Level 2: Teaching phonological awareness and phonics in the supported reading phase of the Teaching and Learning Cycle

Unit overview

This unit of work occurs over 5 lessons. Within the phase of supported reading (Derewianka & Jones, 2023) the teacher carefully chooses the texts and guides and supports students to read with purpose, building the reading skills of phonological awareness and phonics.

The key elements include:

• using engaging mentor texts such as children’s literature for reading
• developing phonemic awareness and phonic knowledge to assist reading
• using explicit and scaffolded teaching to support all learners
• student talk for collaboration
• engaging comprehension strategies
• encouraging inquiry into words and language.
  

Lesson 1

In this lesson the international phonetic symbol /aʊ/ is used to record the sound  represented by the letters ‘ow’ as in how and ‘ou’ as in out.

Links to Victorian Curriculum

Level 2

Recognise most letter–sound matches including silent letters, trigraphs, vowel digraphs and common long vowels, and understand that a sound can be represented by various letter combinations (VCELA218)

Identify all Standard Australian English phonemes, including short and long vowels, separate sounds in clusters (VCELA239)

Listen for specific purposes and information, including instructions, and extend students’ own and others' ideas in discussions through initiating topics, making positive statements, and voicing disagreement in an appropriate manner (VCELY244)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Pathway A: Early immersion

Level A2: Identify and produce phonemes in blends or clusters at the beginning and end of syllables (VCEALL110) 

Level A2: Participate in simple group activities based on shared texts (VCEALA119)

Level A2: Understand and use a small range of metalanguage for elements of texts (VCEALL125)

Level A2: Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)

Learning intention

We are learning to hear and read the sounds in words.

Success criteria

I can hear the /aʊ/ sound in some words in ' The Bowerbird story'.

I can find the letters that represent this sound in written words.

I can contribute to some generalisations about the different letters that can be used to spell the /aʊ/ sound in words.

Resources required

• Copy of the picture book: The Bowerbird. Copyright © Text Julia Donaldson, Illustrations Catherine Rayner 2023. Macmillan Children’s Books an imprint of Pan Macmillan. Reproduced by permission of Macmillan Publishers International Limited.
  

In this text the vowel digraph /aʊ/ is represented by the graphemes:

• ‘ow’ as in cow
  
• ‘ou’ as in out

• Blank word cards
• Poster paper for anchor chart
  

Group size

Whole group and pairs

Lesson sequence

This lesson assumes that the text has been read previously during shared reading for pleasure and to ensure understanding – what is a bowerbird? what does it do? Attention would have been given to use of rhyme and new or unique vocabulary, eg. haughty, depending on the students’ prior knowledge. Some discussion of the author’s message about attraction, disappointment and/or hope, might have taken place.

1. The teacher introduces the learning intention and success criteria, then asks students to listen carefully.
2. Using the shared reading strategy, revisit the text and look at the front cover – reread the title together, The Bowerbird, and draw students’ attention to the /aʊ/ sound represented by the two letters ‘o’ and ‘w’. Tell students that when these two letters are put together they can represent one sound /aʊ/ spelled ‘ow’.
3. Reread enlarged copy of the text. Ask students to listen for /aʊ/ sound – and clap hands when heard. Teacher records words on individual cards - bowerbird, out, bower, tower, now, flower, outside, hours, found, ground, around, sound, bowed, proud, underlining the letters that represent /aʊ/ sound in each word. Display cards on board/wall in front of whole group.
4. Ask students to turn and talk to a partner about the words.

What do you notice about the letters that are used to represent the /aʊ/ sound? Share with the whole group, e.g. Sometimes the letters ‘o’ and ‘w’ represent the /aʊ/ sound. Sometimes the letters ‘o’ and ‘u’ represent the same sound.

5. Teacher records and displays these statements or generalisations on an anchor chart so they can be tested when reading and creating other texts. Provide blank cards near the anchor chart and encourage students to record new words when encountered in other texts across the curriculum. Link to success criteria.

