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The Bride Says, "I Do!" Beginning Reading

Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long vowel correspondence i_e = /I/. In order to be able to read, children must learn to recognize the spellings that map word pronunciations. In this lesson children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling i_e. They will learn a meaningful representation of a bride saying, “I do”, they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i_e = /I/.

 

Materials: Graphic image of a bride saying, “I do”; cover-up critter, whiteboard or smartboard Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin boxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic letters for teachers: b, c, d, e, h, i, k, r, s, t, v, w; list of spelling words on poster or white board to read: ice, fit, ride, bike, twice, stride; decodable text: Nate’s Bike Ride, and assessment worksheet (link at bottom of the page)

 

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 vowels words with short i, like grid, and today we are going to learn about long i and the silent e that is used to make i say its name, /I/. When I say /I/ I think of how a bride says, “I do” [show graphic image]. If you notice Bride has our i_e spelling, this can be an easy way to help you remember i_e = /I/.

  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 /I/ and my most will be slightly open and my tongue will be slightly lowered, like this [make vocal gesture for /I/.] I’ll show you first: crime. I heard i say its name and my mouth open slightly with my tongue lowered [point to the mouth motion]. There is a long I in crime. Now I’m going to see if it’s in trick. Hmm, I didn’t hear i say its name its name. Now you try. If you hear /I/ say, “I do!” If you don’t hear /I/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in price, slick, spine, flame, drive, grid? [Have children hold a bouquet or propose when they hear /I/ say its name.]

  3. Say: 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 silent e to tell me to say I’s name. [Write i_e on the board.] This blank line here means there is a consonant after i, and at the end of the word there is a silent e signal. What if I want to spell the word spike? “Don’t step on that spike.” Spike means a sharp object in this sentence. To spell spike in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /s//p//I//k/. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /I/ just before the /k/ so I’m going to put an i in the 3rd box and the silent e signal outside the last box. The word starts with /s/, that’s easy; I need an s. Now it gets a little tricky so I’m going to say it slowly, */s//p//I//k/*.I have one empty box now. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /s//p//I//k/.] The missing one is /p/ = p.

  4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for Ice. Water in a frozen solid state, “Be sure not to slip on the ice.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? What about silent e, did you remember to put it outside the boxes? 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 that goes in the first box. Then listen for /I/ and don’t forget to put the signal silent e at the end, outside the boxes. Here’s the word: kite, “I am flying a kite”, kite. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: k-i-t-e and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: file; “could you file the records?” [Have volunteer spell it in the letterbox on the front board for children to check their work. [Repeat this step for each new word.] Next word. Listen to see if this word has /I/ in it before you spell it: shift; “shift the car into drive”. Did you need a silent e? Why not? Right, because we don’t hear I say its name. We spell it with our short vowel i. [volunteer spells it on the front board.] Did you remember to spell /k/ with a ck? Now let’s try 4 phonemes: crime, “who committed the crime?”. One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: strive, “I strive to do my best everyday.” Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.

  5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I’ll show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with spike on the top and model reading the word.] First I see there’s a silent e on the end; that’s my signal that the vowel will say its name. There’s the vowel I. It must say /I/. I’m going to use a cover-up to get the first part. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /s//p/ = /sp/. Now I’m going to blend that with /I/ = /spI/. Now all I need is the end, /K/ = /spIk/. Spike; that’s it. Now it’s your turn, everyone together. [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 and reading words with our new spelling for /I/: i_e. Now we are going to read a book called Nate’s Bike Ride. In this book Tim suggest to Nate that they go play outside, but Nate wants to stay inside and watch TV. He sits inside all day while Tim and Jan play outside. They decide to trick Nate into playing outdoors with them. Tim and Jan devise a trick, what will that sneaky tick be? And will they get Nate to play outside with them? Let’s read together to find out! [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 book aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]

  7. Say: That was a fun story. What was Tim and Jan’s trick? Right, they lured him outside with a kite and Tim’s new bike. What did Nate think about the bike ride and the kite? Right, he had fun and decided he should give the outdoors a chance. Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /I/ = i_e, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some pictures. Some words have a long i and some do not. It is your job to circle & color the words that say /I/. Recheck your answers to see if they say /I/. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

 

Resources:

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