Icky Vicky's Sticky Fingers
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence i = /i/. 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 i. They will learn a meaningful representation (Vicky says “iii”), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i = /i/.
Materials: Graphic image of icky Vicky; cover-up critter; whiteboard or smartboard Elkonin boxes for modeling for whole classroom and individual Elkonin boxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: b, c, f, h, i, k, l, m, p, r, s, t; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: fit, sip, kiss, list, trip, skim, pest, fish, pit, trick, flip, stand, brisk, script; decodable text: Pig in a Bag, 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 a and e, and today we are going to learn about the short vowel i and it’s sound, /i/. When I say /i/, I think of an icky Vicky with sticky fingers. [show image of icky Vicky]. Now, when we see the letter i today, we know it says /i/ like an icky Vicky with her sticky fingers. [write the letter i on the board].
2. Say: Before we learn about spelling words with /i/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /i/ in words, I hear the i, i, icky stiiicky sound and my mouth spreads out as the wind goes over my tongue. [make vocal gesture for /i/.] I’ll show you first: pit. Pppppp-iiiiiiii-tttttt. I heard that i, i, icky i sound and I felt my mouth get a little wider [point to the corners of your mouth drawing out]. There is a short i in pit. Now I am going to see if it’s in hot. Hmmm, I didn’t hear the i, i, icky stiiiicky sound and my mouth didn’t get wider like it did with the short i. Now, you try. If you hear /i/, say “i, i, icky stiiicky. If you don’t hear /i/, say “That’s not it.” Is it in hat, trick, saw, flip, sip, coat? [Have children point to the corners of their stretched mouth when they feel /i/ say its name.]
3. Say: What if I want to spell the word trip? “I want to go on a trip to the beach to relax with my family.” A trip is a journey to somewhere else. To spell trip in letterboxes, I first need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /t/ /r/ /i/ /p/. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /i/ just before the /p/, so I am going to put an i in the 3rd box. The word starts with /t/, that’s easy; I need an t. Now I am going to say it slowly, /t/ /r/ /i/ /p/. I heard a /r/ so I am going to put a r right after the t. I have one box left after the /i/ now. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word /t/ /r/ /i/ /p/] I heard the /p/ after the /i/, so we’ll put an p there and now we have trip! Great! Now I will show you how I would read a tough word. [write the word script on the board and model reading the word.] I am going to start with the i, that letter says /i/. Now I am going to put the beginning letters with it: s-c-r-i, /scri/. Now I will put that chunk together with the p, /scrip/, now I will add the last letter, scrip-t, Oh, script, like, “She memorizes the script for the play.”
4. Say: Now I am going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You will start out with 3 boxes for fit. “The shoe fit on the doll’s foot.” Listen for that /i/ sound. I will check your spelling as I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] You will need 4 letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound to spell in the first box, then listen for /i/. Here is the word: list. “I made a grocery list before going to the store.” [Allow children to spell remaining words, giving sentences and correct number of letterboxes for each word:
3 letterboxes: kiss, fish
4 letterboxes: skim, pest, flip
5 letterboxes: stand, brisk
6 letterboxes: script
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you have spelled. [Show the words fit, list, kiss, skim, fish, pest, flip, stand, brisk, script, the extra words print and hint, and the pseudoword risp. Have children read the words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]
6. Say: You’ve done a great job at reading words with i says /i/. Now we are going to read a book called Pig in a Bag. “Has anyone ever gotten a pet for a birthday present? Well this is Tim and his friend Ben gave him a pig for his birthday. The pig has been in a bag and cannot wait to get out and get into all kinds of trouble. Let’s read to find out the trouble this pig can get into.” [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 Liz is Six chorally, stopping between page turns to discuss the story.]
7. Say: Before we finish up our lesson on the icky, sticky /i/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have words that are missing a letter. Read each word and write the missing vowel in the blank. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
Resources: Madison Wolanek, Icky, Sticky, Pig: http://madisonwolanek.wix.com/lesson-designs#!beginningreading/cee5
Murray, G. (2004) Pig in a Bag. Reading Genie: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/pig/pigcover.html
Assessment worksheet: http://www.kidslearningstation.com/phonics/vowels/short-vowels-i.asp