Beginning Reading
igh, igh Captain!
​
​
​
​
​
Rationale: This lesson teaches children about the long vowel correspondence igh= /I/. 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 igh. They will learn a meaningful representation (pirate saying igh, igh captain!) they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a letterbox lesson and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence igh = /I/.
Materials: Graphic image of a pirate saying igh igh captain; cover-up critter; whiteboard or smartboard Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin boxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smartboard letters for teacher: b, h, i, g, h, h, s, t, r; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: high, sight, him, thigh, knight, bright; decodable text: The Night Cave, and assessment worksheet.
Procedures:
1. Say: To become expert readers, we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words. We have already learned to read short vowel words with i, like win, and today we are going to learn about long I, /I/. When I say /I/ I think of a funny little pirate saying, “igh, igh, captain!” [show graphic image].
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 igh say its name /I/. I open my mouth a little and push out a puff of air. [Make vocal gesture for /I/.] I’ll show you first: high. I heard igh say its name. Let’s repeat it, hhh.. igh. There is a long I in high. Now I’m going to see if it’s in hit. Hmm, I didn’t hear I say its name. Now you try. If you hear /I/ say, “Igh, igh captain!” If you don’t hear /I/ say, “That’s not it.” Is /I/ in night, tip, when, sigh, tights, or light? [Have children point to their eye when they hear /I/ say its name.]
3. Say: Now let’s look at the spelling of /I/ that we’ll learn today. One way to spell /I/ is with the letters igh. [Write igh on the board.] What if I want to spell the word fright? “That clown gave me a good fright.” Fright means you got scared. To spell fright in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word, so I stretch it out and count: /f//r//I//t/. I need 4 boxes. I heard that /I/ just before the /t/ so I’m going to put an igh in the 3rd box. The word starts with /f/, that’s easy; I need an f. Now it gets a little tricky so I’m going to say it slowly, /f//r//I//t/. I think I heard /r/ so I’ll put a r right after the f.
f r igh t
4. Say: Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes. You’ll start out easy with two boxes for high. Look at that bird high in the sky; high. What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers]. What goes in the second box? I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress.] You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word. Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box. Then listen for /I/. Here’s the word: sight, I have good eye sight; sight. [Allow children to spell words.] Time to check your work. Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board: s-i-g-h-t and see if you’ve spelled it the same way. Try another with three boxes: thigh; I pulled my thigh running. [Have volunteer spell it in the letterbox on the front board for children to check their work. Repeat this step for each new word.] Next word. Listen to see if this word has /I/ in it before you spell it: him; ask him for food. Did you an igh? Why not? Right, because we don’t hear i say its name. We spell it with our short vowel i. [volunteer spells it on the front board.] Now let’s try 4 phonemes: bright; it is very bright outside. One more then we’re done with spelling, we still need four boxes: knight; the knight saved the villagers. Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.
5. Say: Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I’ll show you how I would read a tough word. [Display poster with knight on the top and model reading the word.] There’s the vowel i. It must say /I/. I’m going to use a cover-up to get the first part. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.] /k//n/ = /kn/. Now I’m going to blend that with /I/ = /knI/. Now all I need is the end, /t/ = /knIt/. Knight; that’s it. Now it’s your turn, everyone together. [Have children read 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 and reading words with our new spelling for /I/: igh. Now we are going to read a book called The Night Cave. This is a story of a boy named Mike who is walking on the beach at night. Mike sees a lit-up cave while on his walk, read to see what happens. Let’s pair up and take turns reading The Night Cave to find out what’s happening in the cave. [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress. After individual paired reading, the class rereads The Night Cave together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.]
7. Say: That was a fun story. What did mike see in the cave? Right, cool rock carvings. What did Mike find walking through the cave? Right, the beach. Before we finish up with our lesson about one way to spell /I/ = igh, I want to see if you can spell igh words. In this worksheet, you can see pictures. Write down the word that describes the picture in the 3 blocks, beginning sound of word, vowel, and end sound of word. [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.]
Resources:
C.F. Crist, The Night Cave https://read.amazon.com/?asin=B008ELGJC0
Assessment Worksheet https://www.pinterest.com/pin/542331980121523273/
​
