LL SIFE FLL: Unit 1 Lesson 10 Alphabet Letter Names This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Exempt third party content is indicated by the footer: (name of copyright holder). Used by permission and not subject to Creative Commons license.
Lesson 10: 45 minutes Lesson at a Glance Unit Essential Question Lesson Focus Question Overview Long-Term Targets (CCSS) Today s Targets Who are we? What letters are in the alphabet? The purpose of Lesson 10 is to introduce students to the alphabet. After the building of foundational language around personal information in Week 1, students will be introduced to letter names in Lesson 10 and letter sounds in Lesson 11. The focus on letters and sounds will be threaded through all lessons for the remainder of the year. I can recognize and name all letters of the alphabet (FS.1). I can match lowercase to capital letters (FS.1). 1 I can name all the letters in the alphabet. I can say the letters in my name. Language Development Functions & Forms Say and spell name: My name is. (then say each letter to spell) Vocabulary N: alphabet, letters V: spell A: 1 Students are exposed to capital and lowercase letters when introduced to the alphabet in this lesson. The homework asks students to practice matching lowercase and capital letters, although they do not learn these terms capital and lowercase in this lesson. Since the distinction between capital and lowercase letters is not a focus of this lesson, it is not included in Today s Targets. 2
Agenda: Lesson 10 General Teaching Notes: Lesson 10 1. Opening (7 minutes) A. Welcome Message B. Review Sight Words C. Introduce the Learning Targets 2. Work Time (30 minutes) A. Alphabet Song and Game B. Spell First Names Orally 3. Closing & Assessment (5 minutes) A. Partner Flashcards B. Review the Learning Targets 4. Homework (3 minutes) A. Alphabet Homework Handout Because students learned sight words in Week 1, Lesson 10 introduces the sight word review, which will become a routine part of the daily lesson Opening. There are different philosophies about whether to introduce letter names or sounds first. Because some students may already be familiar with the alphabet (even if they cannot read at all) and since letter name knowledge is a strong predictor of decoding, we decided to introduce letter names. Throughout the year, students will learn the 44 sounds (phonemes) represented by the 26 letters (graphemes) in the alphabet and apply this knowledge to reading and writing. While young children often learn to sing the ABC song before matching the letter names to their written form, in FLL students will not learn to recite the alphabet with seeing the letters in print. The learning of letter names will always be paired with the printed form. Students must be able to name letters both in and out of the alphabetic sequence. The video and Alphabet Chart reinforces this connection. Many alphabet materials in print and online are designed for young children. These should not be used for adolescent SIFE, as they are not at all age appropriate and can de-motivate learning. We selected an online alphabet song that has engaged high school SIFE in one Bronx high school. Teachers can choose another song, as long as it is age appropriate. Use the assessment information you gathered in Lessons 8 and 9 to make decisions about how much time to spend on this alphabet introduction. If most students can name letters, then this will be a quick review. If most students cannot name any letters, then you will need to go more slowly. Review the following protocols in the FLL Implementation Guide to prepare for the lesson: welcome message sight word review modeling cold calling 3
Materials and Preparation: Lesson 10 Provided in Lessons Materials Alphabet Chart for the Wall Alphabet Chart Student Copy Alphabet Flashcards Alphabet Homework Handout For Teacher to Prepare in Advance Gather Week 1 Sight Word Flashcards from Lesson 6. Set up alphabet song to project (with audio) at http://vimeo.com/13673627. Copy an Alphabet Chart for Wall and post. Load the Alphabet Chart to project. Copy Alphabet Chart Student Copy for each student. Copy Alphabet Flashcards for you and each set of partners. Ideally these are printed in color, on cardstock, and laminated. Shuffle the cards for partner sets so letters are not in sequence. Copy the Alphabet Homework Handout for each student. Gather student name cards (that students created in Lesson 2) from the bulletin board. Students will use these in the Work Time. Write welcome message on board, adding a personalized line after the weather. Good morning/afternoon. Today is Friday, September 19, 2014. It is sunny/warm/cold outside. From, (teacher s name) 4
Classroom Set-Up Welcome message is posted. Learning targets are posted. Large monthly calendar is posted. Alphabet Chart is posted and highly visible for students. 5
Opening: Lesson 10 (7 minutes) Meeting Students Needs A. Welcome Message (2 minutes) Draw student attention to the welcome message on the board. Read the message aloud to the class. Read naturally and track print as you go. Point to the day on the calendar when you read the date. Invite students to chorally read the message with you once and then again. Direct partners to read the message to each other. B. Review Sight Words (4 minutes) Hold the stack of Week 1 Sight Word Flashcards. Say: Good readers read words very quickly or instantly, like this (read several sight words quickly) not like this (read a few more, sounding out each word slowly). Everyday, we are going to practice reading sight words instantly. Begin the review with the whole class. Flash each card one by one so students can chorally read the word instantly. Distribute a set of flashcards to each set of partners. Review the protocol for practicing flashcards, using the yes and no piles. After partner work, cold call individual students with cards. If students are seated in a circle or around a table, simply flash cards one by one to individuals around the table. Finish with a speed round to see how many words the class can recognize chorally in 30 seconds. Note which sight words still cause difficulties for which students. Giving students examples and non-examples of what you expect makes things very clear. Support student understanding of instantly by giving an example of instant sight word recognition, as well as a non-example. After students become familiar with this routine, the time for this activity will be reduced to about two minutes each day. This is cumulative. As you teach new sight words, continue to add new words to the deck each week. 6
