Procedure​

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1. Say: In order to become expert readers, we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words.  Today we are going to learn the short vowel sound /u/.  Short u makes the sound “uhhhhh”.  When I say /u/ I think of a confused student saying “Uhhhhh, I’m unsure!” Can you put your hands up and shrug like you don’t know while saying “uhhh”? Notice how your arms are up in the shape of a ‘u’.  This helps you remember that short ‘u’ says “uhh.”

 

2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /u/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I say /u/ in words, my mouth is open with my tongue resting at the bottom of my mouth while making the sound deep in my throat. [Make vocal gesture for /u/]. I’ll show you first with a fun tongue tickler to practice /u/: The ugly duck went under the umbrella. I heard the /u/ sounding confused and felt my tongue flatten on the bottom of my mouth. Now it is your turn! Repeat the tongue tickler three times and put your hands up like the little girl in the picture every time you hear the short u sound!  On the third time stretch out each short u sound: The Uuuuugly duuuuck is uuuuunder the uuuuumbrella.  There you can really hear that uhhh sound!

 

3. Before we learn about the spelling of /u/, we need to listen for it in some words. I am going to say two words and I want each of you to listen for the special /u/ sound in the words.  I will read both words and then call on good listeners who raise their hands to tell me which word you hear the unsure girls “uuhh” in it.  Now, do you hear the /u/ in can or cup? club or slob? struck or slick?

 

4.  Say: Let’s look at how we use the code to learn to read words with the confused /u/ sounds. What if we wanted to learn how to spell the word hunt? “I went on an Easter egg hunt” To spell the word hunt in letterboxes, we first need to know how many phonemes are in the word. So, we have /h/ /u/ /n/ /t/. We need four letterboxes. I heard the confused /u/ right after /h/ and before /n/. So, I am going to put the u in the second box. The word begins with /h/ so I am going to place the h in the first box. So, as of right now we have /h/ /u/, and after this we hear /n/ and /t/. So those will go in the last two boxes. And when you put them all together /h/ /u/ /n/ /t/ (stretching it out), you get hunt.

 

5. Say: Now, we are going to spell out some words in letterboxes. You are going to start with two boxes. Our first word is up. The balloon went up in the air. What goes in the first box? What goes into the second box? I’m going to walk around the room and check for everyone’s spelling. [Walk around and observe]. For our next two words, you are going to need three letterboxes. Remember to listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box and then listen for the /u/. Our word is rug. I sat on the rug. [Wait for students to spell the word]. Let’s double check our work. Look closely at how I spell rug using my letterboxes. Did you spell it the same way? Awesome, now let’s try it with a different word. The word is luck. I wished the football team good luck. [Give students time to spell the remaining words and give sentences for each remaining words including review works:  at, fish, mutt, club, fun, dog, hunt, plus, spud

 

6.  Say: Now, I am going to let you read all of the words you just spelled. Before we do that, I am going to model how to read a word [show poster with word trust on it and model how to read the word]. First, I see that the letter u is in the middle of the word so that signals it makes the /u/ sound. Now I am going to use my cover-up critter to put the beginning letters together, t-r-u. Now what comes after the u? The letters s, t, which make /s/ and /t/. Now let’s put it all together: t-r-u-s-t. “I trust my best friend with my secrets.” Do you think you are able to do it on your own? [Show students on the whiteboard the words: up, at, fish, mutt, club, fun, dog, hunt, plus, spud, trust;; pseudoword: slub. Then have students repeat the words in unison].

 

7. Say: Everyone has done an amazing job at learning our new sound /u/! Now we are going to read a new book called Pug and Duck. Pug and Duck are friends! They are both enjoying a nice day playing together!  Pug and Duck get themselves in the yucky sticky mud! Will the able to get out and get clean? You need to read to find out! [Students will read Pug and Duck aloud with partners, alternating pages. Then I will reread the book to the class and have discussion questions.]

 

8. Say: That was such a cute story! Did the Pug and Duck get clean? Before we finish our lesson on u = /u/, we are going to do a worksheet. On this worksheet, there is a list of words with a short u in them. Your job is to look at the words and match them to the correct picture. Before you match, I want you to make sure that all the words contain the /u/ sound. When finished matching, you can color the pictures if you have time. [Collect all worksheets to evaluate their progress].  While students are completing worksheet, I will assess them individually by having the read Pug and Duck to me while I keep a running record.