Thursday, October 11, 2012

VOWEL SOUNDS


Enough with the pumpkins and spiders!  Time to get back to those Standards!

RF.K.3.
b.  Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings for the five major vowels.

The Vowel Song  - Sing this song to the tune of “Are You Sleeping?”

             A makes two sounds.  (Echo each line.)

            /A/ and /a/.
            /A/ for apron, /a/ for apple.
            /A/ and /a/.

            /E/ and /e/ - eagle and elephant…
            /I/ and /i/ - ice cream and inchworm…
            /O/ and /o/ - open and octopus…
            /U/ and /u/ - ukulele and uncle…

The Vowel Family – This song to the tune of “BINGO” will be a “hook” for helping children recall short vowel sounds.
           Aunt Aggie had an allergy
           and she would always sneeze-o  (Pretend to sneeze.)
           /a/a/a/a/a/  /a/a/a/a/a/  /a/a/a/a/a/  
           And she would always sneeze-o.
           Grandpa Eddie stayed in shape
           and he would exercise-o  (Pretend to lift weights.)
           /e/e/e/e/e/  /e/e/e/e/e/   /e/e/e/e/e/
           He liked to exercise-o.
           Baby Izzi had chicken pox
           and she would always itch-o.  (Scratch body.)
           /i/i/i/i/i/  /i/i/i/i/i/  /i/i/i/i/i/
           And she would always itch-o.
           Cousin Otto’s throat was sore
           And this is what he’d say-o.  (Put hand on throat.)
           /o/o/o/o/o/  /o/o/o/o/o/  /o/o/o/o/o/
           And this is what he’d say-o.
           Uncle Unk wore underwear
           and it did stink-o.  (Hold nose.)
           /u/u/u/u/u/  /u/u/u/u/u/   /u/u/u/u/u/
           And it did stink-o.

Vowel Cheer – These gestures will help children remember vowel sounds.
            Give me a long A - /a/    (Open palm and make a straight movement
                                                in front of your body.)
            Give me a short A -  /a/a/  (Make a curve down and up in front
                                                of your body.)

            Give me a long E…I…O…U…

            Clap your hands and stomp your feet.  (Clap twice and stomp twice.)
            You have got the vowel beat!


Magic E – Here’s an opportunity to use letter vests to demonstrate an abstract concept.  Choose 3 friends to wear letters that will make a CVC word.  Ask another child to wear the letter “e.”  Explain that “e” is a magic letter when it is at the end of a word.  “It doesn’t make a sound, but it touches the letter in the middle with it’s magic and that letter shouts out her name.”  Have “e” get at the end of the word and tap the vowel in the middle.  (You can even use a paper magic wand for this.)  That letter says it’s name (long vowel sound) and then “e” covers up her letter.  Help children blend the sounds and say the new word.
*You can write giant letters on paper for children to hold if you don't have letter vests.