Daily Lesson Plan -- Lesson 28

Vowels (i, o, u)

Subject: English | Class: Nursery | Series: Leeds

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Overview

This lesson introduces three more vowels: i, o and u. Each vowel says, "I am a vowel. I produce two sounds -- short sound and long sound." On the first day learners blend three sounds into short-vowel words, such as f + i + g = fig and b + u + g = bug. On the second day they read the Phonic Drill on page 35 and hear the difference between short sounds (bid, nod, gum) and long sounds (hide, pole, tube).

Learning Outcomes (from textbook)

• Know that i, o and u are vowels
• Know that each vowel has a short sound and a long sound
• Blend three sounds to read short-vowel words
• Read short and long i, o and u sounds

Key Vocabulary

• Short i: fig, lip, win, tin, bin, bid, lid, rid, dip
• Short o: bob, fog, hot, rod, cop, nod, cob, mob
• Short u: bug, jug, hut, cut, nut, gum, sun, cub, hug
• Long i: hide, ride, tide, wide, line
• Long o: pole, hope, rope, bone, core
• Long u: tube, rube, fuse, rude

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Day 1: Short Vowel Sounds (30 minutes)

Materials

• Textbook page 34
• Letter cards: i, o, u and the consonants f, l, w, t, b, n, g, p, h, r, d, c, j
• A real tin, a cup or a jug if available

Warm-Up (5 minutes)

• Revise the vowels a and e from Lesson 11
• Hold up i, o and u and say: "These are vowels too!"
• Say each short sound together three times: /i/, /o/, /u/
• Make a small smile for /i/, a round mouth for /o/ and a short grunt for /u/

Meet the Vowels (5 minutes)

• Open page 34. Read each speech bubble: "Hi! I am 'i'. I am a vowel. I produce two sounds -- short sound and long sound."
• Do the same for "o" and "u"
• Ask: "How many sounds does a vowel make?" Learners say "two"

Blend the Words (12 minutes)

• Read each row slowly, touching each box: "f + i + g = fig"
• Learners repeat each row after you
• Short i: fig, lip, win, tin, bin
• Short o: bob, fog, hot, rod, cop
• Short u: bug, jug, hut, cut, nut
• After each group ask: "Which sound is in the middle?" (i, o or u)

Word Scrabble Game (6 minutes)

• Put the "i" card in the middle of the board
• Place one consonant card before it and one after it, for example f _ g
• Learners blend the word aloud: fig
• Swap cards to make lip, win, tin and bin

Wrap-Up (2 minutes)

• Point to a real tin or jug if you have one and ask: "What is the middle sound?" (/i/ in tin, /u/ in jug)
• Say the three short sounds one last time

Differentiation

• Support: Blend only the short i words; say the sounds with the learner
• Extension: Let confident learners be the teacher and say the sounds for a friend to blend

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Day 2: Phonic Drill -- Short and Long Sounds (30 minutes)

Materials

• Textbook pages 34-35
• Word cards from the Phonic Drill (short and long)
• Two boxes or baskets labelled "short" and "long"

Warm-Up (5 minutes)

• Blend five words from page 34 together: fig, hot, bug, tin, nut
• Remind learners: "A vowel makes two sounds -- short and long"

Short and Long i (7 minutes)

• Open page 35. Read the short sounds: bid, lid, rid, dip, lip
• Read the long sounds: hide, ride, tide, wide, line
• Tell learners that in the long words, "i" says its own name
• Point out the quiet "e" at the end of the long words

Short and Long o (6 minutes)

• Read the short sounds: bob, nod, cob, mob, fog
• Read the long sounds: pole, hope, rope, bone, core
• Learners stretch the long /o/ like a long rope: "r-o-o-o-pe"

Short and Long u (6 minutes)

• Read the short sounds: gum, sun, bug, cub, hug
• Read the long sounds: tube, rube, fuse, rude
• Learners give themselves a hug when they say "hug"

Short or Long Sort (5 minutes)

• Hold up a word card and read it aloud
• Learners call out "short" or "long" and a volunteer puts it in the right basket

Wrap-Up (1 minute)

• Say together: "i, o and u are vowels. They make short sounds and long sounds."

Differentiation

• Support: Read the drill with the learner, pointing to each word
• Extension: Ask confident learners to find the vowel in each word and say if it is short or long

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Teaching Tips (from textbook)

• Play a word scrabble game with learners using "i" as the middle letter
• Read the vowel speech bubbles aloud so learners hear that each vowel makes two sounds
• Read all short and long sounds on page 35 row by row

Note: The last long u word on page 35 ("sure") does not follow the long u pattern. Teach only tube, rube, fuse and rude.