a T-chart to students as they partner together to practice sorting /ə/ words.

15. Students divide Words Rule Word Cards equally with partners and take turns reading /ə/ words:

      • Student A reads word.
      • Student B identifies each /ə/sound as spelled with “e” or “o.”
      • Student B writes word in appropriate column.
      • Students switch roles.
      • Students take turns reading all words written.

  • The schwa sound is noted as “/ə/". It approximates the the short "u" sound (/u/) when spelled with "o" and approximates the short "i" sound (/i/) when spelled with "e." Although the sound of schwa is not exactly the same as /u/ or /i/, providing this connection will help students identify the schwa sound in words.
  • Consider exaggerating the /ə/sound in words read aloud to support students’ identification of the schwa sound.
  • Consider giving a sentence containing each word to help support vocabulary development for students.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning

  • In the Closing, students reflect on what it means to be an independent reader and how they can become increasingly more independent during whole group instruction and differentiated small group instruction. Consider asking one or more of the following questions to support students' understanding of independence (encourage specificity in responses):

"What does it mean to be independent?" (examples: be able to do something on your own, be able to help myself with something)

'What does it mean to be an independent reader?" (examples: have knowledge and skills to problem solve words, have "stamina" or the ability to stick with reading for an extended period of time, know your strengths and weaknesses)

  • Consider reviewing reflections from Modules 1-3 to remind students that throughout the year they have learned many skills needed to be an independent reader. They took responsibility for their learning, set goals for themselves, and collaborated with their peers throughout the year. Consider asking one or more of the following questions (encourage specificity in responses):

"What knowledge and skills do you have now that you did not have earlier in the year?"

"How did you acquire that knowledge/skill?"

  • For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Consider providing sentence frames. Examples:
    • "One thing an independent reader has to be able to do is _____."
    • "As an independent reader, I can _____."
    • "I can show independence by _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with students in the Partial Alphabetic and Full Alphabetic groups. If possible, teacher should also meet with the Consolidated Alphabetic group at least once per week.

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 for more details (see K-2 Skills Resource Manual).

Partial Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students build schwa words spelled with "e" and "o" using Letter Tiles (see K-2 Word List in the Skills Resource Manual for examples).
    • Students check spellings with Word List.
    • Students write list of words created as exit ticket.
    • Look over the exit tickets with student(s). Analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.
  • Use the Assessment Conversion chart to determine appropriate Grade 1 lessons and Activity Bank ideas to use in daily small group instruction.
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Letter Tiles (not included in supporting materials)
    • Paper and writing utensils (one per student; for writing words built with Letter Tiles)

Full Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students complete Sentence Builders with schwa words spelled with "e" and "o" (found in supporting materials).
    • Look over the exit tickets with student(s). Analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.
  • Write a sentence with schwa words spelled with "e" and "o."
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.
  • Use the Assessment Conversion chart to determine appropriate Grade 1 lessons and Activity Bank ideas to use in daily small group instruction.
  • Activity Bank activities:
    • An Activity Bank activity from the Fluency category (F)
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Sentence Builders (one per student)
    • Word List for Sentence Builders (one per student)
    • Paper and writing utensils (optional; for students to write sentences)

Consolidated Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students complete Sentence Builders with schwa words spelled with "e" and "o" (found in supporting materials).
  • Look over the exit tickets with student(s). Analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.
  • Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.
  • Consider inviting students to write an article for the Sunnyside Gazette, using as many schwa words spelled with "e" and "o" as they can.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Sentence Builders (one per student)
    • Word List for Sentence Builders (one per student)
    • Paper and writing utensils (optional; for students to write an article for the Sunnyside Gazette)

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