Student Objectives

• Student will make the correlation between the visual Aa and the auditory sound /ă/

• Student will write Aa

• Student will say each sound in a word and blend the sounds together to read the word

• Student will snap fingers for each syllable in a word

Extra Learning Activities

Here are some optional extra learning activities you can do with your students to help reinforce the concept. They are not required as part of the lesson:

Astronauts

Read and learn about astronauts. Discuss how astronauts live in space and about the training astronauts go through before launching into space. Have student pretend they are walking on the moon and talk about what it would be like to be weightless in space.

Ant Craft

Use three sections of a cardboard egg carton to form the body. Have the student paint it as they wish. Put antennas on the first section using pipe cleaners and six legs on each of the three sections. Student can draw eyes or use wiggly eyes on the front section.

Letter A Snacks

Eat apples, applesauce, apricots, and animal crackers for a tasty treat!

‘A’ Song
(Sing to Farmer in the Dell)

♫ Let’s sing hurray for A,
Let’s sing hurray for A,
Let’s sing hurray for A today
Let’s sing hurray for A.
Apple starts with A
Asparagus the same way,
Let’s sing hurray for A today,
Let’s sing hurray for A. ♫

Beginning Letters & Sounds
Practice Games

Here are some optional fun games to help reinforce the concept your student is learning. They are not required as part of the lesson:

Review Cards

Sound Cards 

Review and Drill – b, c, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z, d

“When I hold up a letter, say the letter’s name, and give its sound.”

“Good job. Today we are going to learn to sound out, write, and recognize the letter a.”

Step 1

Picture Page

Student Workbook Page 83

Hold up the a – apple

Say, “Now that we’ve learned all of our consonant letters in the alphabet, let’s learn about a special group of letters that are called vowels. Vowels are very important letters because they are in every single word. Today we are going to learn just one of the vowels and we will learn the other vowels on a different day.”

Point to the letter a.

“The name of this letter is a. What is the name of this letter? The letter a is a vowel and it makes the sound /ă/. What sound does it make? The picture page for the letter a is apple. Say apple. Good. When I point to the picture page, say the letter’s name, give its sound, and say the picture word. Watch me as I demonstrate.” 

Say a, /ă/, apple then have student repeat three times.

Step 2

Phonological Awareness

“Close your eyes. I will say a word. You will repeat the word and listen for the /ă/ sound at the beginning of the word. If you hear /ă/ at the beginning of the word, raise your hand. Let’s practice. Say apple. Do you hear the /ă/ sound at the beginning of the word apple? Yes, you hear the /ă/ sound at the beginning of the word apple so you raise your hand. Good. Let’s practice some more words.”  

Repeat this activity with:

alligator, pop, duck, animal, astronaut, worm, moon, attic, yawn

Step 3

Finger Tracing

Student Workbook Page 84 – Finger Tracing

Say, “Point to the letter a to the left of the apple. What sound does it make? Good. Let’s trace the letter a with your finger. Pull back, around, up, and down.”

Have student repeat finger tracing three times and say – pull back, around, up, and down.  

“What is the name of this letter? What sound does it make?” 

For extra letter practice, you can have your student practice finger tracing on sandpaper, a carpet square, a salt or sand tray, or in shaving cream.

Step 4

Guess My Word Game

Say, “I am thinking of something that starts with the letter a. It reminds me of a crocodile.” (alligator)

“Great! Now it’s your turn to think of something that starts with the letter a and I have to guess it.”

Say, “I am thinking of something that starts with the letter a. It’s a tasty fruit and comes in the colors red, green, or yellow.” (apple)

“Great! Now it’s your turn to think of something that starts with the letter a and I have to guess it.”

Say, “I am thinking of something that starts with the letter a. It is a tiny insect.” (ant)

“Great! Now it’s your turn to think of something that starts with the letter a and I have to guess it.”

Step 5

Blending Sounds

Student Workbook Page 85 – Beginning Blending

“Look at the first picture. It is a picture of a cat. Point to the cat. Point to the word under the picture. The word says cat. Circle the a in the word cat. What sound does the a make in the word cat?” (ă)

“Point to the letter a on the lines next to the picture of the cat. What sound does it make?” (ă) “With your finger, trace the letter a on the lines. (Pull back, around, up, and down.) What sound does it make?” (ă)

“With your finger, point to each letter one at a time and say the sounds aloud.” /k/, /ă/,/t/ “Now glide your finger under the word saying it fast.” (cat)

Review Cards

Sound Cards  

Review and Drill – b, c, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z, d, a

“Say the letter’s name and give its sound.”

“Good job. Today we are going to continue practicing the letter a.” 

Step 1

Sky Writing

“Now we are going to Sky Write this sound. Let me demonstrate first.”

“Stand up and extend your arm all the way out in front of you. Ready?”

