Lesson 2: Vowel Teams Review

Activities

Activity 1.1: Shared Reading

The "Shared Reading Semester 1, Lesson #2" works a little differently than the previous ones. Here, you read the parent lines, and your child reads the child lines. This lesson will review many of the vowel sounds in the message, so it's ok if your child doesn't remember them from last year. As she reads her lines, encourage her to point to the words, along with individual letters and blends.

Parent: Tell me, tell me, do you know
How to spell long a, long o?

Child: "Bake" and "rain" and "break" and "play,"
These are words long a can say.

Parent: "Snow" and "globe" and "toad" and "toe,"
These all make a great long o.

Child: This week I will also see
More ways to spell long i, u, e!

Next, pose the following questions:

What vowel sound do "bake," "rain," "break," and "play" make? (long a)
What are two words that rhyme with "see"? (Examples: me, bee, tree, knee)
Can you name two words that rhyme with "snow"? (Examples: no or know, toe, grow, dough)

Activity 1.2: Identifying Consonants and Vowel Patterns

Ask your child to name the vowels in the alphabet (a, e, i, o, u), and remind her that the vowels can make different sounds depending on where they are and what other letters they're combined with in a word. Explain that she's going to be working with many different vowel patterns during this lesson.

Write "cat" and "box" on the laminated writing sheet in one color, and ask your child to read the words aloud. Now, pose the following questions:

What are the consonants in these words? (c, t, b, x)
What are the vowels in these words? (a, o)
In what ways are these words similar? (Answers will vary. Your child may note they each have only three letters, that they both have short vowels, and that they both begin and end with a single consonant.)

Help your child notice the arrangement of the consonants and vowels in "cat" and "box." You want her to see that both words have a short vowel sound in the middle of single consonants. Ask, "What other words can you come up with that are spelled like 'cat' and 'box' with short vowel sounds between single consonants?" Examples include pig, bet, nut, dog, and ham.

Now, write the words "lake" and "hike" on the sheet, and then pose the following questions after your child has read the words aloud:

What type of vowel sound do both of these words have? (long)
What makes the vowel sound long in these words? (the silent e at the end of each word)

Help your child cut out the words on the "Consonant and Vowel Patterns" page, and number three different paper plates with 1, 2, and 3. Place "fit" on plate #1, "make" on plate #2, and "mast" on plate #3. Tell your child to read these words aloud. Then, pointing to each word individually, ask, "What do you notice about the consonants and vowel(s) in this word? How many are there? And where are they?"

Now, give your child one word at a time from the remaining cut-out words, and tell her to read it aloud and place it on the correct plate based on its spelling. Ask, "Based on the consonants and vowels in this word and where they are, which plate does this word belong on?"

She should place the words as follows:

Plate #1: fit, hat, get, not, cut
Plate #2: make, time, note, cute, tape
Plate #3: mast, bell, soft, jump, land

Once your child has placed the words correctly, allow her to glue them to the plates, and ask the following questions:

How do the words on Plate #1 differ from the words on Plate #2? (Plate #1 has words with short vowel sounds while plate #2 has words with long vowel sounds made by the silent e.)
How do the words on Plate #2 differ from the words on Plate #3? (Plate #2 has long vowel words that end with silent e while Plate #3 has words that end with two consonants and have a short vowel sound.)
How are the words on Plates #1 and #3 similar? (All of these words have a short vowel sound.)

Student Activity Page

Consonant and Vowel Patterns

Activity 1.3: Sight Words

Introduce this week's sight words using the following sight word cards: "place" and "says." Read the words as you point to them, and then ask your child to read them to you. Ask, "Which of these words has a long a sound?" (place) Point out that the word "say" has the long a sound, too, but when we add s to it to make "says," the vowel sound becomes more like the short e sound.

Use the words in the following sentences to point out the difference:

We say we want to go to the farm.
She says she doesn't want to go there.

As needed, also continuing reviewing the Age 5-7 sight words from the Introduction to this lesson.