Whats In a Name?: Comparing Graphemes and Phonemes
Brief Description: Students analyze classroom names to discuss and compare the number of graphemes and phonemes in each name. Students work collaboratively to complete a class chart.
Overview: Students need to be skilled at hearing and recording accurate sounds in words. This skill is essential in reading and writing. In this lesson, students will explore the relationship between the sounds they hear in a given word and the number of letters that represent the word. In this lesson, students will analyze their own names, the names of their classmates, and names from their family members.
Grade Band: K-1
Lesson Plan Type: Standard Lesson
Estimated Lesson Time: Three 20 minute sessions
Featured Resources: Andy: Thats My Name by Tomie dePaola
Printouts: Name Charts Word Lists
Materials & Technology: Index Cards with students names (one for each student) Index Cards with student family names (3 or 4 for each student) Index Card with your own name Chart Paper Teacher Marker Pencils for each student Name Chart Printouts (Two for each student, differentiated) List of words with 2, 3, or 4 phonemes (provided) Sticky Notes or Small Paper Scraps (One for each student, for sessions two and three.)
From Theory to Practice: Yopp, H.K., & Yopp, R.H. (2000). Supporting phonemic awareness development in the classroom. The Reading Teacher, 54, 130143. Phonemic awareness, the ability to hear and manipulate the smallest units of sound in speech, is an essential early literacy skill. Activities that emphasize phonemic awareness should be thoughtful and engaging. Students should be directed to attend to the sound structure of words before they leave kindergarten. Students should have practice playing with words orally as they develop phonemic and phonological awareness.
IRA/NCTE Standards: 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities. 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Common Core Standards Foundational Skills 2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). d. Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonent-vowel-consonent, or CVC) words.* (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
Preparation for Session One: 1. Obtain and pre-read the book, Andy: Thats My Name, by Tomie dePaola. 2. Write each students name on an index card in large, clear letters.
Preparation for Session Two: 1. Prepare a three column chart on chart paper. There should be enough rows for all of your students names, plus one extra for your name. a. Column One: Name b. Column Two: Number of Letters I See c. Column Three: Number of Sounds I Hear 2. Gather the student name index cards. 3. Choose one word for each student from the prepared list of words with 2, 3, or 4 phonemes. 4. Gather the sticky notes or small paper scraps and a basket to place them in as students finish.
Preparation for Session Three: 1. Print the student name charts and determine which chart each student will use. 2. Choose a new word for each student from the prepared list of words with 2, 3, or 4 phonemes. 3. Gather the sticky notes or small paper scraps and a basket to place them in as students finish.
Preparation for Assessment: 1. Write 3-4 names of family members or pets on index cards for each student. 2. Choose and print a new chart for each student.
Instructional Plan
Student Objectives: 1. Students will accurately count the number of graphemes in a word. 2. Students will accurately count the number of phonemes in a word. 3. Students will complete a graph using classroom names. 4. Students will independently complete a graph using family names.
Session Introduction and Activities
Session 1: Read Aloud and Name Discussion 1. Read Andy: Thats My Name, by Tomie dePaola. 2. Lead a class discussion about the importance of names. Talk about the names in your classroom. Pass out the student name cards for students to use when making observations. Give each student his or her own name. Use the following questions to guide your discussion. a. Are there any names that start or end the same? b. Are there any names that sound the same? c. Are there any names that are exactly the same? d. Are the any names that share common letters?
Session 2: Charting Names 1. Activate prior knowledge by revisiting your discussion about names and Andy: Thats My Name, by Tomie dePaola. 2. Pass out the index cards with student names. Give each student his or her own name. Ask students to look carefully at them. Continue the conversation from the last session and invite students to make any new observations about their own names or their classmates names. 3. Using your own name card, model for students how to fill in the class chart. a. Write your name in the first column. b. Count the letters in your name so that students can see the process. Write the total number of letters in the second column. c. Slowly stretch your name and put one finger in the air every time you hear a new sound. Do this two or three times, inviting students to try it with you. Write the total number of sounds in the third column. 4. Choose one student to show his/her name card. Ask him/her to write his/her name on the chart, count the number of letters in the name, and write the total in the second column. Demonstrate how to stretch his/her name slowly and ask the student to raise one finger for every sound he/she hears you make. Ask him/her to record the total number of sounds in the third column. 5. Complete as many names as you can in this session. 6. Exit Ticket: Give each student a small piece of paper. As each student leaves this session, ask him/her to tell you how many sounds he/she hears in a word from the list that you prepared. The student writes the number of sounds he/she hears on the scrap of paper and puts it in the basket.
Session 3: Charting Names and Recording Student Work 1. Complete any names that you still have left from session two. 2. Hand out the student name chart printouts. 3. Ask students to fill in their charts, using the information from the class chart. Notice that the printout differentiates the number of names that students need to record (3, 6, or 10 names). (Have the name cards from session one and two available for students to pass around and look at.) 4. Discuss observations that students have about the class chart. 5. Complete the exit ticket again, using a new word for each student.
Extensions 1. Practice spelling CVC words with magnetic letters. 2. Use letterboxes to discuss and record sounds in words. 3. Use a Venn Diagram to compare student names. 4. Using magnetic letters, ask students to change the beginning letter of a CVC word to make a new word.
Student Assessment/Reflections 1. Make anecdotal notes about students as they place their names and information on the class chart. 2. Exit Tickets- Use the information collected at the ends of sessions one and two to gauge where students are before the next sessions. 3. Give students a new name chart printout and three or four index cards with names that are important to them, such as siblings, parents, or pets. Students complete this new chart to demonstrate an understanding of counting graphemes and phonemes.
Related Resources: 1. Puzzle Me Words Interactive: Students practice hearing all three sounds in CVC words and representing those sounds with the corresponding letters. 2. Venn Diagram, 2 or 3 circles: Use the Venn Diagram printout from ReadWriteThink as an extension activity to compare student names.
Image: Suggestions- Name tag, alphabet blocks, ear, or noisemaker.
Teach Reading with Orton-Gillingham: Early Reading Skills: A Companion Guide with Dictation Activities, Decodable Passages, and Other Supplemental Materials for Struggling Readers and Students with Dyslexia