Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence u = /u/. In order to be able to read fluently and effortlessly, 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 u. They will learn a meaningful representation by putting their hand on their chin like the thoughtful man saying “Uh?”. They will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence u = /u/.
Materials:
• Graphic image of thoughtful man
• Cover-up critter
• Whiteboard for modeling
• Class set of Letterboxes
• Class set of Letter tiles
• Word List: 2 phonemes (including review words)- {up, ox}; 3 phonemes-{cut, cat, hug, met, run, duck, club} ; 4 phonemes- {pump, huffs, frog}
• Letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u;
• List of spelling words on poster
• Decodable text: Fuzz and the Buzz
• Assessment worksheet
• Pencils
Procedures:
1. Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. Today we are going to learn the short vowel sound /u/. Short u makes the sound “uhhhhh”. When I say /u/ I think of a confused student saying “Uhhhhh, I dunno!” Can you put your pointer finger and thumb on your chin like you are pondering the question while saying “uhhh”? Now, take your fingers off your chin and look at the shape of your fingers! Do you see the “u”? Great!
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /u/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I say /u/ in words, my mouth is open with my tongue resting at the bottom of my mouth while making the sound deep in my throat. [Make vocal gesture for /u/]. I’ll show you first with a fun tongue tickler to practice /u/: Underneath Uncle Ulfred’s umbrella, is Uncle Ulfred’s ugly undershirt. I heard the /u/ sounding confused and felt my tongue flatten on the bottom of my mouth. Now it is your turn! Repeat the tongue tickler three times and put your fingers to you chin like the thoughtful man in the picture every time you hear the short u sound! On the third time stretch out each short u sound: Uuuunderneath Uuuuncle Uuuulfred’s uuuumbrella, is Uuuuncle Uuuulfred’s uuuugly uuuundershirt. There you can really hear that uhhh sound!
3. Before we learn about the spelling of /u/, we need to listen for it in some words. I am going to say two words and I want each of you to listen for the special /u/ sound in the words. I will read both words and then call on good listeners who raise their hands to tell me which word you hear the thoughtful mans “uuhh” in it. Now, do you hear the /u/ in cup or bowl? drum or piano? mommy or mummy?
4. Say: Let’s look at how we use the code to learn to read words with the confused /u/ sounds. What if we wanted to learn how to spell the word pump? “My tire is flat so I must pump it up.” To spell the word pump in letterboxes, we first need to know how many phonemes are in the word. So, we have /p/ /u/ /m/ /p/. We need four letterboxes. I heard the confused /u/ right after /p/ and before /m/. So, I am going to put the u in the second box. The word begins with /p/ so I am going to place the p in the first box. So, as of right now we have /d/ /u/, and after this we hear /m/ and /p/. So those will go in the last two boxes. And when you put them all together /p/ /u/ /m/ /p/ (stretching it out), you get pump.
5. Say: Now, we are going to spell out some words in letterboxes. You are going to start with two boxes. Our first word is up. The frog jumped up and down. What goes in the first box? What goes into the second box? I’m going to walk around the room and check for everyone’s spelling. [Walk around and observe]. For our next two words, you are going to need three letterboxes. Remember to listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box and then listen for the /u/. Our word is cut. I will cut the piece of paper for you. [Wait for students to spell the word]. Let’s double check our work. Look closely at how I spell cut using my letterboxes. Did you spell it the same way? Awesome, now let’s try it with a different word. The word is hug. I will give my mom a big hug when I get home. [Give students time to spell the remaining words and give sentences for each remaining words including review works: ox, cat, met, must, run, duck, club, jump, huffs, frog, crunch
6. Say: Now, I am going to let you read all of the words you just spelled. Before we do that, I am going to model how to read a word [show poster with word crunch on it and model how to read the word]. First, I see that the letter u is in the middle of the word so that signals it makes the /u/ sound. Now I am going to use my cover-up critter to put the beginning letters together, c-r-u. Now what comes after the u? The letters n, c, h, which make /n/ and /ch/. Now let’s put it all together: c-r-u-n-ch. “While eating my cereal, I made a crunch sound.” Do you think you are able to do it on your own? [Show students on the whiteboard the words: ox, cat, met, must, run, duck, club, jump, huffs, frog, crunch;; pseudoword: huzz. Then have students repeat the words in unison].
7. Say: Everyone has done an amazing job at learning our new sound /u/! Now we are going to read a new book called Fuzz and the Buzz. Fuzz is a baby cub who loves to run away from his problems when he is mad or upset. Fuzz runs away from his mom. What will happen to Fuzz when he is out in the woods alone? Let’s read to find out.
[Students will read Fuzz and the Buzz aloud with partners, alternating pages. Then reread the book to the class and have discussion questions.]
8. Before we finish our lesson on u = /u/, we are going to do a worksheet. On this worksheet, there is a list of words with a short u in them. Your job is to look at the words and match them to the correct picture. Before you match, I want you to make sure that all the words contain the /u/ sound. When finished matching, you can color the pictures if you have time. [Collect all worksheets to evaluate their progress].
Resources:
Bussman, Sally Kale. “Uhhhh I don’t know!” https://szb0094.wixsite.com/lessondesigns2017/beginning-reading
Cushman, Sheila. Fuzz and the Buzz Decodable Book, 1990, China.
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Murray, G. Oh, I didn’t know!. Reading Genie: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/bookindex.html
Assessment worksheet: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/alphabet/matchwordsandpix/shortu/
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