Daily Lesson Plan -- Lesson 27

Capital and Small Letters, Vowels and Consonants

Subject: English | Class: Playgroup | Series: Leeds

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Overview

This lesson looks back at the whole alphabet on page 29. On the first day learners meet the "Capital Letters" A to Z and the "Small Letters" a to z, shown in cloud bubbles, and match each big letter to its small partner. On the second day they meet the "Vowel and Consonant" part of the page: the 5 vowels A, E, I, O, U on purple tiles and the 21 consonants on the tiles below. All talk is oral and playful. Learners are not expected to read or write words.

Learning Outcomes

• Say the alphabet from A to Z while pointing to the letters
• Know that each letter has a capital letter and a small letter
• Match a capital letter to its small letter
• Name the 5 vowels: A, E, I, O, U
• Know that all the other letters are consonants

Key Vocabulary

• capital letters
• small letters
• vowels
• consonants

Key Lines (from textbook)

• "In English alphabet, there are 5 vowels and 21 consonants."
• Vowels: "These are 5 in numbers." "These are pronounced with open mouth."
• Consonants: "These are 21 in numbers." "These are pronounced with trapped sounds."

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Day 1: Capital and Small Letters (30 minutes)

Materials

• Textbook page 29
• Capital letter cards A to Z and small letter cards a to z
• A soft ball

Circle Time Warm-Up (5 minutes)

• Sit the learners in a circle and sing a hello song together
• Sing or chant the alphabet from A to Z slowly together
• Ask: "We have learned all the letters! What is the first letter?" (A) "What is the last letter?" (Z)

Look and Say: Capital Letters (6 minutes)

• Open page 29 and point to the orange "Capital Letters" label
• Point to each cloud bubble from A to N, then O to Z, and say the letter. Learners repeat
• Say: "Capital letters are the big letters"

Look and Say: Small Letters (6 minutes)

• Point to the pink "Small Letters" label
• Point to each cloud bubble from a to n, then o to z, and say the letter. Learners repeat
• Say: "Small letters are the little letters"

Find My Partner (8 minutes)

• Give half the learners capital letter cards and half the matching small letter cards (start with A to J)
• Learners walk round and find their partner: "A" finds "a", "B" finds "b"
• Each pair holds up their cards and says the letter together

Wrap-Up (5 minutes)

• Roll the ball to a learner and say a capital letter
• The learner points to its small letter on page 29 and rolls the ball back
• Praise: "Big A, small a. Well done!"

Differentiation

• Support: Use letters that look the same big and small first: C c, O o, S s, V v, W w, X x, Z z
• Extension: Ask confident learners to find the small partner of letters that look different, such as A a, G g, Q q

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Day 2: Vowels and Consonants (30 minutes)

Materials

• Textbook page 29
• Five large vowel cards A, E, I, O, U
• Crayons (purple)
• Paper with the five vowel tiles drawn as outlines

Warm-Up (5 minutes)

• Say the alphabet together, pointing to the capital letter clouds on page 29
• Play one quick round of Find My Partner with five pairs

Meet the Vowels (8 minutes)

• Point to the "Vowels" board on page 29 and read it aloud: "These are 5 in numbers. These are pronounced with open mouth."
• Point to the purple tiles A, E, I, O, U and say each one. Learners repeat
• Hold up one hand and count the vowels on five fingers: A, E, I, O, U
• Say each vowel with a wide open mouth. Learners copy your mouth

Meet the Consonants (6 minutes)

• Point to the "Consonants" board and read it aloud: "These are 21 in numbers. These are pronounced with trapped sounds."
• Point to the consonant tiles B to Z and say each one. Learners repeat
• Say: "All the other letters are consonants"

Vowel Stand-Up Game (5 minutes)

• Say letters from page 29 one at a time
• If it is a vowel (A, E, I, O, U), learners stand up and open their mouths wide
• If it is a consonant, learners stay sitting down

Colour Time (5 minutes)

• Give each learner the sheet with five vowel tile outlines
• Learners colour the tiles purple, like the vowel tiles on page 29
• As they colour each tile, they say the vowel

Wrap-Up (1 minute)

• Count the vowels on five fingers one last time: A, E, I, O, U

Differentiation

• Support: Let learners point to the purple tiles while you say the vowels
• Extension: Ask confident learners to say all five vowels without looking

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Teaching Tips

• Playgroup learners do not need to count to 21; say "5 vowels, and all the rest are consonants"
• Keep the vowel tiles and the consonant tiles separate when you point, so learners see the two groups clearly
• Use the alphabet song at the start of every English lesson this week