Phonics/Word Study Lesson

Teach a Principle
Principle: Letter Sounds
What is it, as a teacher, I need to understand about this principle
Each letter makes a variety of sounds. For example, A can sounds like aaa, ah, or ae.
When these letter sounds are put together, words are formed. Letter position can impact the way
a letter or word is pronounced, and a single letter can even make different sounds in the same
word when used more than once. In the English language letters are divided into two categories:
consonants and vowels. The difference between these two categories is all about the sound:
vowels can be spoken unobstructed by the mouth, with breath owing freely, while consonants
are interrupted or limited by the position of the tongue, teeth or lips. As confusing as it already
is, letters can also be silent. This makes the concept very difcult for young learners, so a lot of
patience and practice is needed.
The next step is to explain the principle in student language.
There are 26 different letters in the alphabet. We can sort these letters into two groups: vowels
and consonants. The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. The rest of the letters are
consonants. When letters are put together, they create words. For example, C-A-T spells cat.
Different sounds can be heardkuh-aa-tuh. Each sound represents a letter. Letters can have a
few different sounds, depending on what word they are used in, or where the are in a word.
Teach (5-10 minutes)
This is a minilesson, usually 5-10 minutes in length.
Materials Green Eggs and Ham by. Dr. Suess; Memory matching game cards: pencil and
paper
Principle My student and I will explore different letter sounds together through reading and a
memory match game where the student identies and remembers beginning word sounds. This
will hopefully reinforce the verbal differences between letters to help develop my student as a
reader.
Detailed steps in teaching minilesson
I will begin by reading the book Green Eggs and Ham aloud to my student, pausing to sound out
different words along the way. For example, in the word green each part can be clearly heard
(guh-ruh-ee-nuh). I chose Green Eggs and Ham because it is a book children are familiar with,
and the words and simple to pronounce and talk about.
Apply (15 minutes)
After reading the book, my student and I will discuss different word sounds that we notice, and
what makes each letter unique.
To reinforce the concept of letter sounds, my student and I will play a memory matching game.
She will have to place a picture with its beginning letter sound. For example, a picture of a dog
will be match with the letter Dd. The words will be basic sight words that she should be able to
easily identify and match.
Share (5 minutes)
As a nal evaluation, I will have my student write out three words for me, sounding out each
part. For example, I may ask her to write the word car, while having her verbally sound out
each letter. Ideally, these will be words not already used in the activity, so they will be fresh, and
a true test of her understanding.
Common Core Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2.D
Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.