"I" Love You!
A Beginning Reading Design
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long vowel correspondence i_e = /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_e. They will learn meaningful representation. (When you love someone, you say “I” love you, which also sounds like the word eye and the long vowel /I/.) They will spell and read words containing the spelling in a letterbox lesson and also read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i_e = /I/.
Materials: graphic image of the symbols for I love you, which contains an eye (for memory help of the long vowel /I/); cover-up critter; whiteboard or smartboard; Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin boxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child; magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: i, c, e, l, k, r, p, g, d, s, m; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: ice, like, ripe, glide, slime; decodable text: Nate’s Bike Ride 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 i, like tip, so today we are going to learn long I and the silent e signal that is used to make the I say its name, /I/. When I say /I/, I think of saying I love you!" [Show the students the graphic image.]
2. "Before we learn about the spelling with /I/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /I/ in words, I hear i say its name. My mouth opens wide open like I’m going to take a big bite of a burger. [Make vocal gesture for /I/.] I’ll show you first: ride. I heard i say its name, and my mouth opened all the way open. [Make the gesture of your mouth being open like you are taking a big bite.] Now, I’m going to see if it’s in pick. Hmm, I didn’t hear i say its name. My mouth didn’t open all the way. Now you try. If you hear /I/, say “I love you!” If you don’t hear /I/, say “That’s not it!” Is it in trip, kite, flow, slide, lamp?" [Have children open mouths all the way like they’re going to eat a big burger when they hear /I/.]
3. "Now, let’s look at the spelling of /I/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /I/ is with the letter i and e at the end of the word to tell me I's name. [Write i_e on the board.] This blank line here means that there is a consonant after the i and at the end, there is a silent e signal. What if I want to spell stride? “If you stride your feet while skating, you’ll begin to move easier.” Stride means slide in this sentence. To spell stride in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word to stretch it out and count: /s/t/r/I/d/. I need 5 letterboxes. I heard the /I/ just before the /d/. I’m going to put the /I/ in the 4th box. I’ll put the silent e outside the last box. The word starts with /s/. That’s easy! I need s. Now it gets a little tricky, so I’m going to say it slowly, /s/t/r/I/d/. I think I heard a /t/, so I’ll put a t right after the s. One more before the /I/…hmm, /s/t/r/I/d/. I think I heard the growling /r/, so I need r. I have one empty box now. [Point letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /s/t/r/I/d/. ] The one missing is /d/ = d."
4. "Now, I’m going to have you spell some of the words in the letterboxes. You’ll start out with two boxes for ice. Ice is when water freezes. Can I have some ice in my drink? What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers.] What goes in the second box? What about the silent e? Did you remember to put it outside the boxes? I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe the progress.] You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then, listen for the /I/. Don’t forget to put the silent e at the end, outside the boxes. Here’s the word like. I like to eat pizza. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: l – i – k- e. See if you spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: ripe. Some people like ripe tomatoes. [Have volunteer spell it in the letterbox at the front board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Now, to the next word! Listen to see if this has /I/ in it before you spell it: slick. Be careful not to slip because the ground is slick. Did you hear a silent e? Why not? Right! We didn’t here /I/ say its name. We spell that with our short vowel, i. [Have a volunteer spell it on the front board.] Did you remember to spell /k/ with a ck? Now, let’s try 4 phonemes: slime. The wet leaves turned to slime. One more and then we’re done with spelling. This time you need 5 letterboxes: stride. If I stride, I might get there faster than you because I will take longer steps. Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word."
5. "Now, I’m going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I’ll show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with stride on top and model reading the word.] I see there is a silent e on the end. That’s my signal that the vowel says its name. There’s the vowel i. I must say /I/. I’m going to use a cover-up to get the first part. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend after the vowel.] /s/ /t/ = /st/ + /r/ = /str/. Now, I’m going to blend with the /I/ = /strI/. Now, all I need is the end, /d/ = /strId/. Stride, that’s it! It’s your turn. Everyone together!" [Have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word from the list until everyone has had a turn.]
6. Say: "You’ve done a great job at reading words with our new spelling words for /I/: i_e. Now, we are going to read a book called, Nate’s Bike Ride. This story is about how Nate will never leave and play with his friends, Tim and Jan. He loves to stay inside and sleep, watch tv, and play with his pet. They wanted Nate to go on a bike ride with them, but Nate said he didn't want to go with a big no! He doesn’t ride bikes. Tim and Jan decide to trick Nate. Then, he will ride a bike with them! Do you think it will work? Let’s see!" [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages while their teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual reading, the class rereads, Nate’s Bike Ride, aloud together. They stop between page turns and discuss the plot.]
7. Say: "That was a fun story. Were Tim and Jan successful in getting Nate to ride his bike? Yes, they were. Did Nate enjoy getting out of the house and riding his bike with his friends after all? Right, he did! He even wants to do other activities with his friends now that he sees it can be so much fun. Before we finish up our lesson on i_e, I want to see if you can solve one reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some words missing. Your job is to look in the box of word choices and decide which i_e word fits best in the short story. First, try reading all of the words in the box. Then, choose the word that best fits in the space. Reread your answers to see if they make sense." [Collect worksheets and evaluate individual progress.]
References:
Ulices, Mena, “I” Aye Captain: https://menaulices.wixsite.com/powerreading/beginning-reading
Murray, Bruce and Geri Murray. 2019. Fun and Games with Lad and Slim. Auburn: Geniebooks
Assessment worksheet: https://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/phonics/vowels/id/i/