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Chugging down the Tracks with Ch

Beginning Reading Lesson

by Bridgette Johnson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Rationale: This lesson teaches students the consonant digraph correspondence ch=/ch/.  Children must be able to identify consonant clusters and their corresponding phonemes in order to correctly spell, blend, and read words.  Students will learn a meaningful gesture and sound analogy (moving arms like the wheels of a train and mimicking the sound of a train on the tracks).  They will also do a Letterbox Lesson and read a decodable book in order to master understanding of the correspondence ch=/ch/.

 

  • Materials:

  • Large image of a train

  • Letterboxes for each student

  • Letter manipulatives for each student

  • Letterbox on SmartBoard for teacher

  • SmartBoard letters for teacher- c (2),r,u,n,h,o,p,e,k,i,l (2),u,a,m

  • List of spelling words on SmartBoard- (model)- crunch, (3 phonemes)- chop, check (4 phonemes)- lunch, champ, chunk

  • Decodable book Chips for the Chicks by Geri Murray

  • Assessment worksheet

 

  • Procedures:

  • Say: Sometimes reading words is like riding a train and making stops to get to a destination.  We might have to make stops at all the little sounds that make up a word so that we can finally arrive at the whole word.  We have already learned our short vowel sounds and consonant sounds.  Sometimes, two letters will work together to make only one sound.  Today we are going to learn about the sound /ch/.  The letters c and h work together to say /ch/.  It sounds kind of sounds like a choo choo train chugging along the tracks.  (Point to train poster.)  Move your arms in a circle like a train and say /ch/-/ch/-/ch/-/ch/-choo-choo!

     

 

  • Say: Let’s practice and see if we can hear the /ch/ sound in some words.  Listen carefully and see if you hear the train /ch/-/ch/-chugging along the tracks in the words.  Let me show you how I can find the /ch/ sound in a word: stretch.  Sss-tt-rr-ee-ch-ch-ch (stretch out the word).  Did you hear c and h saying /ch/ at the end of the word.  It sounded like the train on the tracks that we heard earlier, so I know the /ch/ sound is at the end of the word stretch.  Now it’s your turn to try.  If you hear /ch/ in a word, move your arms like a train.  Is it in lunch, dinner, chat, talk, catch, throw, change?

 

  • Say: Now let’s try spelling some words with the /ch/ sound!  Remember, if we want to hear /ch/, we have to put c and h side-by-side, so they can work together to say /ch/.  We are going to use our letterboxes to practice spelling.  Each box has just one sound.  I will need to stretch out my word, so I can hear all of the sounds.  You can keep count of the sounds you hear by counting on your fingers.  First, I am going to spell crunch.  It starts with /c/, so that’s one sound.  The next sound says /r/.  The third sound is /u/.  Then I hear /n/ and finally /ch/.  Since I heard four sounds, I need four boxes.  Now let’s see which letters go in which box.  I know c says /k/ and that’s what I hear at the beginning of crunch, so I’ll put c in the first box.  Next I hear /r/, so I’m going to put an r in the next box.  /u/ is the sound u makes, so that’s next, and finally I hear /ch/ at the end.  Oh, that sounds like the choo choo train on the tracks that we talked about earlier.  Which two letters work together to say /ch/? Hmmm… c and h!  They go in the same box because they only say one sound.  Now we have spelled crunch!

 

  • Say: Now it’s your turn to get some practice with ch.  The first word we are going to spell is chop.  The chef is going to chop carrots for the vegetable soup.  /Ch/-/o/-/p/.  We need three boxes for the three sounds we hear.  What letter(s) do we need in the first box? (Response) What about the second box?  What sound do you hear? (Response) What is the last sound we hear in this word? (Response) Let’s try another word with three boxes: check.  The teacher will check my answer to see if it is correct. (Invite student to demonstrate on SmartBoard after students have had a chance to work independently).  Now let’s try a word with four boxes: lunch.  I hope Mom packed me a delicious lunch today. (Walk around and observe students providing feedback).  Let’s try a couple more words with four boxes.  Our next word is champ.  I scored 10 points in the basketball game, and my coach told me I was a champ. (Have student explain how they spelled champ).  Our last word is chunk.  There are chunks of Oreos in my milkshake.  You can do this one all by yourself.

 

  • Say: Now it’s time to read some words with the /ch/ sound.  First I’ll demonstrate, and then you can try on you own.  I am going to read this word (brunch).  I see the vowel u, so I know I’m going to hear /u/.  Now let me look at the letters before u.  I know that b says /b/ and r says /r/, so I can combine those with u to say bru.  Now I just have to figure out the ending.  N says /n/ so now we have brun.  I see a c and an h on the end, but we learned today that anytime these letters are side-by-side, they work together to say /ch/, so I just add that sound onto the end.  /b/-/r/-/u/-/n/-/ch/ (saying each phoneme slowly).  Oh!  This word is brunch!!

 

  • Say: Let’s all turn our attention to the board and look at our list of words.  (For each word, point to the word, give students time to think about the sounds and blending, and then have them say the word all together.  Then call on students individually and have them say a word.)

 

  • Say: Great job!  Now that you have mastered spelling and reading the /ch/ sound, we are going to read a book.  This book is called Chips for the Chicks.  Ben and Jess’ baby chicks have just hatched.  How exciting!  Just as Ben and Jess sit down to eat some chips for lunch, Lad, their dog, snatches the bag.  Oh no, chips aren’t for dogs!  Will Ben and Jess get the chips back or will Lad end up getting the chips… Or will either one of them get the chips?  Let’s read and find out!  (Students break off into partners and take turns reading the book to each other.  One student reads, and then the other student summarizes the story in his or her own words.  Then the two students switch roles.)

 

  • Assessment: (Say) Wow!  I never expected the chicks to get the chips!  What a surprise!  Now we are going to put everything we’ve learned today into practice.  I’m going to give you a worksheet and you have to draw a line from the word to the matching picture. 

 

 

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