Jolly Phonics

Level 4: The ai sound lesson

• Introducing vowel teams

Before starting doing activities to practice a vowel team, I have thought about doing a short presentation about the sound ai covering the following issues:

• How many letters for how many sounds
• Discriminating vowels and consonants
• Short and long vowels sounds
• The vowel team’s rule
• Example of a vowel team
• Example of a vowel team inside a word + spelling, segmenting and blending.

On the other hand, I’m going to use the following resources for the interaction produced above:

- An individual card for present the ai sound

- A sticker which represents the symbol of silence

- A sticker which represents a long vowel sound

- A card with the letter a to be used in the examples

- A promptcard with the letter i to be used in the examples

- A promptcard with the letter r to be used in the examples

- A promtcard with the letter n to be used in the examples

• Activities

          1. Let’s tell a story

The purpose of this story is to encourage children’s physical response and become familiar with words that include the ai sound.

For this, the teacher will present the words that children have to turn into movement. Then, she’ll tell the story asking children to do these movements again. The blue words are the chosen to be represented. For example, for represent a snail we’ll put our hands before our forehead with you two fingers stretched.

The snail who wanted to sail

Once upon a time there was a snail with a very long tail. He lived in a drain which sometimes was like a jail. And he sometimes faint because of the smell. His friends said that he hadn’t got brain. But actually he had an aim, he was waiting for rain. So his dream was to sail. However, our dear the snail, only got to see hail.

After this, the teacher will say that she has received a message in a bottle from our friend the snail, which has come out from the school’s drain.

The message said that he needs a boat to be prepared when the rain came, and he can’t do it without our help. So for helping him, we’re going to do a boat made of paper. However, to know the clues to make it, before we have to pass six different steps.

For each step passed, the teacher will read an instruction to carry the boat out. As consequence, all the children need to have a sheet of paper on their table. The six instructions are:

          2. Segmenting, blending and rhyming

To achieve the first instruction to make our boat, we are going to segment and blend a list of words that contain the ai sound. For this, the teacher will use word cards and she will say for each word: first sound, second sound, third sound… And finally she will ask for blending.

Children will have as support the lines written under each word.

Besides, some of the words contain a picture behind. This means that they have to say the rhyme “The snail wants to sail” each time the teacher turns the word card.

Also, the teacher can take advantage of these words asking which letter is in capital letters.

          3. Putting doorbells

To achieve the second instruction children are going to use the whiteboard.

Written words with the ai sound are going to appear and they have to place the doorbells in the correct place.

The teacher will ensure that there are as many words as children plus one, because before starting she will do the first word as example.

          4. Labelling pictures

To achieve the third instruction children are going to choose the correct word card and place it under the correct picture.

Pictures will be paste in the wall and all the words are going to be spread all over the teacher’s table. So each child will choose one word and then they have to put the word behind its picture.

It also can be a good idea to make two groups and make a competition.

          5. Fast word-reading game

To achieve the fourth instruction, children have to try reading the word cards. It’ll be difficult because the teacher will turn the word card very quickly, so children are going to see it for a second.

They have to call out the word they read as a whole group.

          6. Writing in the air/writing in my partner

To achieve the fifth instruction, children have to know writing the ai sound. For this, firstly the teacher will say the children how to write it. At the same time children have to try writing in the air:

T: Do you remember how to write letter a? First we draw a loop and then a line at the back!

And do you remember how to write letter i? Very simple! It is just a line with a dot!

Later, children will do:

- Palm-writing: Children works in pairs. The first one chooses letter a or letter i. Then, the second child closes his eyes. The first child draws the letter outline on the palm of the second child’s hand and the second child says the letter. Finally they check together.

- Back writing: the same procedure than before by writing in the back.

Finally the teacher will ask if everybody has guessed the letters to read the last instruction.

          7. Experts of the ai sound

To achieve the last instruction and finished the boat, children have to use the PDI to write correctly the ai sound.

First they use graph paper.

After, they have to complete the words with the ai sound. The teacher will also ask for the capital letter, spelling, segmenting and blending to each child.