Letter Recognition/Sound-Letter A

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Learning Segment Focus or “Big Idea”: Naming the letter “A” and knowing its sound
Grade: Kindergarten		Content Area: Reading/Writing
Time Allotted: Approximately 30-45 minutes (10-15 minutes per activity)		Classroom organization: Lesson begins with whole class instruction then will switch to group work that will involve independent work.
Resources and materials: For Teacher Handouts (Check blog-Letter recognition/sounds-Letter A) Easel Markers/Sharpies Projector For Student Pencil Twistables/Crayons Scissor Glue Sticks Eraser
Content Standard(s): Phonics and Word Recognition: (a)Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the frequent sound for each consonant. (b) Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. Comprehension and Collaboration: 1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. (a) Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion). (b) Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges. Print Concepts: 1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print: (a) Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by pages. (b) Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
Specific Academic Learning Objectives: What do you want students to learn in this lesson? Students will learn: I want the students to be able to begin recognizing that letters have sounds and names. Students will begin to develop strategies that will help them work as a group, work individually, and learn from their peers. What should students be able to do after the lesson? Students will be able to: The students will gain experience recognizing letter names with their sounds. Developing their fine motor skills. Working as a group.
Prerequisites: What skills, knowledge and prior experience do students need for this lesson? -The students will need to know how to rotate table groups, share materials, and have developed some independent work skills. The students should be shown how table stations work in order to obtain this. (When you hear the bell that means you have one minute to finish. When you hear the bell again that means you need to rotate to the next station.) The students should also have experience working at a table independently doing something simple such as finishing a picture or a cut-out. How will you determine whether students have these? -Informal assessments-listening to students responses, making sure to politely correct incorrect responses, watching them work, and asking them what their thinking is. -Formal assessments-collecting handouts at the end of the lesson to assess individual level of understanding. How will you connect to students' interests, backgrounds, strengths and needs, including their cultural, ethnic, and socio-economic differences? -The student will be randomly called on to answer questions to help the students stay motivated and to keep paying attention by using popsicle sticks with their names on them. The students will have the lessons modeled to them during explicit instruction on the carpet to help fix any misconceptions or confusion. These activities allow the students to work and interact with others and learn from each other.
Academic language demands: What academic language is used in the lesson? (Vocabulary, language structure and conventions, genres, symbols, etc.) - Recognizing the letter “A”, letter name and sound that this letter makes (like in the beginning of the work apple). What are the language demands of the task? Please address receptive (listening, reading) and productive (speaking, writing) skills. -The students will need to be able to demonstrate the beginning development of understanding that letters have a name and individual sounds.
Accommodations (to ensure all students have access to the curriculum): How will you make the academic language accessible to all students? -Each step will be modeled. The activities that will be completed throughout this lesson build upon each other to help students develop a deeper understanding of the objective of the lesson. How will address the specific needs of your English learners? -Each activity builds upon each other to help familiarize the student with the objective. The students who need further practice will be given the opportunity to grow upon what they already know to develop a deeper understanding and the students will be given the opportunity to speak to one another in hopes that they can learn from the students who have a deep understanding. How will you address the specific needs of your students with special needs? -Allowing plenty of time for students to process the information and work time. Working with a small group assists them in their learning. The teacher will need to be walking around the room listening to the students and correcting any misunderstands and working with the students that need more individual assistance.
Assessment: What evidence of student learning will you collect? -FORMAL-The handouts will be collected and reviewed at the end of the lesson. -INFORMAL- Listening to student responses. How will you use this evidence? -If the student does not yet recognize the letter name and sound the student(s) will be given further worksheets and reading to practice at home or during class time. After assessing the handouts and determined how well the class as a whole has understood the lesson will determine if it seems appropriate to move to other letters in the alphabet. What criteria will you use to interpret the evidence? -Correct items that begin with the letter A. The letter A was colored in. The correct word was highlighted (the word that has the letter A in it). How will the evidence affect your next steps in teaching? -How much review will be given other the letter A before moving on to the other letters in the alphabet that need to be taught to them before the school year ends.
Instructional Sequence:
	Set or introduction: How will you begin the lesson? How will you engage and motivate learners, connect to prior experience, activate prior knowledge and/or share learning outcomes? - The lesson will begin with whole class instruction on the carpet. The teacher will show the students how to complete handouts 2 and 3 for Station 1. “Say it, Find it, Read it, Write it!” The teacher will say the letter A, say its sound, read the apple, astronaut, and alligator. Then the teacher will pick a crayon color and color in the circles that have the upper case A and lower case “a”in them. Then the teacher will show the students how to write the upper case A and lower case “a” in the space provided. For worksheet 3 the students will be told that if they have time, after they finish worksheet 2, to pick another color and find the circles that have the letter Aa in them. For Station 2 the students will need to use a highlighter and highlight the words that have Aa in them. The teacher will read each sentence and ask the students which picture goes with the sentence. The students are then to cut out each square and glue the picture that matches the sentences in the space provided. (This station will need to be monitored closely to help the students reread the sentences) Then the students will need to follow the teacher with tummies while staying in their assigned spot on carpet to the easel. For Station 3 the students will need to practice writing the letter A and draw things that begin with the letter A. The students will brainstorm on the carpet and the teacher will draw the things that begin with the letter A on the easel. The students will then be told to go their table and begin the activity at that station. Each station will last 10-15 minutes. If students finish early and have cleaned up their area they may go read quietly on the carpet until it is time to rotate.
	Developing Content/Body of Lesson: What instructional strategies and learning tasks will you use in the main part of the lesson? -Repeat after me, modeling, interaction with others and partner work.
	Checks for Understanding / On-going informal assessment: How will you know what students are understanding? (questioning and observing throughout the lesson) -I will determine how well the students are listening during instruction and the answers they provide. I will have them explain their thinking and having the students share their work with me.
	Closure: How will learners summarize or reflect on what they learned (for example, share work, share a strategy, share a process, discuss what they learned, raise a new question)? -Once the students have visited each station they can share their work on the projector or with a partner.
	Extending the Lesson/Homework (optional): -Practice the same worksheets or worksheets that are similar at home.
	Reflection, Next Steps: -After reflection has been done on the students level of understanding will be determined if further practice with the academic terms is needed or if it seems appropriate to move on with new and different activities that provide them with exposure to new words and sounds.