Bethany Linkous
Spelling Unit on Short Vowels (a,e,i)
Target Group and Rationale: This unit is designed for students in second grade who are in the middle to late stage of letter name alphabetic. They are using but confusing short vowels seen in such errors as slad for sled and deg for dig. These students have a good understanding of beginning and final consonants and some digraph and blend knowledge. The vowels a, e, and i were the ones giving the students the most trouble. Prior to teaching this unit I would start by comparing word families with mixed vowels using word sorts. Now that the students are consistently using short vowels in their spellings, we are going to examine the CVC pattern across words that have the short a, e , and i vowel sounds. I decided to begin the unit by contrasting the short a vowel with short i because the sounds are fairly distinct from each other. In the second week I would then add words that have the short e vowel. The words that I chose for this unit are based on the spelling inventory that I administered with these students.
Objectives:
The students will be able to explain the CVC short vowel pattern.
The students will be able to identify and contrast short a vowel words from short i vowel words.
The students will be able to correctly spell the 24 words presented in the weekly word sort.
The students will work cooperatively in partners or in small groups throughout the week to carry out reinforcement activities.
Materials:
2 sets of word sheets for children (1 each week)
scissors
game board: Butterfly Race (Week 2)
Supplemental Book (Week 2): Waiting for Wings
by Lois Ehlert
pocket chart can be helpful but not necessary
Day One: Introducing the Sort
- Have the students cut apart their words prior to the lesson and try to read them .
Questions to introduce the sort:
1. Are there any of these words that you do not know? (Discuss the meanings of the words students are unsure of)
2. What do you notice about these words? (take various answers but hopefully someone might notice that they either have an a or an i in the middle of each word )
3. How might we sort these words? (by short a and short i vowels)
Model the beginning of the sort:
1. Lay down the well known words cat and big. These words will be your headers for this sort.
What vowel sound do you hear in cat? In big?
2. Select another word like mad. What vowel sound do you hear in this word? We will put it right under cat. Continue to model 4 or 5 more words and include one of the “oddball” words (saw, was). Children should conclude that it does not have either sound and you should explain that it goes in a third category called “oddball”.
3. Ask the children to sort the rest of their words by the vowel sound in each word. The sort should look something like this:
Short A Short I Oddball
cat big saw
trap mix was
drag this
mad fish
flat sit
hat trip
gas crib
wag dig
ham him
man did
back sick
4. As a class read all of the words together in each column to check for the vowel sound.
Repeat the Sort:
1. Mix up all your word cards by pushing them in from the sides. Now sort them again individually by the short a and short i vowel sounds as you say each word to yourself. As students sort the words walk around and ask individuals why they are sorting as they are.
2. After all have sorted ask the children to tell you what they have noticed about the words. Probe students until they come up with something like this: Words generally have the short vowel sound when there is only 1 vowel in between two or more consonants. Explain that this is called the CVC pattern that represents most short vowels.
3. Store words in an envelope for use tomorrow or for homework.
Homework: Sort words again at home and explain why you have sorted them the way you did.
Day Two: Review the Sort
Ask students to get out their words from yesterday and sort them again. Ask them to tell you what they know about the words with questions like those from yesterday. Have students do a writing sort with the words.
Day Three: Buddy Work
Students work with a partner to do a Blind Sort. After headers are laid down one child holds all the words and calls them out to the other child. The child indicates where the word should be sorted and the first child then lays it down. After all the words have been sorted roles are reversed.
Homework: Do a blind sort with someone at home
Day Four: Extending the Generalization
Students do a wordhunt where they look through their current reading materials to find additional words with the short a and short i vowel sounds. These words are then added to their written sort from earlier this week.
Homework: Wordhunt
Day Five: Testing
Words are called aloud. You might only call out part of the list. Children may also have the chance to play word study games on this day that reinforces the short a and i vowel sounds and the CVC pattern.
Second Week of the Short Vowel Unit: (a,e,i)
This week words have been added that have the short e vowel sound.
Additional Objective from Week 1:
Students will be able to identify and contrast the short vowels of a, i, and e.
Day One:
Questions to introduce the sort:
1. Are there any of these words that you do not know? (Ask children to read and give the meanings of any words you think they may not be sure of)
2. Do these words have the same vowel sound? No
3. How are these words different from the words you sorted last week? (words with short e vowels have been added)
4. What vowel sounds are in these words? (short a, e, i)
Model the beginning of the sort similar to last week and then have the students finish sorting the words on their own. The final sort should look something like this:
short a short e short i oddballs
snap get hit ball
fast wet twig car
glad tell chin
that hen pink
flag bed brick
camp sled slip
step pig
beg
nest
1. Read down each column to check for the vowel sound.
Review again the CVC pattern seen in most words with a short vowel.
2. Point out the preconsonatal nasals seen in camp and pink.
Talk again about the oddball category. Explain that the words ball and car do not have the short a vowel sound. Explain that the a is being controlled by the l in the word ball and the r in car. Can you think of any other words that are like ball or car? (fall, all, tall/ bar, star, far)
Future word study lessons can explore the influence of l or r on the vowel.
3. Have the students scramble their word cards and resort individually.
Day Two: Review the Sort
Have students resort their words individually. Then have them do a writing sort with their words.
Day Three: Draw and Label
Have students select 10 words to draw and label.
Day Four: Speed sort with a partner
Day Five: Assessment and games
Throughout this week, continue to discuss what students notice about these words and of the short vowel CVC pattern. During this week students can play the game called Butterfly Race that reviews the short vowels a, e, i. This game is an adaption of the Follow the Pictures game in our textbook. It is intended for groups of 2-4 students. I created the butterfly theme because one of the units that second graders study in science is the life cycle of the butterfly. A great read aloud book to use with this game would be Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert. An activity that you can do with the students is have them pick out words that have the short a, e, and i vowels sounds as you read the book aloud.
In the following weeks words with the short vowels o and u can be added to the sorts.