Lesson 2

Links to Victorian Curriculum

Level 2

Recognise most letter–sound matches including silent letters, trigraphs, vowel digraphs and common long vowels, and understand that a sound can be represented by various letter combinations (VCELA218)

Identify all Standard Australian English phonemes, including short and long vowels, separate sounds in clusters (VCELA239)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Pathway A: Early immersion

Level A2: Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132) 

Level A2: Show interest in patterns of spelling (VCEALA147)

Learning intention

We are learning to hear and read the sounds in words.

Success criteria

I can sort words by the different spellings used in words with the /aʊ/ sound.

I can sort words by noticing if the /aʊ/ sound comes at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the word.

I can make some generalisations about which spelling of the /aʊ/ sound is used in which part of words.

Resources required

• Multiple sets of word cards as prepared in previous lessons (one set per small group)
• Sheets of poster paper folded or divided into 3 columns (one sheet per small group)
• Anchor chart of generalisations from previous lesson
• Poster paper for new anchor charts

Group size (if relevant)

Whole group, small groups and pairs

Lesson sequence

1. The teacher introduces the learning intention and success criteria.
2. As whole group, recap learning from previous lessons by rereading generalisations on anchor chart together.
3. In small groups, students use sets of cards with individual words recorded in previous lesson and group words according to letters used to represent / aʊ / sound - ‘ou’ and ‘ow’
4. As a whole group, add words from each group to a new anchor chart.

5. Explicitly explain that ‘ou’ and ’ow’ are digraphs – two letters that represent the one sound. Ask students if they know any other words that could be added to the lists, eg. town, gown, frown, about, ours.
6. If students offer examples of the same letter combinations representing a different sound (eg. ‘ou’ in enough or would), add these noticings to the anchor chart in a new column.
7. In small groups students do another sort – where in the word does the digraph /aʊ/ come? Does it come at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a word? Students place word cards into columns on a sheet of poster paper. Teacher models first with three or four words on a larger class anchor chart.

8. As a whole group, share where words have been placed and add remaining words to larger class anchor chart.
9. Ask students to turn and talk to a partner. What do you notice now? Can you see any patterns about where the different spellings of the / aʊ / sound occur more often? Never? e.g. The ‘ou’ spelling can be found at the beginning and middle of the word. The ‘ou’ spelling is not found at the end of words.
10. Return to the success criteria. Add these generalisations to the anchor chart from Lesson 1 for further testing during other reading and writing opportunities.

Lesson 3

Links to Victorian Curriculum

Level 2

Manipulate more complex sounds in spoken words through knowledge of blending and segmenting sounds, phoneme deletion and substitution (VCELA238)

Read familiar and some unfamiliar texts with phrasing and fluency by combining phonic, semantic, contextual and grammatical knowledge using text processing strategies, including monitoring meaning, predicting, rereading and self-correcting (VCELY221)

Understand how to use digraphs, long vowels, blends, silent letters and syllabification to spell simple words including compound words (VCELA226)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Pathway A: Early immersion

Level A2: Identify and produce phonemes in blends or clusters at the beginning and end of syllables (VCEALL110) 

Level A2: Participate in simple group activities based on shared texts (VCEALA119)

Level A2: Understand and use a small range of metalanguage for elements of texts (VCEALL125)

Level A2: Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)

Learning intention

We are learning to hear and read the sounds in words.

Success criteria

I can find some words with the /aʊ/ digraph when I am reading.

I can segment words with the /aʊ/ digraph to help me sound them out.

I can blend the/aʊ/ digraph with other letters to help me read words.

Resources required

• Copy of the picture book: The Bowerbird. Copyright © Text Julia Donaldson, Illustrations Catherine Rayner 2023. Macmillan Children’s Books an imprint of Pan Macmillan. Reproduced by permission of Macmillan Publishers International Limited.
  

