Phonics and Word Work

Overview

This 30-minute lesson focuses on phonics and word work aligned with Alberta's English Language Arts curriculum, specifically targeting Jolly Phonics sounds, Heggerty phonemic awareness, and word work with closed syllable short a words and irregular heart words. It is designed for a class of sixteen Grade 1 students and incorporates multiple modalities to engage emergent readers and writers.

Curriculum Connections

Alberta Program of Studies: English Language Arts 1

• Reading and Viewing: Developing phonemic awareness and decoding skills by learning phonemes and blending sounds. (Outcome 1.2.1, 1.2.2)
• Writing and Representing: Applying phonics knowledge to spelling development and word recognition. (Outcome1.3.1, 1.3.2)
• Listening and Speaking: Pronouncing and identifying sounds with clarity and confidence. (Outcome 1.4.1)

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Recognize and produce the consonant digraph ck and short vowel sounds /a/ and /e/.
2. Blend and segment sounds to read closed syllable short a words (e.g., can, had, man).
3. Identify and read irregular heart words from and very by sight.
4. Demonstrate phonemic awareness skills following Heggerty Week 7 protocols (blending, segmenting).

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Materials Needed

• Jolly Phonics sound cards for ck, e, h, r
• Heggerty Week 7 script and activities
• Word cards with closed syllable short a words (can, had, man)
• Heart word cards: from, very
• Whiteboard and markers
• Magnetic letter tiles or alphabet stamps
• Student notebooks and pencils
• Sound boxes (Elkonin boxes) worksheets
• Recording chart for assessment notes

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Lesson Plan

1. Warm-Up (5 minutes) – Heggerty Phonemic Awareness (Week 7)

• Follow the Heggerty lesson focus: quick review of blending and segmenting sounds in spoken words.
• Example activity: "I say a word, you break it into sounds." Use words such as cat, bat, fish.
• Incorporate “sound substitution”: Change the first sound in "cat" to /m/ – what’s the new word?

Curriculum Link: Strengthening phonemic awareness supports decoding (AL ELA 1.2.1).

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2. Introduction to Jolly Phonics Sounds (10 minutes)

• Introduce ck, e, h, and r sounds using multisensory strategies:

  • Show the Jolly Phonics sound cards and articulate each sound clearly.
  • Use action cues (e.g., pretend to crack a stick for "ck," hop for "h").
  • Have students repeat the sounds aloud.

• Guided reading: Use magnetic letters to build simple words containing these sounds, e.g., heck, rack, neck.

• Practice writing these sounds in notebooks with emphasis on letter formation.

Curriculum Link: Reinforces letter-sound correspondence (AL ELA 1.2.2).

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3. Word Work – Closed Syllable Short a Words and Heart Words (10 minutes)

• Introduce the concept of closed syllable words: explain they have a short vowel followed by one or more consonants.

• Display word cards: can, had, man and model decoding strategies – sound out each letter, blend sounds together.

• Use Elkonin boxes for students to segment and blend the words aloud and in writing.

• Introduce heart words from and very, noting these are irregular and can’t be sounded out easily:

  • Show these words and use a memory trick or rhyme (e.g., “From starts with f like flower.”).
  • Play a heart word “spot the word” game: spot irregular words in a simple sentence such as "I come from home" or "You are very kind."

Curriculum Link: Helps students decode and spell common word families and irregular sight words (AL ELA 1.3.1).

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4. Independent Practice and Assessment (5 minutes)

• Provide students with a short worksheet:

  • Match magnetic letters to form closed syllable short a words.
  • Circle heart words in a list or sentence.

• Observe and note students’ blending and spelling accuracy, especially with the focus sounds and words.

• Exit slip: Ask each student to say one word they learned with the ck sound and one heart word aloud to the teacher for quick formative assessment.

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Differentiation Strategies

• For struggling students: Provide concrete manipulatives (e.g., letter tiles) and one-on-one sound blending practice. Use slower pacing and repetition of sounds.
• For advanced students: Challenge to create new words using the taught sounds or write a sentence using one closed syllable short a word and one heart word.

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Reflection and Next Steps

• Note students who mastered the target sounds and words and those who need reinforcement.
• Plan follow-up activities for blending and spelling ck words and introduce next week’s Jolly Phonics sounds m, d, ai.
• Incorporate more heart words into future word work to build fluency.

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Teacher Tips to Wow Your Class

• Incorporate songs with the ck sound (e.g., a “ck” rap) to strengthen auditory memory.
• Use colourful visuals and sensory materials like sand trays for letter writing.
• Record student voices on a tablet reading target words and play it back for self-assessment and confidence building.

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This lesson plan is designed to engage emergent readers using proven programs (Heggerty, Jolly Phonics) while meeting Alberta’s learning outcomes for Grade 1 ELA phonics and word recognition effectively and memorably.