Words Abilities Lesson Plan

Lesson Title: ​Exploring blends SL, SW, and SN

Name Date Grade /Age Number Length
Esther Kim 11/1/18 Second Grade 4 35 min.

Context
This school includes Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) and Co-Taught, Full Inclusion classrooms
from grades 2-8. Roughly 90% of the students are Hispanic, 66% are identified as an EL and 85%
of all students speak a language other than English as their first language.

This lesson is designed as a small group instruction for students in an SEI classroom. In this
classroom, most of the students’ ELD proficiency is a level 4 or 5, with the exception of one
level 3 student. All four students in this group are placed at a WIDA ELD level 4.

As a whole class, the students previously learned​ the concept of a digraph, which is the
combination of two letters representing one sound. ​They will now​ be introduced to the
concept of blends, which is a pair or group of letters that work together using each of their
individual sounds.​ They will be able to ​distinguish the difference between those two concepts
and familiarize themselves/practice sounding out and identifying the words that start with /sl/
sn/ and /sw/.

This instructional period will focus​ on the blends /sl/, /sn/, and /sw/. Students will explicitly
hear the difference between the sounds and will familiarize themselves with the spelling. They
will also practice sounding out each blend and identify the words that start with “sl” “sn” and
“sw”. ​This unit will help ​the students efficiently differentiate between the blends /sl/ /sn/ /sw/
and further differentiate between consonants /l/, /n/, and /w/ that is paired with the beginning
consonant /s/.​ Students will use​ flashcards and participate in a word sort to distinguish and
identify the words that begin with “sl-”, “sn-”, and “sw-”.

Rationale
As all four students are Spanish speakers and Spanish words never start with an “s” sound.
Students frequently confuse the “s” sound with the “es” sound which can lead to pronunciation
such as “I am from Espain”. Thus, it is important for the students to practice sounding out
words starting with “s” and be familiarized with these blends.

The picture sort will help with familiarizing with the words that start with the blends “sl” “sn”
and “sw” and strengthen their phonological awareness. It will also help them understand the
patterns of the sort, which will be useful for future word sorts.
Standards
Standard Activity
WIDA ELD STANDARD 1: Social & Instructional
Language
● English language learners communicate for
social and instructional purposes within In this lesson, students will use social and
the school setting. instructional language to participate in the lesson.
They will also engage in pair work. Example tasks
and contexts for language use include listening to
CCSS. ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1 : Participate in and following directions for pair and group work,
collaborative conversations with diverse partners negotiating turn taking during partner work, and
about ​grade 2 topics and texts​ with peers and conversing with a partner and the teacher about
adults in small and larger groups. the word sorting activity

WIDA ELD Standard 2: The Language of Language
Arts
● English language learners communicate
information, ideas and concepts necessary
for academic success in the content area
of language arts.
In this lesson, students will use the language of
Language Arts to participate in a blends word
study and picture sort. Example tasks contexts for
language use include listening to the read aloud,
responding to simple questions, identifying the
sounds of the blends, and identifying words that
begin with /sw/, /sn, and /sl/. Students will
interact with the following content area words and
expressions during the lesson: sound, letter, word,
first, beginning, starts with, begins with, sounds
like, same, different, sort.

Objectives
Content Objectives

1. SWBAT identify and sound out the blends /sl/ /sn/ and /sw/.
2. They will be able to identify a few words that begin with “sl” “sn” and “sw” and
distinguish the sounds.
Language Objectives
1. SWABT differentiate between sounds and words beginning with blends /sl, /sw/, and
/sn/
2. SWBAT discuss and explain their word sorts using pre-taught sentence frames such as “I
think…because....”, “This sounds like…”
3. SWBAT listen to the read aloud and respond to questions ex) identifying the words that
begin with the blends

Materials
- Flashcards/picture cards (pre-made by instructor)
- Picture sort materials- Blends: SL, SN, SW
❏ Pre-cut pictures and letter heads
 ❏ WtW website:
http://pdtoolkit.pearsoncmg.com/wordstheirway6e/sort-games/36/1163/view/
- Children’s literature text: National Geographic Readers: Swing Sloth! : Exploring the
Rainforest (Neuman, 2015)

Procedure (The How)

Opening​ :