• Magnetic letters and large whiteboard
• Individual whiteboards and markers
• Word slides

Group size

Whole group and pairs

Lesson sequence

1. The teacher introduces the learning intention and success criteria
2. Return to the picture book The Bowerbird by Julia Donaldson and Catherine Rayner. Zoom in on the line - “Now will you come inside my bower?” which is repeated on multiple pages.
3. Teacher writes sentence on whiteboard and asks a student to circle words containing the /aʊ/ sound – now and bower – and underline letters representing that sound.
4. Teacher rereads sentence and explicitly models how to sound out the word ‘now’ by segmenting and then blending the word to support decoding (e.g. /n/, /aʊ/ - now) and repeats process with the word bower (e.g. /b/, /aʊ/, /ɜ/ - bower).
5. Teacher invites individuals to read the sentence in the same way.
6. Teacher segments ‘now’ into onset and rime (e.g. ‘n’ is the onset and ‘ow’ is the rime).

(see Literacy glossary for definition of onset and rime).

7. Teacher provides letter magnets of other onsets (eg. b, c, h, p, r, w, br, dr) and final letters (n,l) and shows how to blend the /aʊ/ digraph  with different consonants or consonant blends as the initial sound/s to generate new words with same rime, for example, c/ow, b/ow, h/ow, r/ow, w/ow, b/r/ow.

This could be extended to add and blend consonants in the final position, eg. d/ow/n, t/ow/n, f/r/ow/n, c/l/ow/n, b/r/ow/n, d/r/ow/n

8. Explain to students that knowing the word ‘now’ can help them to read and write other words that look and sound the same.
9. With a partner, students make and use word slides with /aʊ/ digraph to build words (see photo below). Students practise blending sounds together to read the words and write words on individual whiteboards. Read list of words to each other.
10. Students come together again as a whole group. Return to the success criteria.
11. Teacher zooms in on other sentences from the picture book The Bowerbird and individual students are chosen to read selected sentences aloud practising the segmenting and blending of words containing the /aʊ/ digraph represented by the letters ‘ow’.
    

Lesson 4

Links to Victorian Curriculum

Level 2

Recognise most letter–sound matches including silent letters, trigraphs, vowel digraphs and common long vowels, and understand that a sound can be represented by various letter combinations (VCELA218)

Identify all Standard Australian English phonemes, including short and long vowels, separate sounds in clusters (VCELA239)

Listen for specific purposes and information, including instructions, and extend students’ own and others' ideas in discussions through initiating topics, making positive statements, and voicing disagreement in an appropriate manner (VCELY244)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Pathway A: Early immersion

Level A2: Identify and produce phonemes in blends or clusters at the beginning and end of syllables (VCEALL110) 

Level A2: Participate in simple group activities based on shared texts (VCEALA119)

Level A2: Understand and use a small range of metalanguage for elements of texts (VCEALL125)

Level A2: Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)

Learning intention

We are learning to hear and read sounds in words

Success criteria

I can identify words where the letters ‘ou’ represent the /aʊ/ sound.

Resources required

• Enlarged copy of nursery rhyme Incy wincy spider
• Individual copies of the nursery rhyme Incy wincy spider
• Anchor charts from previous lessons
• Access to videos

Group size

Whole group and pairs

Lesson sequence

1. The teacher introduces the learning intention and success criteria, then asks students to listen carefully to the teacher.
2. To revise previous learning, play a listening game where students need to delete and manipulate sounds in words. Ask students to listen to clues, segment and blend to say the new word, eg.

down - change the /d/ to a /g/ what word do you have? gown

down - change the /d/ to a cr what word do you have? crown

crown -change the /n/ to a /d/ what word do you have? crowd

3. Use shared reading to revisit the text of a traditional nursery rhyme Incy Wincy Spider.

Incy wincy spider

Climbed up the water spout.

Down came the rain

And washed poor Incy out.

Out came the sunshine

And dried up all the rain.

So incy wincy spider

Climbed up the spout again.

It is presumed that students have read and talked about this rhyme in previous lessons. If not, it will require further explanation. In this lesson, the text is revisited with a focus on phonological awareness and phonics.