  /ă/  (Say the sound.)  a  (Say the letter as you Sky Write.)  /ă/  (Underline the sound and say the sound.)  

Have student repeat three times. (Pull back, around, up, and down.)

Step 2

Phonological Awareness

Write the word hat on the board.

“With your finger, point to each letter one at at time and say the sounds aloud.” /h/, /ă/, /t/

“Now while gliding your finger under the word, blend the sounds together to read the word.” (hhaatt)

Repeat with: 

rat, sad, map, fat

Step 3

Pen Tracing

Student Workbook Page 84 – Pen Tracing

“Pick up your pen. Now, let’s trace the letter a right here three times.”

(Pull back, around, up, and down.)

Step 4

Animal Syllables

“I’m going to name an animal. Together, we are going to snap our fingers for each syllable in the word. Ready? Pan-da.” (snap snap)

Repeat with:

li-on, moose, rab-bit, tur-tle, fox, al-li-ga-tor, par-rot, hip-po, el-e-phant, croc-o-dile 

Step 5

Blending Sounds

Student Workbook Page 85 – Practice Blending

“Look at the second picture. It is a picture of a yak. Point to the yak. Point to the word under the picture. The word says yak. Circle the a in the word yak. What sound does the a make in the word yak?” (ă)

“Point to the letter a on the lines next to the picture of the yak. What sound does it make?” (ă) “With your pen, write the letter a on the lines.” (Pull back, around, up, and down.) “What sound does it make?” (ă)

“With your finger, point to each letter one at a time and say the sounds aloud.” /y/, /ă/, /k/ “Now glide your finger under the word saying it fast.” (yak)

Review Cards

Sound Cards

Review and Drill – b, c, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z, d, a

“Say the letter’s name and give its sound.”

“Good job. Today we are going to continue practicing the letter a.”

Step 1

Blending Drill

Place Sound Cards into three stacks:

First Stack – ( b, c, f, h, m, p, s )

Second Stack – ( a )

Third Stack – ( t )

Have student place their finger under each stack and say the sound from left to right. Then have them read the word.

Turn the cards from the First Stack to create a new word.

Step 2

Phonological Awareness

“I am going to say a sentence. You are going to repeat the sentence and take one step for each word in the sentence.”

He ran. (Student takes two steps.)

“How many steps did you take? Yes, two steps. There are two words in the sentence.”

Repeat with:

She likes grapes.
The bike is red.
The white dog barks.
It will snow.

Step 3

Letter Writing

Student Workbook Page 84 – Letter Writing

“Pick up your pen. Now, let’s write the letter a right here on the line three times.”

(Pull back, around, up, and down.)

Step 4

A Story

Student Workbook Page 83

“Listen as I read a story. I will ask you some questions at the end.”

“Aunt Abby likes to eat apples as a snack. The action makes the sound ă-ă-ă. Can you make the sound ă-ă-ă?” (pause)

“Today, Aunt Abby is going to make applesauce. She grabs an axe and hacks at the apples in the apple tree. The ants are angry. They scram to the apricot tree instead.”

“Aunt Abby cooks applesauce and adds anise. Bon Appetit!”

“THE END.”

Ask the student:

“Did you like this story?”

“What sound did you hear a lot in this story?” 

“Tell me two words that you remember from this story that have the /ă/ sound.”

Optional: Have student draw the two words on the page.

Step 5

Blending Sounds

Student Workbook Page 85 – Word Blending

“Look at the third picture. It is a picture of jam. Point to the jam. Point to the word under the picture. The word says jam. Circle the a in this word. What sound does the a make in the word jam?” /ă/

“What’s the first sound you hear in the word jam?” /j/ “What’s the next sound you hear in the word jam?” /ă/ “What’s the last sound you hear in the word jam?” /m/

“Sounding out each letter as you write, spell the word jam on the line.”

Step 6

Sound Dictation

Student Workbook Page 86 – Sound Dictation

“Say /ă/. What letter makes the /ă/ sound? With your finger, write the letter that says /ă/ on your palm. Now write the letter a on your paper. Now, look at the letter you just wrote. What is the name of this letter? What sound does it make?”

Repeat with:

/b/, /j/, /z/, /l/, /b/, /d/, /h/, /ks/, /s/, /t, /v/, /ă/

Capital Letters

Letter A

Materials:
– Alphabet Chart
– Whiteboard/Black Marker

Sing the Alphabet Song with your student. Point to the letters on the Alphabet Chart as each letter is named.

(Alphabet Chart is located in the back of Beginning Letters & Sounds Student Workbook.)

“Today we are going to learn about the capital letter A. Capital letters are used to begin sentences and names.”

Point to the Capital A on the alphabet chart.

“This is a capital letter A. What is this letter? What sound does it make?”

“Watch as I make a capital letter A on the whiteboard. Slant down, slant down, across. Now it’s your turn.”

Help student write the capital letter A on the whiteboard three times.