Susan's Lesson Designs

Procedures

1.  Say: We have already learned to read short vowel words with o, like top, and today we are going to learn about the sound /ow/ and how ow make that sound. When I hear /ow/ I think of when I stub my toe or jam my finger and it hurts really bad, so I say, “OWW”[Show graphic image]. When we say that sound we know to write ow[write ow on the board].

2.  Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /ow/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /ow/ in words, I feel my lips go from making a big o to making a very little o. [Make vocal gesture]. I’ll show you first: down. I heard /ow/ and I felt my lips make a big circle and then a little circle. Now what about pot. Hmm I didn’t hear /ow/ and my mouth was more open like a yawn. Now you try. If you hear /ow/ say, “Oww that hurts”. If you don’t hear /ow/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in cloud, nose, paint, now, blow, cane? [Have children make a circle motion around their lips when they hear /ow/]

3. Say: What if I want to spell the word vow? “The bride and groom exchange vows.” Vow means to to make a promise. To spell vow in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /v//ow/. I need 2 boxes. I heard the /ow/ at the very end, so I’m going to put it in the last box. I hear /v/  before the /ow/ sound, so I’m going to put an v  in the first box. /v//ow/. Now I’m going to show you how I would read a tough word. [Display a poster with plow and model reading the word.] I’m going to start with the ow; that part says /ow/. Now I’m going to put the beginning letters with it: p-l, /pl/, pl-ow, /pl-ow/. Oh, like the farmer had to plow the field.

4.  Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for cow. “The cow was in the field eating grass.” 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 spell in the first box. Brow, when you’re angry you clench your brow. [clown, rock, boat, brown, scowl.]

5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you have already spelled. [Show the words cow, brow, clown, rock, boat, brown, scowl, the extra words crown and growl, and the pseudoword powel. Have children read the 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 at reading words with our new spelling: ow=/ow/.Now we are going to read a book called The Clown Who Lost Her Smile. This is a story about a clown that stopped smiling and everyone in the town wants to help him find his smile. Let’s pair up and take turns reading The Clown Who Lost Her Smile and see if she ends up finding her smile. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads The Clown Who Lost Her Smile chorally, stopping between page turns to discuss the story.]

7.  Say: Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /ow/, I want you to see how you can solve a reading problem. There is a crossword puzzle with words missing from sentences and I need you to figure it out. Use the number of spaces that it gives you to be a hint. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]