Beginning Reading Design

Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the vowel correspondence oo = /u/. By correlating oo = /u/ with the sound you make when you see something you really like, beginning readers will recognize and remember this sound when they see or hear it in words. In the lesson children will learn to spell, read, and recognize words with oo. With the representation of saying "Ooooo!"students will be able to spell and read words with this digraph. The end activity will allow students to match oo words to pictures they already know. The lesson will ensure students develop a phonemic awareness of the digraph. This heightened recognition will lead to quicker recall and decoding of words, which will then progress into fluent reading. 

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Materials: Image of monkey saying "Ooooo;" cover-up critter; whiteboard or SMARTboard; display Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin boxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or SMARtboard letters for teacher: g, o, o, d, z, h, p, m, n, e, l, b, r, s; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: spoon, food, hoop, moon, hope, gloom, brooms; decodable text: Pig on the Loose and assessment worksheets (below). 

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Procedures:

1.  Say, "In order to become quick and successful readers we have to fully learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned short vowels, like how o tells us to say /o/ such as in the word, 'top,' and some long vowels like when o is followed by an e it says /O/, such as in the word, 'rope.' Today we are going to learn a special vowel sound with o when there are two of them paired together. When two o's are paired together, they say /u/. When I hear that I think of seeing a beautiful sunset or shiny piece of jewelry and saying, "Oooo! I got to try not to drool!" [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 pair of o's say /u/, and my lips make a small o-shape like this. [Make vocal gesture for /u/]. I'll show you first with the word, 'spoon.' I heard the two o's say /u/ and felt my lips make a little o-shape [make a circle around pursed lips]. There is a pair of o's in spoon. Now I am going to see if it's in the word 'open.' Hmmm, I didn't hear a pair of o's say /u/, and my lips didn't make that tiny little o-shape. Now you try. If you hear /u/ say, "Ooooo, try not to drool!" If you don't hear /u/ say, "I don't like that." Is /u/ in boat, tiger, or zoo? [Have children make circle motion around their pursed lips when they feel the pair of o's say /u/.]

3. Say, “Now let's look at how we spell /u/. One way to spell /u/ is with two o's sitting right next to each other in a word. These o's are best friends, and when they are together they always say, "Oooo, try not to drool!" in a word. [Write oo on the board]. So what do I do if I want to spell the word 'food.' To spell 'food' in letterboxes I need to first count how many phonemes I have in the word, which means I need to stretch it out: /f/-/u/-/d/. I heard three separate sounds, so I need three letterboxes. I heard /u/ right in the middle between /f/ and /d/. That means I am going to put that one right in the middle. Now remember that in order to make the /u/ sound we need two o's. But because they are best friends they get to share the same box. The word starts with /f/, so that's easy, that's a f. And I heard a /d/ at the end, so we know it ends with d. Now let's sound out each box one more time to make sure it's right: /f/-/u/-/d/, food. Great, we did it right!"

4. Say, “Now I am going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You'll start out with an easy two boxes for the word, 'zoo.' What should go in the first box? [Respond to children's answers.] What goes in the second box? Did you remember to put the two o best friends in the same box together? I'll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] You'll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box, then listen for /u/ and don't forget to put the two o's together. The word is 'hoop,' like in the sentence, 'I shoot my basketball into the hoop outside.' Hoop. [Allow children to spell words]. Time to check your work, so watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: h-o-o-p. Did you spell it the same way? Try another word with three boxes. This time the word is 'moon.' [Have volunteers spell it in the letterbox on the front board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Next word. Now be careful to listen for /u/ before you spell it. The word is, 'hope.' For example in the sentence, "I hope we can go to the fair tomorrow." Hope. This word does have an o, but does it have the pair of o's that say /u/? Why not? That's right, we didn't hear the "Oooo, try not to drool!" /u/ sound! Did you remember to put silent e on the outside of the boxes? Now let's try a word with four letterboxes, 'gloom.' 'Gloom' can mean dark or sad, like, "He disappeared into the gloom of the forest." Gloom. Alright, one more and then we're done. This time you need five boxes. The word is 'brooms,' like, "The store sold brooms and mops." Brooms. Remember to stretch out the phoneme sounds to get this tough word. 

5. 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 poster with 'spoon' and model reading the word.] First I see there's a pair o's, so that's my signal to say /u/. Now let's use our cover-up critter to work through each letter in the word. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the oo and then blend the whole word with the vowel.] First is /s/-/p/ so I am going to blend that with my two o's that I know already say /u/. That gives us /s/-/p/-/u/. Now all I need is the end, /n/. /S/-/p/-/u/-/n/, spoon. Now it's your turn, everyone together. [Have students read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individual students to read one word on the list until everyone has a turn.]

6. Say, "You've done a great job reading words with our new spelling for oo = /u/. Now we are going to read a book called Pig on the Loose. This is a short story about two kids, Ben and Jess, who are excited to introduce their guest, Miss June, to their pet pig. But when she arrives they can't find him! What will they do? Let's pair up and take turns reading Pig on the Loose to find out how they find their pig, Slim. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while the teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads Pig on the Loose aloud together, and stops between pages to discuss the plot.] 

7. Say, "That was a fun story! Now that we are all expert readers of oo = /u/ words, we are going to do a few fun worksheets. I will walk around to see if you have any questions and will collect the worksheets when you are done." 

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Resources:

"OWW! I am hurt" by Hanna Himmelwright

https://hghimmelwright.wixsite.com/literarydesign/beginning-reading

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Bruce and Geri Murray. Pig on the Loose. ​(from Lad and his Pals)

Lad and His Pals Genie Book on Amazon

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OO Sound Worksheets and Activities

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/OO-Sound-Worksheets-Activities-NO-PREP-Vowel-Teams-Worksheets-1805934

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Worksheet for Assessment:

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