C. Introduce the Learning Targets (1 minute) Orient students to the place in the room where the learning targets will be posted daily. Read the essential question for the unit: Who are we? Read the lesson focus question: What letters are in the alphabet? Track print with your finger each time you read, and point to the alphabet on the wall. Read the learning targets: o I can name all the letters in the alphabet. o I can say the letters in my name. 7
Work Time: Lesson 10 (30 minutes) A. Alphabet Song and Game (15 minute) Students are seated around a table for this activity. Point to the Alphabet Chart for the Wall. Ask students: What is this? What do you see? Say: In English we use this alphabet. All of the letters together are called the alphabet. When people write in your language, do they use this alphabet? How many letters are in this alphabet? Gesture and explain that for each letter there is a big and small version. Project Word Cards for letters, alphabet. Students chorally repeat and clap the syllables for letters and alphabet. Say: First we are going to listen to an alphabet song, and then practice with the song. Play the alphabet song at http://vimeo.com/13673627. Stop this video at 2:12, which moves from letter names to letter sounds. This will be used tomorrow. Encourage students not just to listen but to say the letters with the song. Invite students to join you as you say all of the letters. Make this activity age-appropriate fun. Play the video a few times, depending on student engagement. Say: Now we will play a game. We will practice saying the letters in the alphabet in order, without the video. I will say A, and then says B, and says C, and we continue to Z. Project the Alphabet Chart and begin with the Aa. Click each letter slide as you go around the circle to each student. Reinforce turn taking and following the sequence around the circle. If a student skips a letter or says the wrong letter, others can help. An alternative to this game is to have students stand and go around in a circle, saying up to three letters in a row, until Z. The student who says Z is out, and sits down. Strategizing around the number of letters one chooses to say adds an element of excitement to the game. Repeat for several minutes, using the projected Alphabet Chart with each letter. If time allows, play the game again, showing the letters out of sequence for students to name. Meeting Students Needs Consider showing other alphabets that represent student languages in class (e.g., Bangla, Arabic). The video shows both capital and lowercase letters. Point this out only if you think students are ready. Otherwise just draw their attention to big and small forms. If you are musical, consider giving students small percussion instruments to accompany the song. Students often enjoy this combination of audio, visual, and kinesthetic methods. It is not important that students recite letters in sequence. It is important that they can name any letter they see. If students are very unfamiliar with the letters, keep them in sequence, from A to Z, in this lesson. If they are more advanced, mix up the letters so they are out of sequence. 8
B. Spell First Names Orally (15 minutes) Distribute the name cards (from Week 1) to students, so each is holding his/her name card. Say: You practiced saying and writing your name last week. But many times in your life, you need to spell your name for people to write it. Now you are going to spell your name aloud to your partner. You will point to each letter in your name and say each letter. Model spelling your own name orally: o Hold up your name card. o Say, for example: My name in Kerri. K-e-r-r-i. o Trace each letter with your finger, as you say the letters again: K-e-r-r-i. Invite partners to spell their names orally. If students can easily spell their first names, ask them to spell their last name as well. Circulate and observe, encouraging students to support each other with letter names. Have each student to hold up his/her name card and spell his/her name orally. If time allows, post all name cards on the wall. Choose a name without telling students. Spell that name orally and ask students to tell you whose name you spelled. Students can be the spellers as well. Whenever possible, point out the real-world application to skills learned in class. While we don t spell most words orally in daily life, we often to have to spell our first and last names for others. As students develop more literacy, they can practice spelling their names as we often do on the phone, having to clarify letters names with a keyword (e.g., S as in Sam ). 9
Closing and Assessment: Lesson 10 (7 minutes) A. Partner Flashcards (6 minutes) Distribute a set of Alphabet Flashcards to partners, with the letters shuffled. Direct partners to practice saying the letters, using the sight word review protocol with YES and NO piles. Circulate and observe students. If time allows, flash cards out of sequence for the whole class to chorally name. Then cold call individual students with individual letter cards. Meeting Students Needs Provide partner practice activities as often as possible before cold calling. B. Review the Learning Targets (1 minute) Point back to the leaning targets for the day. Read the learning target and say: Today you learned the names of the letters in the alphabet, and how to say the letters in your first name. Homework: Lesson 10 (3 minutes) A. Alphabet Homework Handout (3 minutes) Distribute the Alphabet Homework Handout to each student. Model using the completed Alphabet Chart to fill in the missing capital and lowercase letters on the same handout. Instruct students to also practice saying the names of all of the letters in order and out of order, modeling with an example. Meeting Students Needs This homework is intended to simply provide out of class practice on matching lowercase and capital letters. Tomorrow s lesson will introduce letter sounds. 10