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Reading: Phonics Camp

Short Vowel Hopscotch

 

Today's Snack: Shortbread cookies (brand name Lorna Doone) with milk poured in a short glass.

 

--------------------

Supplies:

Sidewalk chalk | pavement | 2 or more students

Whiteboard, marker and eraser

 

 

            The English language is based on sound. We've isolated 70 different sounds that alphabet letters make, alone and in combination. Once you learn those 70 sounds - called "phonograms" - and the rules of spelling, you can "decode," or read, just about any unfamiliar word that you come across, and spell it correctly, too.

 

            The basic building blocks of phonics are the vowels - a, e, i, o and u. But did you know there are at least two ways to pronounce each of those vowels?

 

            We have the "long" sounds of the vowels - when they "say their names" - how it sounds when you say the letter names a, e, i, o and u.

 

            But we also have the "short" vowel sounds. Now the vowel sounds are a little different. The short vowel sound of the letter "a" is the same as the "ah" in apple. When we write it out, we write / a / as in apple.

 

            The other short vowel sounds are / e / as in egg, / i / as in wind, / o / as in dog, and / u / as in cup.

 

            So instead of a, e, i, o and u, we have ah, eh, ih, ôh and uh. We put a little "hat" on the short-vowel  / o / just to help us remember to pronounce it like the / o / in dog.

 

            Children enjoy brainstorming other words that use the short-vowel sounds. Try to come up with at least two for each of the five short vowel sounds. Talk about the meaning of the words and challenge the students to use them in a sentence.

 

            Now draw a hopscotch shape on the pavement with at least five sections, and inside each section, write one of the five short vowels. It can be a big circle with pie-shaped sections, or a big square or a big triangle. If you want to, you can put each short vowel in twice and have 10 sections.

 

            Now take turns and have each child hop to the short vowel sound in the letter that you call out. Use the word in a sentence if it will help the child "hear" the word and the short vowel sound. Let each child try to make three points. After each attempt, it really helps children if you will write the word on a whiteboard so that they can read it as well as listen to the sounds the letters make. Then erase for the next turn!

 

Here's a list:

 

      / a /                  / e /                  / i /                   / o /                  / u /

 

      and                  ten                   it                      on                    run

      at                     bed                  is                      top                   up

      can                  red                   in                     off                    us

      man                 let                    will                  hot                   but

      an                    yes                   little                 lot                    must

      last                   tell                   this                   box                  just

      am                   get                   him                  dog                  run

      have                then                 did                   got                   cut

      chance             send                 six                    block                sung

      bad                  them                ring                  not                   Sunday

      had                  well                 live                  long                 sun

      hand                men                 big                   lost                   under

      land                 led                   sit                     cost                  cup

      hat                   spent                bring                across              club

      stand                end                  if                      gone                full

      ask                   went                his                    stop                  trust

      as                     wet                  miss                 pot                   crumb

      has                   yet                   sick                  rot                    number

      ran                   letter                spring              copy                 until

      that                  west                 river                 loss                  button       

 

     

 

 

            By Susan Darst Williams www.AfterSchoolTreats.com Reading © 2012

 

           

 

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