Lesson Plan #1
Phonetics
Cid Blase
Class:
This activity is for a fifth grade regular education classroom. Most students are ten or
eleven years old. There are twenty-two students total, six are second language learners, 3
of these are receiving services from the ELL teacher, four students receive services from
Special Education services and four are in the Gifted Program. As a fifth grade teacher
we are expected to teach all of the language arts skills required by the Alaska State
Standards. Writing, speaking, listening, and reading skills are taught using the district’s
curriculum and teacher generated material. The general goals are to teach fifth grade
proficiency in all subject areas.
Goals:
Students will understand that English has spelling patterns that correlate to the sounds
of the words. They will be introduced to basic phonetics and how they can apply this
knowledge.
Objectives:
The students will be able to find and use the pronunciation key in their dictionary. They
will be able to find their spelling words in the dictionary and use the pronunciation key
to find the correct pronunciation.
Materials:
The students will use the district Treasures spelling book, the classroom dictionary,
pencils, and blank writing paper.
Procedures:
The teacher will present a lesson on the pronunciation guide in the dictionary. The
students will become familiar with the pronunciation guide in the front of the
dictionary and its various symbols. During this lesson they will focus on /ü/, /ū/, and /ů/.
The /ü/ sound is the vowel sound in “boot.” The /ū/ sound is the vowel sound in cute.
The /ů/ sound is the vowel sound in book. Working in pairs or threes the students will
look up the spelling words: amuse, doom, hue, handbook, bamboo, few, bruise, prove,
brood, view, booth, mute, crooks, hoof, lose, plume, tuna, hooks, duty, union. After
finding each word they will copy the pronunciation onto their blank paper. The class
will pronounce each word with the teacher. After all of the words have been recorded
and practiced the students will sort the words in sound groups, as directed in their
spelling books. The teacher will then lead a discussion on the different spellings that are
used for each of these sounds. The students will be able to identify the patterns and give
examples of two other words that fit these patterns.
Assessment:
Assessment will take place throughout the lesson by teacher observation. After the
teacher has demonstrated how to record the first two or three pronunciations the class
will continue to work. The teacher will circulate and watch for understanding. The
finished copy of the pronunciations will be the first assessment.
1. The class will read the pronunciations and speak them to each other. They will then
volunteer to read a word. The teacher will check for understanding.
2. The final assessment will be completing the page in the spelling book and finding
the correct sound categories.
3. An ongoing assessment will be during the use of this skill in future work, to see if
they understand the use of the pronunciation of a word and make connections to the
spelling of the sounds.
Homework and/or Extension Activities:
This lesson would be the beginning of the use of this activity. The use of the
pronunciation guide and connecting it to the spelling words will be ongoing. For
example the next week will focus on /är/, /âr/, and /ôr/. Eventually the students will be
able to work on this independently and use the pronunciation guide when encountering
a new word.
Additional Note:
As a teacher of fifth grade I approach writing lesson plans from a practical point of view,
one that allows me to actually use the lesson. I cannot use the International Phonetic
Alphabet with my fifth graders, but I can use the tools that they have in the classroom. I
feel that this understanding of pronunciation and phonetics will greatly assist them in
the speaking and reading of the English language. If they are ever introduced to the
International Phonetic Alphabet this grounding in phonetics should be extremely
helpful.