Oliver

Spring, 2015

RED 311: Collaborating Preparing and Facilitating

a Weeks Worth
of Phonics Instruction

Lesson Plan Format

Title: Consonant Digraph Sort
English Language Arts Benchmarks Addressed:
1.3.0.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in
decoding words.
a. Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant
digraphs, and initial and final consonant blends.
g. Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words,
including high-frequency words.

Objectives/Targets: After demonstrating a conceptual understanding of

sorting words based on their sounds, students will be able to identify digraph
sounds within words and decode irregularly spelled words with 90%
accuracy.

Materials:
5 plastic cups for each student

Labels of different digraphs (sh, th, ch, wh, ph) one per cup
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Spring, 2015

Round plastic chips with pictures of various objects on them

YouTube video Digraph - The H Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J9Sa9Yq0C0
Anchor chart of Brothers Faces for each sound
Short story books at first grade reading level
Paper and pencils
YouTube video The Digraph Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bFQ2g_AZW4c

Instructional Plan:
1. Anticipatory Set
To get the students attention, I will say a few words that have digraphs
in them and ask them how to spell the words. I will write out the words
on the board as they work together to spell it. After a few words, I will
bring their attention to the digraphs within each word and inform them
that those are what we are going to be learning about. I will show a
video from YouTube called Digraphs - The H Brothers to further
illustrate what will be discussed and to provide the basis for the anchor
chart that we will create as a class later in the lesson. Material
previously mastered would be sounding out words by their individual
letter sounds. This will be used to build upon as we discuss how to
identify the irregular words containing the digraphs being taught
during this lesson.
2. Lesson Objective and/or Purpose
Teacher: During the lesson, you will be learning the sounds certain
digraphs, or sounds made by two letters put together, make and which
words contain those sounds. Then you will use this new skill to help
you sound out more difficult words. Once you know how to sound out
these letter combinations, you will be able to identify them in the
beginning, middle, and end of irregularly spelled words.
3. Instructional Input
During silent reading time, I will meet with each student to work on
decoding regularly spelled sight words and determine their individual
abilities. This will take place over a period of several days and prior to
this lesson. I will make notes and split up the class according to their
strengths in this skill, grouping like-strengths together.
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Spring, 2015

Students will learn the letter combinations and sounds of five common
digraphs (sh, th, ch, wh, ph) and that these can be found in any part of
a word. They will also learn the facial expressions that correspond to
each digraph to assist them in remembering their sound. This will
segue to introducing the irregular words that contain these digraphs.

4. Modeling
I will show The H Brothers video during whole group time, and, as a
class, we will recreate an anchor chart (like that in the video) of the
five different digraphs and the faces and names of each brother.
Using this chart as a reference, I will use the SMARTBoard to categorize
several words by the digraph they contain. This will also be done as a
whole group. When this is complete, I will demonstrate sounding out a
regularly spelled word that contains a digraph. I will model this several
times and then move on to more difficult words.
We will work together to do the Picture Sort activity. I will demonstrate
picking up a chip with a picture and saying the name of the object
aloud. (Example: Chicken. Ill emphasize the /ch/ sound and
dramatize the facial expression that corresponds to that digraph.) Then
I will place the chip in the ch cup. Each student will all have a set of
chips with various images on them and their own set of cups. Together
we will go through the pile and they will work on sorting their chips as I
keep modeling in front of the class and they would respond with the
appropriate answers as I ask them for their responses about the
placement for each chip.
When that activity is complete, I will show the class how to sound out
basic words containing the digraphs. We will do choral reading of
words so everyone practices how to sound out. After practicing many
basic words, we will advance into the irregularly spelled words and
continue sounding out together and also having me select individual
students at random to tell me how to sound out words.
5. Checking for Understanding

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Spring, 2015

Using the popsicle stick method, I will randomly call on students for
answers to questions that would allow me to know if they understand
the content. I will also walk around during the lesson and observe the
students to make sure they are able to determine which cup the chips
go to before a classmate responds with their own answer. During the
decoding portion of the lesson, I will listen to students sound out the
irregularly spelled words and make sure they are using appropriate
methods to help them figure it out. For those who are not
understanding the content, I will periodically call on students that are
getting it to explain to the whole class how they figured out the
answer. Often times, hearing an explanation from a fellow student is
easier to understand what is being taught. If that does not help
enough, there will be one-on-one time during small group work time to
help catch them up. We will continue to practice what they do
understand and then move slowly into the more difficult words.
6. Closure
I will ask open-ended questions seeking students summary/review of
what we learned. After several students have had the chance to
respond, I will show another video that plays a silly song about
digraphs, called The Digraph Song, and have the kids sing along to
the words as the song plays.

Word Work Centers

7. Guided Practice
Students will play Digraph Bingo. Each student will have a spinner with
the five digraphs on it. They will read and cover up a word the digraph
that the spinner just landed on. The first to cover four words in a row
wins.
Teacher: At this station, Digraph Bingo, you each have a spinner and
will spin it to find out which digraph you need to find within a word.
When you find one that has it, cover it up. The first one to cover four
words in a row on the board wins!
8. Independent Practice

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Spring, 2015

Students will independently identify words within books that contain

digraphs and will practice their knowledge of which letters and sounds
make up the digraph by replacing it with another and sounding out the
new, made-up word.
Teacher: At the next station, Mixed Up Word Find, each of you will take
one of the short story books at the table, a sheet of lined paper, and a
pencil, and write down the words that you find within the book that has
one of the digraphs we discussed. You will make a running list for the
whole book and then next to each word, identify which digraph it has
in it. When you have completed that task, you will experiment by
putting a different digraph in place of the one actually in each word
can make silly made up words. (Example: Thank you can become
Chank you.) After you do it for each word, you can share your silly
made up words with one another.

Evaluation:
To determine what the students have learned from this lesson, I will collect
their papers from the work centers and review them. I will also observe the
students faces as we review the sounds and facial expressions of the
digraphs and check for accuracy and participation. If anyone is not doing it, I
will ask them to do one solo to make sure they truly do not understand
rather than just not participating.
To determine the degree to which students have met the lessons objectives,
I will utilize our weekly one-on-one guided reading time to present irregularly
spelled words and have the student sound them out to me. Then I will ask
them to identify the digraph and its sound. If the student is unable to do so, I
will continue to work on this skill with s/he.