Rationale:  This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence i = /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 = /i/. They will learn a meaningful representation (an icky, sticky lollipop!), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i = /i/.

 

Materials: Graphic of sticky lollipop; cover up critter; whiteboard or smart board Elkonin letterboxes for modeling for the teacher; individual Elkonin letterboxes for each student; letter tile manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: a,e,i,s,t,c,k,r,p,w,m,n,g,b,l,f,d; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read:  phoneme count(3): sit, sick, (4): trip, stick, bred, swim, pink, smack (5): spring, blink, blimp, swift, blend, clamp (6): sprint, script; decodable text, Liz is Six; assessment worksheet.

  

Procedures:

• 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 vowel words with “a” and “e,” and today we are going to learn about the short vowel i and its sound, /i/.  When I say /i/, I think of an icky, sticky, lollipop that I’ve licked and gotten stuck to my hair! [show image of lollipop].  Now, when we see the letter i today, we know it says /i/ like an icky, sticky lollipop. [write the letter i on the board].

• Say: Before we learn about spelling words with /i/, we need to listen for it in some words.  When I listen for /i/ in words, I hear the “i, i, icky” sound and my mouth gets a little bit wider. [make vocal gesture for /i/.] I’ll show you first: dip. I heard that i, i, icky i sound and I felt my mouth get a little wider [point to the corners of your mouth drawing out]. There is a short i in sit. Now I am going to see if it’s in dog. Hmmm, I didn’t hear the “i, i, icky” sound and my mouth didn’t get wider like it did with the short i. Now, you try. If you hear /i/, say “iiii, that’s icky.” If you don’t hear /i/, say “That’s not it.”  I want you to put your fingers on the corners of your mouth, too, so you can feel your mouth stretch when it makes the /i/ sound.  Is /i/ in bad, bit, cat, kick, shrimp, float? [Have children point to the corners of their stretched mouth when they feel /i/ say its name.]

• Say: What if I want to spell the word “trick?” “I can’t wait to go trick-or-treating for Halloween this year.” Trick means to confuse and deceive someone, or pull a prank on them. To spell “trick” in letterboxes, I first need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /t/ /r/ /i/ /ck/. I need 4 boxes.  I heard that /i/ just before the /ck/, so I am going to put a /i/ in the 3rd box.  The word starts with /t/, that’s easy; I need a “t.” Now I am going to say it slowly, /t/ /r/ /i/ /ck/.  I heard a /r/ so I am going to put an “r” right after the “t”.  I have one box left after the /i/ now. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word /t/ /r/ /i/ /ck/.  I heard the /ck/ after the /i/, so we’ll put a “ck” there, because in this word the “ck” sound is made by putting the letters “c” and “k” together.  /t/ /r/ /i/ /ck/, trick! Great job spelling out “trick!”  Now I will show you how I would read a tough word. [write the word “script” on the board and model reading the word.] I am going to start with the “i”, that letter says /i/. Now I am going to put the beginning letters with it: s-c-r-i, /scri/. Now I will put that chunk together with the p, /scrip/, now I will add the last letter, scrip-t, Oh, script, like, “She got a script to learn for the play.”

• Say: Now I am going to have you spell some words in letterboxes.  You will start out with 3 boxes for “sit.” “The children will sit at their desks.” Listen for that /i/ sound. I will check your spelling as I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] Now try another 3-box word.  This one is “sick.”  “Sally couldn’t come to school today because she is sick.”  You will need 4 letterboxes for the next word.  Listen for the beginning sound to spell in the first box, then listen for /i/. Here is the word: “trip.” “Over the summer, my family took a trip to Disney World.” [Allow children to spell remaining words, giving sentences and correct number of letterboxes for each word:

  • 4 letterboxes: stick, bred, swim, pink, smack

  • 5 letterboxes: spring, blink, blimp, swift, blend, clamp

  • 6 letterboxes: sprint, script

• 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 the word script on the smartboard and model reading it first].  First, I see there’s the “i” in the middle- there’s my icky, sticky /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//c/=/sc/+/r/=/scr/.  Now I’m going to blend that with /i/=/scri/.  Now I need to do the next letter, which is “p.” /scri/+/p/=/scrip/.  Now all I need is the end, /t/=/script/.  Script, that’s it!  Now it’s your turn, and I want you all to say them together!  [Show the words sit, sick, trip, stick, swim, pink, spring, blink, blimp, swift, sprint, script, the extra words brick and drink, and the pseudoword frint. Have children read the words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]

• Say: You’ve done a great job at reading words with i says /i/. Now we are going to read a book called Liz is Six. “Has anyone ever played baseball with a pig? I haven’t either, but in this book we are about to read, a girl named Liz does. She gets a baseball mitten for her birthday and decides to play baseball with her friends. The first one up to bat is pig. Let’s read the story to see if the pig gets a hit!” [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class re-reads Liz is Six aloud together, stopping between page turns to discuss the plot of the story and how it’s going.]

• Say: That was a fun story!  Who was your favorite character?  I really liked the pig; he was so cute!  Before we finish up our lesson on the icky, sticky /i/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have words that have the /i/ sound, and words that don’t.  Read each word and follow the directions to figure out what the picture is supposed to be. Read the words carefully to make sure your answers make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]

 

 

Resources:

Cushman, Sheila, Liz is Six. Carson, California. Educational Insights. (1990) pp. 1-9

 

Murray, Geri. Oh, I didn’t know! https://sites.google.com/site/readingwritingconnection/beggingreadingdesign

 

Wolanek, Madison. Icky, Sticky, Pig:  http://madisonwolanek.wix.com/lesson-designs#!beginningreading/cee5

 

Assessment Worksheet; Short “i” Words