readers read they decode words in many ways. One way of decoding
is by blending. Children need to be able to blend sounds together
to identify words. This lesson will help students recognize the blend
/sh/. This lesson will also help students to read and write words
with the /sh/ blend.
laminated paper ship(made by the teacher) with velcro on it, laminated
anchor with the letters sh on it (Velcro on back of anchor), laminated
strips of paper with ip, fi, wi, ut, tra, ark, and spla written on the
front with Velcro on the back of each strip (to be attached to the ship),
poster with the tongue twister Sherry found shells and sharks on the shore
on it, 1 set of letterboxes for each child, the letters a, e, i, u, l,
r, t, w, s, h, p, f for each child, pencil for each child, and an
assessment sheet for each child.
1. Ask the children if they have ever heard the librarian ask someone to be quiet. When they respond, answer with, ãWhen people ask others to be quiet, many times they say /sh/ (model with your finger to your mouth)ä. Have students place their hands in front of their mouths and say /sh/. Ask, ãDo you feel the air coming out of your mouth? You are able to make the /sh/ sound by putting your teeth together and allowing air to leak out.ä
2. "Today we are going to work on blending s and h together to make the sound /sh/. Teacher reviews the s and h seperately, then together to make the /sh/ sound. I have this tongue twister, and I would like for everyone to say it with me. Ready? Sherry found shells and sharks on the shore. Now, let us say the tongue twister together again, but we are going to stretch out the /sh/ sound. Ready? Sssshhherry found ssshhhells and ssshhharks on the ssshhhore. Good Job! Did all of you hear the /sh/ sound?
3. Before the students get out their letterboxes, model a word with the boxes. An example would be modeling "fish" to show the sh together. "Please get out your letterboxes and count out three boxes. Remember that s and h are blended together to make the same sound. Keep that in mind when you spell the words in your letterboxes. The first word I want you to spell is ship. Great job! Now, I would like for you to spell the word fish. Next, please spell the word wish. Last, I want you to spell shut. Please count out four boxes. Spell out the word trash. You all are doing great! Only one more word! Please count out five boxes. Please spell the word splash. Great Job!"
4. "I would like for everyone to come sit on the carpet. Here is a big ship. I will attach a part of a word on the ship. You are going to have to pay close attention and tell me where I need to place the anchor with the /sh/ on it. Remember that s and h blended together make the sound /sh/. The first word I want you to think about has ark in it. Does /sh/ go in front of ark or behind it? Yes, that is correct, /sh/ goes in front of ark. Can anyone read this word? The next set of letters is tra. Does /sh/ go in front of tra or behind it? Yes, that is correct, /sh/ goes behind tra. How would you read this word? My next set of letters is ip. Does /sh/ go in front or behind ip? /Sh/ goes in front of ip. Can anyone read this word? The next set of letters is spla. Where would /sh/ go? It goes at the end to make the word splash. I now have the letters ut. Does /sh/ go behind or in front? What does that say? The next word starts with wi. Where do you think /sh/ goes? How would you read that word? The last word we will read has the letters fi. Where would /sh/ go? Can anyone read this word? Great job!
5. "Everyone please stand up. When I say a word that has the blend /sh/ in it, I want you to say "Ahoy!" Say this in your normal voices, no yelling. Ready? Ship, cat, miss, shoe, fish, stand, dog, wish, shark. Wow! You are really catching on!"
" When you return to your seats, I want you to get with your reading buddy.
I will give you each a copy of The Rainbow Fish. Please read to eachother,
paying attention to the /sh/ sound throughout the book." I will go
around the classroom and listen to each child read. "After you have
finished reading to eachother, I will pass out a sheet of paper that
has many pictures on it. I want you to color the pictures that have
the sound /sh/ in their word. The word can either begin or end with
the blend /sh/." The pictures on the worksheet will be a ship, dog,
shoe, boy, trash, book, bear, fish, cat, shell.
References: Eldredge, J. Lloyd (1995) Teaching Decoding in the Holistic Classroom. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, p. 112.
www.auburn.edu/rdggenie, Insights in Beginning Reading. Clanton, Ashley "Give the Dog a Bone".
Phister, Marcus (1992). The Rainbow Fish. New York, North-South Books.
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