1. Explain the concept of blends and how they are different from digraphs which they have
previously learned. Explain the objective of this lesson is to learn three blends: /sw/,
/sl/, and /sn/ (3 min)
2. Introduce the flashcards that contains the new blends and a picture representing a word
that starts with the blend /sw/ “swim”, /sl/ “slip”, then /sn/ “snail” and ask, ​“What
sound do you think “sl” makes?” M ​ odel the sounds and the word and have the students
repeat after. (3 min)
Development:

3. Introduce the ​contrast​ between /sw/ /sl/ and /sn/ - emphasize the consonant /w/, /l/, and
/n/ that comes after the beginning consonant sound /s/. Introduce read aloud: Swing Sloth!.
Instruct students to think about words that begin with the /sw/ /sn/ and /sl/ sound while
listening to the story. (7 min)

4. Review the new flashcards and have the students practice repeating the sounds. (2 min)

5. Ask the students to think about other words that begin with “​sw”, “sl”, and “sn” (​students
may identify words such as swan, slime, and snow) (2 min)

6. Begin Picture Sort Activity: introduce the headers SW, SL, and SN. Hold up each picture and
identify the pictures in the sort as a group. (2 min)

7. Model the activity, emphasizing the initial sounds “sw” “sl” and “sn “”,.
“What is this a picture of? *wait for the students’ to answer*
Yes, this is a picture of a swan.
Listen to the first sound in swan. “Sw.” Will it go under slide, snail or swing?
Swan starts the way swing does, so I’m going to put this picture under SW.”
*put the swan picture under the SW heading* (2 min)

8. Have the students pair up and complete the sort, placing each picture under the headings
according to the initial sound. Instruct students to sound out each word before placing it in a
column. Make sure to help identify the sounds and words of any pictures that certain students
may not know to differentiate. (5 min)
 9. After sorting, ask students how the words in each column are alike/how or why they
decided to put the pictures under the respective headings. Make sure to repeat what and why
the student who presented the material correctly did so:
“Yes, good job! They are alike because they have the same beginning sounds, “swa​ n, ​sw​ing​”
(3 min)
Closing​:
10. Review main concept of lesson- “Today, we learned about the blends “sw” “sl” and “sn”
and their sounds. We also learned words that start with “sw” “sl” and “sn”. “ Then, review each
flashcards one more time as a group - sound out the blends and words out loud. (5 min)

11. As an exit ticket, ask each student will be asked to give an example of one word that starts
with /sw/, /sl/, or /sn/. They can use the picture sort for guidance. Then, they can go back to
their seats. (1 min)

Assessment
Students will be assessed ​during the lesson when the teacher asks to sound out the blends and
share out the words they identify in the picture sort. ​The teacher will also be observing and
listening​ to the students collaborate during pair work. The picture sort will be indicative of the
students’ comprehension of the lesson by demonstrating their ability to distinguish between
the words that start with “sl”, “sn” and “sw” and explaining the reason behind their decision.
Lastly, the ​exit ticket ​will serve as the strongest assessment of each individual student’s
understanding of the lesson since the students will have to identify a word and distinguish the
sounds on their own.

Extensions:
1. Independently re-read the book Swing Sloth! and write the words that start with /sw/
/sn/ and /sl/ in their word study notebook. Encourage the students to read out loud as
they are reading. The instructor will later check the notebook to see if they have
identified the words correctly or if they have missed any.

2. Have the students create a chart with a separate column for each blend, similar to the
word sort headings, in their word study notebook. Have them come up with words on
their own that begin with /sw, sn, sl/. If they have trouble finding words, instruct them
to go find level-appropriate books (as indicated previously) and find words there. The
students will also be highly encouraged to refer to the word wall.
Beyond the lesson: The next lesson will focus on​ writing the words that start with the blends
/sw, sl, sn/ in a sentence. They will be told to identify words that begin with the blends /sw, sl,
sn/ and given a sheet with sentence frames to help guide their writing. The students will be
shown an image on the screen of children playing outside in the snow, on sleds, and swings, at
a Christmas Fair. This image will provide context to the writing. The students will be expected to
be creative in their writing and make up a story as to what they think is happening in the
picture, specifically using the words snow, sled, and swing to practice writing the blends. Then,
they will present their writing/story to a partner. The instructor will be going around to hear the
student’s work and pronunciation of the blends as an informal assessment. The writing will also
be graded as a formal assessment.