Rational: This lesson teaches students about the long vowel correspondence ow = /ow/. According to Making Sight Words, children must learn to recognize the spellings that map out word pronunciations in order to be able to read. In this lesson, students will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling ow. They will learn a meaningful representation, (Ow says the brown cow), they will spell and read words in a Letterbox lesson containing ow, and read a decodable book focusing on this correspondence.
Materials: “Ow! says the brown cow” graphic, cover up critter, overhead projector along with Elkonin boxes and letter manipulatives for modeling, Elkonin boxes along with letter manipulatives for each student: n, o, w, t, c, r, b. List of spelling words on printer paper to project on overhead: now, down, shout, crowd, flower. The decodable text The Clown Who Lost Her Smile and an assessment worksheet.
Procedures:
1. Say: In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned to read short vowel words with o, like top, and long vowel words with O, like vote. We have also already learned that ow says /O/ like in grow, snow, and bow. Today we are going to learn about another vowel sound that ow can make. Sometimes, ow says /ow/. When I say /ow/ I think to myself “Ow! says the brown cow!”[show graphic image].
2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /ow/, we need to listen for it in a few words. When I listen for /ow/ in words, I hear /o/ and my mouth is open like I’m about to eat something. Then, the /o/ is followed by /w/ and my lips make a little o shape like this. [Make vocal gesture for /ow/.] I’ll show you first: cow. /o/ followed by /w/. My mouth is open like I’m about to eat something then my lips make a little o shape [make a circle motion around pursed lips]. There is an /ow/ in cow. We also hear the /ow/ sound when something hurts. For example, if you pinch your arm you’d say /ow/. Now I’m going to see if ow is in mom. Hmm, I didn’t hear /o/ and /w/ and my lips didn’t make that round little o. Now you try. If you hear /ow/ say, “Ow says the brown cow.” If you don’t hear /ow/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in snow, rain, pants, coat, nose, lips? [Have children make a circle motion around their pursed lips when they feel /ow/ say its name.
3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /ow/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /ow/ is with the letter o followed by the letter w, telling me to say /ow/. [Write ow on the board.] What if I want to spell the word crown? “The king and queen both wear a crown.” A crown is a pretty circular thing worn on the head of those in authority and power! To spell crown in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /c//r//ow//n/. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /ow/ just after the /r/ so I’m going to put an o and w in the 3rd box. The word starts with /c/, that’s easy; I need a c. Now it gets a little tricky so I’m going to say it slowly, /c//r//ow//n/. I think I heard /r/ so I’ll put a r right after the c. What’s next? /c//r//ow//n/, I think I heard /ow/. I will put the ow next. I have one empty box now. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /c//r//ow//n/.] The missing one is /n/. We’ve spelled crown.
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for now. Now means in the moment, “my mom said to do my homework now.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? What about ow, did you remember to put it together in one box? I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for /ow/ and don’t forget to put the o and w in the same box. Here’s the word: down, “I fell down and hurt my leg.”; down. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: d – ow– n and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: shout; “I cannot shout in class, it’s rude.” [Have volunteer spell it in the letterbox on the front board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Next word. Lets try 4 phonemes. Listen to see if this word has /ow/ in it before you spell it: crowd; “the crowd is big.” [volunteer spells it on the front board.] One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: flower. “My favorite flower is a rose.” Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I’ll show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with crown on the top and model reading the word.] First I see there’s an o and w together; that’s my signal that the vowel sound will either be /O/ or /ow/. I’m going to use a cover-up to get the first part. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /c//r//O//n/… that doesn’t make sense so lets try /ow/. Now I’m going to blend that with /ow/ = /c//r//ow//n/. Crown; that’s it. Now it’s your turn, everyone together. [Have children read words in unison. Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn.]
6. Say: You’ve done a great job and reading words with our new spelling for /ow/: ow. Now we are going to read a book called The Clown Who Lost Her Smile. This is a story about a clown from a far, far away who has lost her smile. She sometimes has a frown; other times she has a scowl. Will she get her smile back?! [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads The Clown Who Lost Her Smile aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]
7. Say: That was a fun story. Did the clown find her smile? Right! She did! Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /ow/ = ow, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some words missing. Your job is to look in the box of word choices, and decide which ow word fits best to make sense of the sentence. First try reading all the words in the box, then choose the word that fits best in the space. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
Resources:
"OW!" SAYS THE BROWN COW
ELLEN ORMOND
