Rationale: The lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence o = /o/. 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 o. They will learn meaningful representation (a child yawning before bed saying “/o/”), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence o = /o/. 

 

Materials: Graphic image of a child yawning before bed with their mouth open saying o = /o/; cover-up critter; whiteboard or Smartboard; Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin boxes for each child; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: (o,f,f,l,p,c,t,d,g,b,e,r,k,s); list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: off, flop, cot, dog, bed, drop, blocks, flop; decodable text: The Tot and the Pot, 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 vowel words with other vowels, like short a (hat) and today we are going to learn about short o and “ah” that is used to make o say its name, /o/. When I say /o/ I think of when I am going to bed and am yawning because I’m so tired. Let’s look at our picture (show graphic image). This kid is in bed stretching his arms wide as he says /o/, /o/, /o/ as he yawns before falling asleep in his cozy pajamas and bed. 

2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /o/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /o/ in words, I hear the o say its name /o/ and my lips make a big o shape like this [Make vocal gesture for /o/.] I’ll show you first: hop. I heard o say its name and I felt my lips make a big o [make a circle motion around open lip]. There is a short o in hop. Now I’m going to see if it’s in pool. Hmmm, I didn’t hear o says its name and my lips didn’t open like a big o. Now you try. If you hear /o/ say, /o/, /o/, /o/ as you open your arms out wide and make a big yawn. If you don’t hear /o/ sit up straight and say “Nope, I’m wide awake!” Is it in block, leg, coat, boss, dock, gap? [Have children point to their open mouth when they hear the /o/ sound.] 

3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /o/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /o/ is with the letter o. [Write o on the board.] What if I want to spell the word flop? “When I am super tired, I flop into bed.” To spell flop in the letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word, so I stretch it out and count: /f/ /l/ /o/ /p/. I need 4 boxes. I heard the yawning o before the /p/ so I am going to place an o in the next to last box. The word begins with /f/, so I am going to place an f in the first box. Next, I hear a lulling l, so I am going to put an l in the next box. So far, I have /f/ /l/ /o/. Now all I’m missing is /p/ which is made by the letter p. So, p goes in the last box! [Sound out word once more]. /f/ /l/ /o/ /p/… “flop!” 

 

f

l

o

p

 

1. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for off. “We will turn off the lights before going to sleep.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers.] What goes in the second box? Did you remember what is special about hearing /f/ at the end of a word? (Double f). Did you remember to spell /f/ with ff? I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] You’ll need three letter boxes for the next word. Listen to the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for the yawning /o/. Here’s the word: cot, you can sleep on a cot; cot. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: c—o—t and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: dog; the dog takes a nap; dog. [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 /o/ in it before you spell it: bed; I am going to rest in my bed. Did you need a short o? Why not? Right, we are reviewing our creaky door short vowel e = /e/ from last week with this word, not using yawing short o = /o/. We spell it with our short vowel e. [Volunteer spells it out on the front board.] Now let’s try 4 phonemes: drop; be careful not to drop your toy. One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: blocks; we made a tower out of different blocks. Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.

2. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I will show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with blocks on the top and model reading the word]. First, I see there’s an o in the middle for the vowel; that’s my signal that the vowel will yawn and say /o/. 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.] /b/ /l/ = /bl/. Now I’m going to blend that with /o/ = /blo/. Now all I need is the end, /ck/ + /s/ = /blocks/. Block; 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.] 

3. Say: You’ve done a great job spelling and reading words with our new spelling for o = /o/. Now we are going to read a book called The Tot and the Pot. This is a story about a boy named Tom that finds a pot he can play with outside. What will Tot do with the pot? Let’s pair up and take turns reading to find out what will happen! [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 Tot and the Pot aloud together and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]

4. Say: That was a good story! Before we finish up with our lesson about a way to spell o = /o/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, students will read sentences containing the short o sound. After reading the sentences, they will use reading comprehension to place the picture with the corresponding sentence. 

 

References:

• Open Wide at the Doctor’s Office https://ast0028.wixsite.com/mysite/beginning-reading by Anne Scott Turner 

• The Tot and the Pot by Lili Henderson: https://www.readinga-z.com/phonics/decodable-books/

• Assessment worksheet (Read the Sentence, page 8) https://www.themeasuredmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/WrkshShrto.pdf

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