Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long vowel correspondence i_e = /I/. In order to be able to read, children must learn to recognize the spellings that map word pronunciations. In this lesson children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling i_e. They will learn a meaningful representation (saying FINE, I will go down the SLIDE), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i_e = /I/. 

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Materials:

1. Graphic image of slide

2. Cover-up critter

3. Whiteboard or smart-board

4. Letter boxes for modeling and individual letter boxes for each student

5. Letter manipulatives for each child and

6. Magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: b, c, d, e, h, i,  k, m, n, r, s, t

7. List of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: tie, dime, bike, chin, shine, strike

8. Decodable text: Di and Mice

9. Assessment worksheet  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/804033339709237435/

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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 i, like tip, and today we are going to learn about long I and the silent esignal that is used to make I say its name, /I/. When I say /I/ I think of a little kid saying “Fine, I’ll go down the slide! [show graphic image]. 

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2. Say: Before we learn about the spelling of /I/, we need to listen for it in some words. When I listen for /I/ in words, I hear i say its name /I/ and my lips make a little smile shape like this. [Make vocal gesture for /I/.] I’ll show you first: life. I heard i say its name and I felt my lips make a little smile [make a motion around pursed lips]. There is a long I in life. Now I’m going to see if it’s in tip. Hmm, I didn’t hear i say its name and my lips didn’t make that little smile. Now you try. If you hear /I/ say, “Fine, I’ll go down the slide.” If you don’t hear /I/ say, “That’s not it.” Is it in live, rain, dim, kite, dive, time? 

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3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /I/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /I/ is with the letter i and a signal e at the end of the word to tell me to say I’s name. [Write i_e on the board.] This blank line here means there is a consonant after i, and at the end of the word there is a little silent e signal. What if I want to spell the word dive? “If I dive in the pool, it will make a big splash!”.” Dive means jump head first in this sentence. To spell dive in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /d//I//v/. I need e boxes. I heard that /I/ just before the /v/ so I’m going to put an i in the 2nd box and the silent e signal outside the last box. The word starts with /d/, that’s easy; I need an d. Now I’m going to say it slowly, /d//I//v/ I heard /v/ so I’ll put a v right after the I. And now we have spelled the word dive.

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4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for tie. You might’ve heard the word tie before. “Our teacher told us to make sure we tie our shoes before going outside.” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? What about silent e, did you remember to put it outside the boxes? 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 /I/ and don’t forget to put the signal silent e at the end, outside the boxes. Here’s the word: dime, I need a dime to buy some icecream. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: d – i – m – e and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: bike; I rode my bike to school. [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. Listen to see if this word has /I/ in it before you spell it: chin; At the playground I fell and scraped my chin. Did you need a silent e? Why not? Right, because we don’t hear i say its name. We spell it with our short vowel i. [volunteer spells it on the front board.] Now let’s try 4 phonemes: shine; My mom helped me shine my shoes. One more then we’re done with spelling, and this time you need five boxes: strike; If I strike the match, I can light the campfire. Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word. 

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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 strike on the top and model reading the word.] First I see there’s a silent e on the end; that’s my signal that the vowel will say its name. There’s the vowel i. It must say /I/. 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.] /s//t/ = /st/ + /r/ = /str/. Now I’m going to blend that with /I/ = /strI/. Now all I need is the end, /k/ = /strIk/. Strike; 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.] 

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6. Say: You’ve done a great job and reading words with our new spelling for /I/: i_e. Now we are going to read a book called Di and the Mice. Di is going for a bike ride. She stops to take a break, but she finds mice sitting next to her. What would you do if there was a mouse next to you?. Let’s pair up and take turns reading Di and the Mice to find out what the Di does with the mice. [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 Di and the Mice aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.] 

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7. Say: That was a fun story. What was Di’s reaction to the Mice? Right, they became friends. What did Di share with the Mice? Right, a slice of pie. Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /I/ = i_e, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have some scrambled letters Your job is to look at the picture and decide which i_e word fits best to name the image. First try looking at the picture then try spelling the word. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.] 

Resources:

Bruce Murray, The Reading Genie

 http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/

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Charleigh Bailey, A, A, A. Don't Take the Cookie!

https://charleighlb.wixsite.com/ctrd3000/beginning-reading 

 

Sheila Cushman and Rona Kornblum, Di and the Mice

http://wp.auburn.edu/rdggenie/home/geniebooks/teacherbooks/

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