The Confused Caveman Says ‘Uhhhh’

Beginning Reading Design

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Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence u = /u/. Children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing u. They will learn a meaningful representation (caveman saying “uhhh”), they will spell and read words in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence u = /u/.

 

Materials: Graphic image of caveman scratching his head and saying “uhhh”, cover-up critter, whiteboard or smart-board Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin boxes for each student, letter manipulative for each child and magnetic or smart-board letters for teacher: u, p, t, b, g, o, l, j, m, n, c, h, f, a, s, r, t; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: up, tub, gut, pot, jump, lunch, fast, crust, stump; decodable book: Fuzz and the Buzz, and 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 vowels a, e, i, and o.  Lets review these vowels really quick.  The short vowel a says /a/, which sounds like a baby crying.  The short vowel e says /e/, which sounds like a creaky door opening.  The short vowel i says /i/, which sounds like something icky on your hands.  The short vowel o says /o/, which sounds like what you say at the doctor.  Today, we are going to learn about short u. When I say /u/, I think of a caveman being confused and scratching his head while saying “uhhh” (show graphic image).

  

2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /u/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /u/ in words, I hear the same sound as a caveman would make when he is confused. [Make vocal gesture for /u/.] Let’s stretch out the /u/ in a tongue tickler. “Uncle Umberto’s umbrella is unable to open up.” Let’s say it slowly and listen for /u/ : Uuuncle Uuumberto’s uuumbrella is uuunable to open uuup. Very good! You all remembered the confused caveman sound. I’ll show you how I can listen for /u/ in the word run. Rrruuuuunn I heard /u/ and I felt my mouth open wide. There is a short u in run; I’m going to see if it’s in dig, dddiiiggg, I didn’t hear /u/ and my mouth didn’t open up wide. Now you try. If you hear /u/ say, “There’s the caveman!” If you don’t hear /u/ say, “That’s not it.” Is /u/ in tub, test, hug, top, crust?

 

3. Say: What if I want to spell the word duck? “The duck was swimming in the pond”. To spell in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes are in the word, so I stretch it out and count: /d/u/k/. I need 3 boxes. I heard /u/ just before the /k/, so I’m going to put the in the second letterbox. The word starts with /d/, so that tells me I need the letter d in the first box. Last, I hear /k/, so I need the letters ck in the last box to complete my spelling of the word duck. 

 

4. Say: Now I want you to spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out with the easy words that need two boxes, such as up. “The balloon floated up into the sky”.  What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? I’ll check your spellings while I walk around the room. [Observe the students’ progress]. You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for the other letters and /u/. Here’s the word: tub. “She took a bubble bath in the tub.” “Tub”. [Allow children to spell remaining words: gut, pot, jump, lunch, fast, crust, and stump]. Remind students to listen to each word to see if they hear /u/ before spelling.

 

5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you have spelled, but first I’ll show you how I would read the word. [Show poster with the word stung printed]. I will sound it out using my cover up critter. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /s/t/ = /st/ Now I’m going to blend with that /u/ = /stu/. All I need now is the end, /ng/ = /stung/. Stung! Like, “He got stung by the bee.” Now it’s your turn. [Have children read words in unison. After, call on individual students to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]

 

6. Say: You have done a great job spelling and reading words with /u/. Now we are going to read a book called Fuzz and the Buzz. This book is about a bear cub named Fuzz. One day, Fuzz is outside playing and he keeps getting into trouble.  Will Fuzz make it back home in one piece? Let’s read the book to find out!       [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages while teacher walks around room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]

 

7. Say: That was a fun story. It looks like Fuzz did make it back home. Before we finish up with our lesson about /u/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have pictures and a word bank. Your job is to look at each picture and select the correct word. Take your time and be sure to look at all the choices and choose the best one in the word bank! Let’s begin. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

 

 

Resources:

 

Audrey Blair, Say Ah!

 http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/connections.html

 

What are Coverup Critters?

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/materials.html

 

Worksheet: http://www.funfonix.com/worksheets/book1_page34.php

 

Decodable Book: Phonics Readers- short vowels: Fuzz and the Buzz. Educational Insights, 1990.

 

Additional lesson designs:

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/connections.html

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