Eee a mouse!
Beginning Reading Lesson
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long vowel
correspondence ee = /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 ee. They
will learn a meaningful representation (the boy shrieking because he is
scared of the mouse), they will spell and read words containing this spelling
in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence ee = /E/.
Materials: Graphic image of boy shrieking because he is scared of a mouse, cover-up critter, a whiteboard of Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual ones for each student, letter manipulatives for each child: b, e, f, t, r, g, n, s, d, l, p; list of spelling words on a whiteboard to read: bee, feet, tree, seed, green, sleep; decodable text: Now You See Me…; and the assessment worksheet
Procedures:
1. Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. Since we have already learned the short vowel e = /e/, like in pet, today we are going to learn about the long vowel ee = /E/. When I say /E/ I think of a boy shrieking because he is scared of a mouse saying “eee”! (show the graphic image)
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /E/, we need to listen to it in some words. When I listen for /E/ in words, I hear ee say its name /E/ and make my mouth stretch to each side like I’m smiling. (Make vocal gesture /E/.) I’ll show you first: meet. I heard ee say its name and I felt my lips stretch like a smile to make the /E/ (gesture to a smile stretching mouth across). There is a long /E/ in meet. Now I’m going to see if it’s in test. Hmm, I didn’t hear ee say its name, and my lips didn’t stretch like a smile to make the /E/. Now, you try. If you hear /E/ say, “Eee a mouse!” If you don’t hear /E/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in mat, top, speed, dare, beep, cut? (Have children make a gesture stretching their lips to make a smile when they feel /E/ say its name.)
3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /E/ that we will learn today. One way to spell /E/ is the letter e right next to another e (write ee on board). Think of the word “tree” and what if we want to spell it? “If I climb the tree, I could see over the hill.” Trees are all around us outside and can grow so tall! To spell tree in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I have to stretch it out and count: /t/r/ee/. I need 3 boxes. I heard that /E/ after the /t/r/ so I’m going to put an ee in the 3rd box. The word starts with /t/, that’s easy; I need a letter t. Now it gets a little tricky so let’s say it slowly, /t/r/ee/. We heard the growling /r/ so we need an r after the t and before the ee.
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You will start out easy with two boxes for the word bee. A bee is a bug that buzzes around with yellow and black stripes, “That bee loves to hang around those pink flowers.” What should go in the box first? (Respond to student’s answer). What goes in the second box? I’ll 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 /E/. Here are the words: feet, my feet are cold today; feet. (Allow students to spell words.) Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: f-ee-t and see if you have spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: seed, I am going to plant this seed to grow a flower. (Have a 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: step; don’t step on the sharp rocks. Did you hear ee? Why not? Right, because we don’t hear ee say its name. We spell it with the short vowel e. (Volunteer spells it on the front board.) Now let’s try 4 phonemes: sleep; I was so tired after school I went straight to sleep. One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: street; Always look both ways before you cross the street. Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you have spelled, but first I will show you how I would read a tough word. (Display board with green on the top and model reading the word.) First I see there is a double ee; so that is my signal that the vowel will say its name. I’m going to use a cover-up critter to get the first part. (Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.) /s/ + /t/ +/ /r/ = /str/. Now I’m going to blend that with /E/ = /stree/. Now all I need is the end, /t/ = /street/. Street; that’s it. Now 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 have done a great job and reading words with our spelling for /E/: ee. Now we are going to read a book called Now You See Me… by Dr. Suess. Nick and Sally have all week of vacation to play hide-and-seek, but Nick can always find Sally in her hiding spots in the backyard! The Cat in the Hat shows up to fly them to the jungle to help them find good hiding spots. Do you think Sally and Nick can find good hiding spots there? Let’s pair up and take turns reading to find out the new hiding spots. (Children pair up and take turns reading alternative pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads Now You See Me… aloud together and stops between pages turns to discuss the plot.)
7. Say: That was a fun story! Did Sally and Nick find any good hiding spots? Yes, they did and they learned how to camouflage with the help of some other friends. What color was their disguise? Right, they were green. Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /E/ = ee, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some pictures. Your job is to look at the pictures and the choices of words to match and decide which ee word fits best to match the picture. First try reading all of the pictures, then choose the word that matches. Look over your answers to see if they match up. (Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.)
Resources:
Graphic image: https://tenor.com/search/scared-mouse-gifs
Madeline Rigdon, “Beep Beep!!!”: https://madelinerigdon.wixsite.com/website/beep-beep
Meredith Bodie, “The Excited E Says “eek”!!!”: https://mlb0133.wixsite.com/ctrd3000/beginning-reader
Assessment worksheet: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/04/eewrdswrkshts.pdf
