Boo! Says the Ghost!

Beginning Reading Design - Alaina Powell 

 

Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the vowel correspondence oo = /U/. For children to learn to read, they must be able to recognize the spellings that map word pronunciations. In this lesson children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words that contain the vowel correspondence oo = /U/. This lesson will use the meaningful representation of a ghost saying “Boo!” to guide children in spelling during a letterbox lesson and reading words in a decodable book that contains oo = /U/. 

 

Materials: A posterboard of the meaningful representation (Ghost saying Boo), Whiteboard or Smartboard showing the Elkonin boxes for modeling the letterbox lesson as well as individual boxes for each student, Magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher for every letter in the word list, Letter tiles for each student of the same letters, List of letter box words: spoon, moo, boot, roof, top, broom, smooth, The decodable text Pig on the Loose, and assessment worksheet. 

 

Procedures:

1. Say: Today we're going to continue our hunt for the code that tells us how to pronounce words when we're reading! We have already learned how to read words with the short vowel o like hot or mop, so today we're going to learn about what happens if there are two o’s right beside each other. When you see two o’s, they make the sound /U/ just like a spooky ghost does! (point to the poster of the ghost) Can everybody raise their arms and pretend they are a spoooooky ghost? Let me hear all the spoooooky ghosts say /U/! 

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 can hear the ghost when I feel my lips form a little circle (exaggerate this movement and clearly show to students and make the sound /U/). Everyone watch my mouth as I say the word food. This time I will say it slowly and I want everyone to watch my mouth and listen for the ghost! F-O-O-D. There's the ghost! The word food must have two o’s next to each other! Now lets see if it's in the word rope. R-O-P-E, Nope! I don't hear the ghost and my mouth did not form a little circle! Now I want all of you to try to find the ghost. If you hear it I want you to put your arms up like a ghost! Can you hear it in moon? Home? Cool? Stop? Spoon? Foot? 

3. Say: Now let's look at the spelling of /U/ that we will learn today. One way to spell /U/ is with two of the letter o right next to each other. (write oo on the board.) What if I want to spell the word spoon? “If I want to eat my soup, I need a spoon.” A spoon is what we use to eat liquids or things that might fall off a fork. To spell spoon in letterboxes, first I need to find out how many phonemes are in the word, so let's stretch it out and count: /s//p//U//n/. I need four letterboxes. I can hear the ghost in the third sound so I am going to put my two o’s in the third box. This word starts with /s/ and we know that sound is an s! Here is the tricky part, lets say spoon super slow /s//p//U//n/. I think I hear /p/ after the s so I am going to put the p in the second box. Now I only need one more letter! 9point to each box when stretching out the word to find the missing letter) /s//p//U//n/, I think I hear /n/ so I need to put an N at the end in the fourth box! 

4. Say: Now it's your turn to spell some spooooky words in the letterboxes. You will start with an easy word that only needs two boxes: moo. Moo is the sound a cow makes! “The cow on the farm greeted us with a big Moo.” What letter should go in the first box? (respond to students' answers). Yes! The letter M makes the sound /m/ so it goes in the first box. What about the second box? (Respond to student answers). Yes! The two o’s go here to make /oo/ (ghost arms). (observe students progress in spelling as you walk around the room) For this next word, you’ll need three letter boxes. Listen for the beginning sound for the first box, the ghost /U/ for the second box, and the last sound in the word for the third box. The word is boot. “It was raining this morning so I had to find my other boot.” boot. (Give time for students to try on their own). Alright, let's check our work! Watch as I spell boot on my letterboxes and see if your spelling matches mine. Let’s try another word that needs three boxes: roof. “I had a leak in my roof this morning.” Remember to listen for the spooky ghost! (ask for a volunteer to come up and spell the word on the board in the letterboxes for students to check their work.) Okay, now everyone listen to this word before we spell it,  top. “We put the last block at the top.” (give time for students to try) Did anyone hear the ghost? Nope! No ghost here! We spell top with just our short vowel o. Can anyone tell me how to spell top? (allow a student to go to the board to spell the word). Great! Now let’s try a four phoneme word: broom. “When I sweep, I like to use a broom.” (ask for a volunteer to come and show their work on the board.) 

5. Say: Now let’s read some of the words you just spelled. I first want to show you how I would read a tough word. (Using a poster, whiteboard, or smartboard, show the word smooth and model reading.) First, I see the two o’s right next to each other so I know that's our ghost! This word will make the sound /U/. Next, I want to look at the beginning. (point to the letters as you blend the sounds together) /s/ + /m/ = /sm/. Now lets blend /sm/ with our ghost /U/. /smU/. Now lets look at the ending. I know t and h together make the sound /th/! /smU/+/th/ = /smUth/. Smooth. Now lets try the words we just spelled! (display these words on the board and read the words together. Afterwards, have the students volunteer to read the words as you go through them again.)

6. Say: You all have done a fantastic job reading new words with our new spelling for oo=/U/ and finding the ghost! Now let’s read a book called Pig on the Loose. This story is about two siblings that try to play a trick on their babysitter while their parents go on a cruise. Their babysitter is always playing tricks on them, so Jan and Tim decide they are going to tell the babysitter they got a new pet! But when they go to try and show their babysitter, the pet is gone! We’ll have to read to find out what happens to Jan and Tim and if they ever find their pet! (pair up students in partners where they will take turn reading pages of the decodable book to each other. As this happens, walk around the room to check progress. After the pairs are done reading, gather the class together and read aloud Pig on the Loose, stopping every so often to discuss the story.) 

7. Say: That story was so funny! Can anyone tell me what Jan and Tim’s puppy actually was? That's right! It was a pig! Before we finish up this lesson, we are going to do a worksheet. On this worksheet, there will be some /U/ words with letters missing. Your job is to find the missing letters to finish the word. The pictures next to the word will give you a clue as to which letter is missing. (when students are done, collect the worksheet to monitor each child’s progress.)

 

Resources: 

 

Bugg, Kaylyn Spooooky Double O! https://kaylynbugg.wixsite.com/readingdesigns/beginning-reading 

Murray, Bruce and Murray, Geri Fun and Games with Lad and Slim: Pig on the Loose https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VFWW3YD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1  

Assessment Worksheet: https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics-vowels/missing-letters-oo.pdf

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