Daily Lesson Plan -- Lesson 15

Letter Oo

Subject: English | Class: Playgroup | Series: Leeds

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Overview

This lesson introduces the letter "Oo". Learners look at a seaside picture on page 17 with a pink octopus sitting in a wooden boat, an oar, a big orange and an ostrich. They say the chant "o / o / oar", "o / o / orange", "o / o / octopus" and the rhyme line "o / o / ostrich has long skinny legs". On the second day they find big O and small o, draw the letter in the air and trace it. All talk is oral and playful. Learners are not expected to read or write words.

Learning Outcomes (from the Lesson Planner, page 2)

• Introduction to Oo
• Recognition of O used in different words

Key Vocabulary

• oar
• orange
• octopus
• ostrich

Chant and Rhyme Line (page 17)

• "o / o / oar"
• "o / o / orange"
• "o / o / octopus"
• "o / o / ostrich has long skinny legs"

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Day 1: Look and Say (30 minutes)

Materials

• Textbook page 17
• A real orange
• Picture cards (or the book pictures) of oar, orange, octopus, ostrich
• Letter cards: O, o and two other letters

Circle Time Warm-Up (5 minutes)

• Sit the learners in a circle and sing a hello song together
• Draw a big round "O" in the air with your finger and ask learners to copy you
• Say the sound /o/ as in octopus, with a round mouth
• Ask learners to make a round "O" shape with their mouths and say /o/ with you three times

Orange Pass (5 minutes)

• Pass a real orange around the group
• Let every learner hold it and smell it
• Ask each learner: "What colour is it?" and accept "orange"
• Ask: "What shape is it?" and show that it is round like the letter O
• Say together: "o / o / orange"

Look and Say (10 minutes)

• Open page 17 and point to the big red "Oo"
• Point to big O and say "big O". Point to small o and say "small o"
• Point to each picture and say its label. Learners repeat twice:
  • octopus (the pink octopus in the boat)
  • oar (the wooden oar in the water)
  • orange (the big orange on the branch)
  • ostrich (the bird with the long neck)
• Play "Point to it": say a word, learners point to the right picture in their book

Chant Time (5 minutes)

• Point to the chant box at the top of the page
• Say each line slowly and clap on each "o": "o / o / oar", "o / o / orange", "o / o / octopus"
• Learners echo each line, first softly, then loudly
• Say the chant two more times together

Act It Out (4 minutes)

• Learners sit in pairs and pretend to row a boat with an oar
• Then they wave their arms like the octopus
• Each time, they say the word: "oar", "octopus"

Wrap-Up (1 minute)

• Hold up the orange and ask: "What does orange start with?" Learners say /o/
• Wave goodbye to the octopus: "Bye-bye, octopus!"

Differentiation

• Support: Let shy learners point to pictures instead of saying words; say the word with them
• Extension: Ask confident learners to name the picture when you point, without help

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Day 2: Rhyme Line and Letter Shape (30 minutes)

Materials

• Textbook page 17
• Letter cards with O and o mixed with other letters
• Crayons and pencils
• A sheet with dotted O and o rows (or the worksheet)

Warm-Up (5 minutes)

• Show page 17 again. Point and say: oar, orange, octopus, ostrich
• Say the chant together: "o / o / oar", "o / o / orange", "o / o / octopus"

Rhyme Line (5 minutes)

• Point to the ostrich and read the rhyme line: "o / o / ostrich has long skinny legs"
• Learners echo it in a sing-song voice
• Learners stand up tall and walk on tiptoe like an ostrich with long skinny legs while saying the line

Big O, Small o (4 minutes)

• Lay out the letter cards
• Ask: "Where is big O?" and "Where is small o?" Learners point
• Show that big O and small o are the same round shape; one is big and one is small

Air and Finger Tracing (6 minutes)

• Show the stroke: start at the top, curve round to the left, go all the way round and stop back at the top
• Learners draw a big O in the air, then a small o
• Learners run a finger round the big red "Oo" on page 17

Trace and Write (8 minutes)

• Hand out pencils and check the grip (pinch the pencil, rest it on the middle finger)
• Work through the dotted rows one line at a time
• Row 1: trace big O, starting at the top
• Row 2: trace small o, starting at the top
• Praise every try: "Lovely round o!"

Wrap-Up (2 minutes)

• Draw "O" in the air one last time and say /o/
• Say the rhyme line together: "o / o / ostrich has long skinny legs"

Differentiation

• Support: Use a thick crayon for tracing; hold the learner's hand for the first row
• Extension: Let confident learners trace a big "O" on the board with a marker

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Teaching Tips

• The letter O is round like the orange on page 17; use the real orange to show the shape
• Octopus, orange and ostrich start with the short /o/ sound. Oar starts with "o" too but sounds like "or"; say it clearly and let learners copy you
• Keep the chant rhythm steady with claps so learners remember the order
• Learners only point and say; they do not read the labels