Icky Vicky Babysits Talking Timmy
A Beginning Reading Lesson
Rationale:
This lesson teaches children about the short vowel correspondence i = /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. They will learn a meaningful representation (Mean babysitter Vicky makes Timmy say “iii”), they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a Letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence i = /i/.
Materials: Graphic image of Icky Vicky being mean to Timmy; cover-up critter, whiteboard or smartboard Elkonin boxes for modeling for whole classroom and individual Elkonin letterboxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: c, d, f, h, i, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, w, z; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: it, rip, did, click, skill, swim, pink, skip, sniff, shrink; decodable text: Liz Is Six, and 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 vowels words with a and e, like bat or egg, and today we are going to learn about the short vowel i and its sound, /i/. When I say /i/, I think of Timmy Turner’s babysitter Icky Vicky. [Show image of Icky Vicky].
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 the /i/, /i/, Icky Viiicky sound and my mouth spreads out as if I am smiling and wind goes over my tongue. [Make vocal gesture for /i/.] I’ll show you first: kiss. Kkkkk-iiiiiiii-ssssss. I heard the /i/, /i/, Icky Vicky sound and I felt my mouth smiling like a clown [point to the corners of your mouth drawing out]. There is a short i kiss. Now I am going to see if it’s in grass. Hmmm, I didn’t hear the /i/, /i/, Icky Viiiiicky sound and my mouth didn’t smile like a clown like it did with the short i. Now, you try. If you hear /i/, say “Timmy it’s Icky Vicky.” If you didn’t hear /i/, say “That’s not it.” Is it in bag, slid, think, smell, lamp, drum? [Have children point to the corners of their stretched mouth when they feel /i/ say its name.]
3. Say: What if I want you to spell the word trick? “On Halloween, our reading teacher let each student perform a trick in front of the entire class.” A trick is something done to surprise or confuse someone and to make other people laugh. To spell trick in letterboxes, I first need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /t/ /r/ /i/ /ck/. I need four boxes. I heard that /i/ just before the /ck/, so I am going to put that i in the 3rd box. The word starts with /t/, that’s easy; I need a t. Now I am going to say it slowly, /t/ /r/ /i/ /ck/. I heard a /r/ so I am going to put an r right after the t. I have one box left after the /i/ now. [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /t/ /r/ /i/ /ck/.] The missing sound is the /ck/ after the /i/, so we’ll put the letters ck in the last box and now we have the word trick. Now I will show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with sprint on the top and model the reading word.] I am going to start with the i, that letter says /i/. Now I am going to put the beginning letters with it: s-p-r-i, /spri/. Now I will put that chunk together with the n, /sprin/. Now I will add the last letter, /sprin-t/, Oh, sprint, like, “She had to sprint to class so that she will not be late.”
4. Now I am going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You will start out with two boxes for it. “As the caterpillar crawled across the leaf, the child asked his mother, ‘What is it?’” Listen for that /i/ sound. I will check your spelling as I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound to spell in the first box, then listen for /i/. Here is the word: rip. “During recess, the teacher told him to try not to rip his jeans again today”; rip. [Allow children to spell remaining words, giving sentences and correct number of letterboxes for each word]:
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3 letterboxes: gum
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4 letterboxes: click, skill, spell, pink, skip, cross
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5 letterboxes: shrink, scratch
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you spelled. [Show the words it, rip, gum, click, skill, spell, pink, skip, cross, shrink, scratch, the extra words drink and script, and the pseudoword zrip. Have children read the 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 at reading words with i says /i/. Now we are going to read a book called Liz Is Six. This book is about a girl named Liz that gets a baseball mitt as a gift for her birthday. She plays baseball with her friends and catches the ball with her mitt. Liz is now up to bat! Will Liz hit a homerun or will someone catch her ball? Let’s pair up and take turns reading Liz Is Six to find out if Liz hits a homerun or is out! [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while the teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads Liz Is Six chorally, stopping between page turns to discuss the story.]
7. Say: Before we finish up with our lesson on Icky Vicky /i/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem. On this worksheet, we have words that are missing a letter. Read each word carefully and write the missing vowel in the blank. Reread your answers to see if they make sense. [Collect worksheets to evaluate each individual child’s progress.]
Resources:
Caroline Vinson, Icky Vicky’s Sticky Fingers: http://clv0005.wix.com/caroline-vinson#!A-Beginning-Reading-Lesson/c1qj0/5638cab70cf28330832ab35f
Geri Murray, Oh, I didn’t know: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/doorways/murraybr.htm
Sheila Cushman, Liz Is Six, Carson, CA (USA), Educational Insights, ©1990, 9pp.
Assessment worksheet: http://www.kidslearningstation.com/phonics/vowels/short-vowels-i.asp
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