Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long vowel correspondence i_e = /I/. Children must learn to recognize the spellings that map word pronunciations in order to be a successful reader. In this lesson children will learn to recognize, spell and read words containing the spelling i_e. They will learn a meaningful representation by saying, “aye, aye captain” while making a salute when they see i_e. They will also spell and read words containing this spelling in a letter box lesson and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i_e.
Materials: Graphic image of pirate and matey; cover-up critter; whiteboard; Elkonin boxes for modeling; individual Elkonin letter boxes for each student; letter manipulates for each child and magnetic letters for teacher: i, e, d, m, f, v, c, p, t, g, w, h, l, s, r, k; list of spelling words on poster to read: ice, pipe, time, gift, twice, while, strike, milk, drive, jite; decodable text Di and the Mice; assessment worksheet.
Procedures:
1. Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned to read short vowel words with i, like hit, and today we are going to learn about long I and the silent e signal that is used to make I say its name, /I/. When I say /I/ think of a pirate and his mateys saying, “Aye, aye captain” to him [show graphic image]. Now let’s look at the spelling of /I/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /I/ is with the letter i and a signal e at the end of the word to tell me to say I’s name. [Write i_e on the board]. This blank line here means that there is a consonant after i and at the end of the word there is a silent e signal.
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /I/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /I/ in words, I hear i say its name and I felt my mouth open like I was about to yawn. [Make vocal gesture for /I/]. I’ll show you first: bike. I heard i say its name and I felt my mouth move like a yawn. There is a long I in bike. Now I’m going to see if it’s in him. Hmm, I didn’t hear i say it’s name and my mouth moved open like a smile instead of a yawn. Now you try. If you hear /I/ say, “Aye, aye captain.” If you don’t hear /I/ say, “No /I/ here!” Is it in price, cost, crime, craft, shoulder, spine? [Have children make a salute when they feel /I/ say its name].
3. What if I want to spell the word dime? “One dime equals ten pennies.” Dime is an amount of money in this sentence. To spell dime in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count /d//I//m/. I need 3 boxes. I heard that /I/ right before the /m/ so I’m going to put an i in the 2nd box and the silent e outside the last box. The word starts with /d/ so I know I need a d.
Now I’ll show you how I would read a word. [Write five on the board and model reading the word]. I’m going to start with the i_e which says /I/. Now I’m going to put the beginning letter /f/ so now I have /f//I/. I’ll add the last sound /v/, /f//I//v/, oh five like “I counted five flowers in the garden.”
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for ice. “The ice in my drink kept it cold all day.” Where does that silent e go? What about what goes in the first 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 to know what goes in the first box and then listen for /I/ and remember where that silent e goes. Here is the next word: pipe, Our pipe that carries the water to our sink has a leak in it; pipe. [Allow children to spell remaining words, giving sentences for each word: time, gift, twice, while, and strike.]
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled. [Show the words ice, pipe, time, gift, twice, while, strike, the extra words milk and drive, and the pseudoword jite. Have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]
6. Say: You’ve done a great job reading and reading words with our new spelling for /I/: i_e. Now we are going to read a book called Di and the Mice. Di just got a bike that she loves ride all around the park. One day she decides to bring her lunch with her and have a picnic. She looks down and sees that she has some new friends joining her. Who are her new friends and what will they do? Let’s pair up and take turns to read and see who Di’s new friends are and what they will do together. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After paired reading, come together as a class and read Di and the Mice, stopping between page turns to discuss the story.]
7. Say: That was a fun story! Did Di share her lunch? Yes she shared her peas, rice and pie with the mice! Before we finish our lesson about one way to spell /I/=i_e, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, there are some words missing. Your job is to look in the box of word choices and decide which i_e word fits best to make sense of each sentence. First try reading all the words in the box, then choose the word that fits best in the space. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
References:
Murray, Gerri, Oh, I didn’t Know!: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/doorways/murraybr.htm
Clark, Kelsey, Fly High Long I: http://klc0063.wixsite.com/kelseyclark/beginning-reading-1
Di and the Mice. Carson, CA: Educational Insights, 1990.
Assessment worksheet: https://www.education.com/download/worksheet/28214/finish-sentence-long-i-second.pdf
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