Rationale: This lesson has been designed to teach children about the vowel correspondence ar=/ar/. In this lesson, children will learn to identify, spell, and read words that have the ar=/ar/ correspondence. By implementing a meaningful representation of the correspondence (pirates say—Arrr!), practicing phoneme awareness, participating in a Letterbox lesson, and reading a decodable book with the ar=/ar/ correspondence, your students are sure to be able to identify, spell and read words with ar=/ar/.
Materials: Graphic Image of Pirate Cat (pirates say—Arrr!) Coverup critter 6 paper letterboxes for each student Letter manipulatives for each student (letter tiles or laminated paper letters) of the letters: a,b,c,d,f,I,k,n,r,s,t,y Large Letterboxes (cardstock) to tape on the whiteboard Magnetic version of student letters for the teacher to use on the whiteboard letterboxes List of spelling words on an anchor chart to be read aloud: tarp, yarn, dark, art, back, sharp (sharp at the top for “tough word” example) Decodable text (link to the printable pdf is listed at the end of this procedure) Practice worksheet (Link to the printable pdf is listed at the end of this procedure)
Procedure: 1.Say: We are on a mission to become expert readers, but first we have to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. Today we are going to learn how to recognize, spell, and read words with the ‘ar=/ar/ vowel correspondence. When you hear me say “ar,” I want each of you to imagine a pirate saying, “Arrr!” [hook hand gesture] Can you do that?
2.Say: The first skill we are going to practice is recognizing that pirate “Arrr” in spoken words. When I say /ar/, my mouth opens wide to say “ah” and begins to close as I make the “r.” [exaggerate this mouth formation in order to demonstrate] When I say “farm” I hear the pirate’s “Arrr” and my mouth made the /ar/ motion, so that must mean that “farm” is made up of the ar=/ar/ correspondence. When I say “happy,” I know that the ar=/ar/ correspondence does not make up the word because I did not hear the pirate’s “Arrr.” Now it’s your turn to practice recognizing /ar/ in spoken words. If you guys hear /ar/ in the words that I read, I want you to say “Arrr! Shiver me timbers.” If you hear a word that does not have /ar/ in it, I want you to say, “Not quite.” Is /ar/ in park, farm, lamp, fan, dart, park? Good job!
3. Say: Now let’s learn about spelling words with the ar=/ar/ correspondence. The first word I want to spell is “tarp.” When it is hot out, dad covers the car with a tarp. In this sentence, “tarp” represents a large sheet-like covering used to protect whatever lies beneath it. In order to spell “tarp” in letterboxes, I first need to know how many phonemes are in the word. I test that by breaking up the word /t//ar//p/ and counting how many individual sounds there are. I know that I need three letterboxes for the word “tarp.” The word starts with /t/, so I will place the letter “t” in the first letterbox. /ar/ follows after /t/ so I will place “ar” in the second letterbox. /p/ is the final sound, so “p” will go into our third and final letterbox.”
4. Say: Now I want you all to practice spelling words in letterboxes. the first word you will spell is “art,” which you will need two boxes for. “My favorite subject growing up was art.” What letter should go in the first letterbox? [Respond to student thinking]. What goes into the second box? I will check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress]. You will need three boxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for the /ar/ that comes next, place the letters in their respective boxes. Then think of the ending sound and place the letter in the third and final letterbox. Here’s the word, “dark.” “It gets dark outside around 6:45 pm—'dark.’” [Allow children to spell the word]. Time to check your work. Watch me spell it in my letterboxes on the board: d-a-r-k and see if you spelled it the same way. The next word I want us to spell is “yarn,” and you will need three letterboxes. Yarn is a material that can be used to weave, knit, crochet, etc, “My grandmother untangled her yarn as she knitted a sweater.” [Have a volunteer spell the word in the letterboxes on the whiteboard for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word that remains]. Next word. Listen to see if this word has /ar/ in it before you spell it in your letterboxes: “back.” “I need to go back to school to grab my coat.” Did you hear /ar/? No, we didn’t! Although the letter a appears in the word “back,” “r” did not follow, so the /ar/ sound was not heard. One more word, and then we are done with spelling practice, this time you’ll need four letterboxes. The word is "sharp." "My dad carved our Thanksgiving turkey with a sharp knife."
5. Say: Now I am going to have you read the words that you have learned to spell, but first I will show you how to read a tough word. [Display poster with “sharp” on the top and model reading the word]. I will use my coverup critter to get the first part of the word. [Uncover sequentially before the vowel, then blend the vowel correspondence]. /sh/= sh + /ar//p/=arp --- sharp. [Have children read the word in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn].
6. Say: You all have done a great job, we have already learned to recognize the /ar/, how to spell words with /ar/ in them, and how to read words with /ar/! Now we are going to read a book that tells stories about things, people, and/or places that are made up of the ar=/ar/ correspondence. Can you think of any things, people, and/or places that have /ar/ in them? Let’s read and see if any of those words appear in the text. Let’s pair up and take turns reading the /ar/ book to discover whether or not our guesses were right! [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 text aloud together, drawing attention to words with /ar/ in them].
7. Say: That was a fun story! How many words did you all guess before reading? Now I want us to put all of the new skills to practice. On this worksheet, you are going to identify what the picture represents by determining if /ar/ or /or/ belongs in the word. I want you to try to read the words and determine the missing correspondence that belongs in the blank. If the word matches the picture, then you have correctly solved the problem. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual student progress].
Resources: Decodable text: Rosetta, Geiger, A., Ruth, Twee, Jm, Melissa, Marta, Amelia, Stef, Susan, Mags, G, A., Lindsay, Jo, Dowling, K., Julie, Maria, Richlin, T., Stclair, J., … 10 -air Word Family Cards For Reading & Spelling Practice (err & eir included) says: (2021, February 26). Phonics books for R-controlled vowels. The Measured Mom. Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-phonics-books-r-controlled-vowels/#_a5y_p=3077182.
Practice Activity: Practice words - kidsacademy.mobi. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.kidsacademy.mobi/printables/grade-2/alphabet/phonics/two-letter-phonics/grade-2-ew-words-worksheet.pdf.
Lesson Reference: Murray, G. (n.d.). Beginning Reading. readinglessons. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://murraba.wixsite.com/readinglessons/beginning-reading.