Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long vowel correspondence ea = /E/. 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 ea. They will learn a meaningful representation (Duck sneaking across the room), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence ea= /E/.
Materials: Graphic image of confused man; cover-up critter; whiteboard for modeling and individual letter boxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: e, a, t, s, r, d, t, m, p, c, k, q, u; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: eat, sea, read, team, dread, speak, squeaky; decodable text: What Will the Seal Eat? 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 e, like get, and today we are going to learn about how when e and a are next to each other they make the long /E/ sound. When I say /E/ I think of the duck tiptoeing and sneaking around to surprise someone! [show graphic image].
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /E/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /E/ in words, I hear ea say its name /E/ and my lips make a smile shape like this. [Make vocal gesture for /E/.] I’ll show you first: meat. I heard ea say its name and I felt my lips make a smile ea [make a smile gesture towards mouth]. There is a long E in meat. Now I’m going to see if it’s in bend. Hmm, I didn’t hear ea say its name or see a smile on your face. Now you try. If you hear /E/ say, “Sneak around the room ” If you don’t hear /E/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in treat, play, leaf, brown, bend, please? [Have children make a smile gesture towards mouth when they feel /E/ say its name.]
3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /E/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /O/ is with the letter e and a signal a right after to tell me to say E’s name. [Write ea on the board.] What if I want to spell the word treat? “If I clean my room my mom will give me a treat.” Treat means something given to or that has happened to you that makes you happy. To spell treat in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /t//r//E/ /t/. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /E/ after the /r/ so I’m going to put ea in the 3rd box and put the other /t/ after. The word starts with /t/, that’s easy; I need a t. Now it gets a little tricky so I’m going to say it slowly, /t//r//E//t/. I think I heard /t/ so I’ll put a t right before the r. One more before I have one empty box now. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /t//r//E//t/.] The missing one is /t/ = t.
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for eat. Eat is the action of putting food in your mouth and swallowing it “We get to eat lunch before nap time.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? 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. Here’s the word: team, I am on a soccer team with my friends; team. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: t – ea – m and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: read; I am going to read a book in the library. [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 /E/ in it before you spell it: send; I like to send letters to my cousins in Florida. Did smile when you hear the word? Why not? Right, because we don’t hear ea say its name. We spell it with our short vowel e. [volunteer spells it on the front board.] Now let’s try 4 phonemes: speak; we speak to our classmates every day. One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: squeaky; I will be squeaky clean after my bath! Remember to stretch it out 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 treat on the top and model reading the word.] First I see there’s a silent e and a are right next to each other; that’s my signal that the vowel will say its name. There’s the vowel ea. It must say /E/. 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.] /t/+ /r/ = /tr/. Now I’m going to blend that with /E/ = /trE/. Now all I need is the end, /t/ = /trEt/. Treat; that’s it. Now it’s your turn, everyone, together. [Have children read words in unison. Afterward, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]
6. Say: You’ve done a great job and reading words with our new spelling for /E/: ea. Now we are going to read a book called What Will the Seal Eat? This is a story about a seal who is trying to figure out what he can eat. The seal sees a lot of food around him that he cannot eat so he gets sad. What do you think the sea will be able to eat? Let’s pair up and take turns trying to figure out what the seal could eat. [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 What Will the Seal Eat aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]
7. Say: That was a fun story. What could the seal eat? Right, he ate a meal from the sea (the fish). Did the seal ever lose hope in trying to figure out what he could eat? Right, he never gave up! Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /E/ = ea, I want to see how good you can feel the smile on your face. On this worksheet, a listing of pictures. Your job is to say the word for the picture out loud and color in the pictures that make a smile with your lips. First try saying all the words on each row, then choose the pictures that fit best. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
Resources:
S.P.I.R.E. sample lesson plan:
Geri Murray’s “Oh, I didn’t know”
What Will the Seal Eat? https://auburn.instructure.com/courses/1393387/files/188832276/download?wrap=1
Assessment worksheet:
https://www.education.com/lesson-plan/i-see-long-e/
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