4. After rereading the text together, ask students to identify words with /aʊ/ digraph and add any new words to anchor chart – spout, down, out.
5. Ask individual students to read lines with /aʊ/ words, practising segmenting and blending sounds to decode words containing this digraph.
6. With a partner or individually, students read a separate individual copy of the text and circle words that contain the /aʊ/
7. To consolidate learning, students view videos –

ow Sound  at https://youtu.be/9Ph6nnHrVwY and

The Phonics ou Song at https://youtu.be/-TZTJZfBYfk.

Videos show pictures and say words with /aʊ/ sound represented by two different spellings – ‘ow’ and ‘ou’ including some with consonant blends - eg. brown and with /aʊ/ in different positions in the word – eg. ‘ow’ in initial position in owl.

8. After viewing the videos add words noted in videos to anchor chart from Lesson 3 where words are sorted according to the position of the vowel digraph in the words.
9. Return to the success criteria. Ask students if they can make any new generalisations now. E.g. ‘ow’ can also occur at the beginning of words, eg. owl.

The /aʊ/ digraph can be found at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of words. Add these to the list of generalisations for further testing.

Lesson 5

Links to Victorian Curriculum

Level 2

Recognise most letter–sound matches including silent letters, trigraphs, vowel digraphs and common long vowels, and understand that a sound can be represented by various letter combinations (VCELA218)

Read familiar and some unfamiliar texts with phrasing and fluency by combining phonic, semantic, contextual and grammatical knowledge using text processing strategies, including monitoring meaning, predicting, rereading and self-correcting (VCELY221)

Level 2: Understand how to use digraphs, long vowels, blends, silent letters and syllabification to spell simple words including compound words (VCELA226)

Identify all Standard Australian English phonemes, including short and long vowels, separate sounds in clusters (VCELA239)

Identify, reproduce and experiment with rhythmic, sound and word patterns in poems, chants, rhymes and songs (VCELT243)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Pathway A: Early immersion

Level A2: Identify and produce phonemes in blends or clusters at the beginning and end of syllables (VCEALL110)

Level A2: Participate in simple group activities based on shared texts (VCEALA119)

Level A2: Use knowledge of letters and sounds to read a new word or locate key words (VCEALL132)

Learning intention

We are learning to hear and read sounds in words.

Success criteria

I can find words with the /aʊ/ sound spelled as “ow’ or ‘ou’.

I can recognize and read words with the /aʊ/ sound and different spellings.

Resources required

• Copy of the picture book: The Bowerbird. Copyright © Text Julia Donaldson, Illustrations Catherine Rayner 2023. Macmillan Children’s Books an imprint of Pan Macmillan. Reproduced by permission of Macmillan Publishers International Limited.
• Enlarged copy of Incy wincy spider nursery rhyme.
• Mini clipboards with sheet of paper and pencil (one set per pair)
• Anchor chart from Lesson 2

Group size

Whole group and pairs

Lesson sequence

1. The teacher introduces the learning intention and success criteria.
2. As a whole group and using the shared reading strategy, teacher and students reread the Incy wincy spider nursery rhyme and the final pages of The Bowerbird, pausing to segment and blend words with /aʊ/ digraph where needed.
3. Students are prepared to go on a word hunt in the classroom. This presumes the classroom is a print rich environment with many texts, books and anchor charts on display.
4. With a partner, students take a mini clipboard with a sheet of paper and a pencil and scan the room for words containing the /aʊ/ Each word is then recorded on their sheet of paper.
5. Students return to the whole group. As a class, test words recorded by students – do they contain the letters ‘ou’ or ‘ow’? Do these letters represent the /aʊ/ sound? If yes, add to anchor charts. Include any words where ‘ou’ and ‘ow’ represent different sounds to other columns., eg, soup, double, know.
6. Return to the success criteria. Revise and add to generalisations on anchor chart eg. The letters ‘ou’ and ‘ow’ can represent other sounds such as in soup and know.

Going further

Students participate in activities that involve repetition and multiple exposures to the /aʊ/ digraph.

References

Derewianka, B., & Jones. P. (2023). Teaching language in context. Docklands, Victoria: Oxford University Press.