top of page

Begining Reading Design 

 

 

Say “BOO” like a Ghost with OO

Rhiannon Akins

 

Rationale:  This lesson teaches children about the long vowel correspondence oo= /OO/.  In order to be able to read, children must learn to recognize the spellings that map word pronunciations.  In this lesson children will learn to recognize, spell, and read words containing the spelling oo.  They will learn a meaningful representation (a ghost that says “BOO”) they will spell and read words containing this spelling in a letterbox lesson, and read a decodable book that focuses on the correspondence oo = /OO/. 

 

Materials:  Graphic image of ghost; cover-up critter; whiteboard or smart board Elkonin boxes for modeling and individual Elkonin boxes for each student; letter manipulatives for each child and magnetic or smart board letters for teacher: b, c, h, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, z; list of spelling words on poster or whiteboard to read: 2--[zoo], 3--[pool, hoop, moon], 4--[broom, spoon, smooth, school]

  • Decodable text: Zoom Groom

  • Assessment worksheet   

 

Procedures: 

1.  Say:  In order to become expert readers we need to learn the code that tells us how to pronounce words.  We have already learned to read short vowel words with u, like bus, and today we are going to learn about long U and the double o signal that is used to make U say its name, /OO/.  When I say /OO/ I think of a ghost saying “BOO!” [show the graphic image].  Now let’s look at the spelling of /OO/ that we will learn today.  We will be spelling /OO/ with the letter o twice next to each other.  [Write oo on the board]. 

 

2.  Say:  Before we learn about the spelling of /OO/, we need to listen for it in some words.  When I listen for /OO/ in words, I hear oo, say its name /OO/, and make a little o shape like this. [Make vocal gesture for /OO/.]  I’ll show you first: zoo.  Now I’m going to see if it’s in pot.  Hmm, I didn’t hear oo say it’s name and my mouth was open like a yawn.  Now you try.  If you hear /OO/ say, “Boo, like a ghost!” If you don’t hear /OO/ say, “That’s not it.”  Is it in pool, stick, tree, zoo, moo, rock? [Have children make a circle motion around their pursed lips when they feel /OO/ say its name.]

 

3.   Say:  Now let’s look at the spelling of /OO/ that we will learn today.  What if I want to spell the word stool? “I had a stool at my kitchen table at home.” A stool is like a chair with no back on it. To spell stool in letterboxes, first I need to know how many phonemes I have in the word so I stretch it out and count: /s/ /t/ /OO/ /l/. I need four boxes. I heard that /OO/ just before the /l/ so I’m going to put double oo in the 3rd box.  The word starts with /s/, that’s easy; I need an s. Now it gets a little tricky so I’m, going to say it slowly, /s//t//OO//l/.  I think I heard /t/ so I’ll put a t right after the s.  Now we have /s/ /t/ /OO/ and I have one empty box; what’s missing?  [Point to letters in boxes when stretching out the word: /s//t//OO//l/.  The missing one is /l/ = l.

 

4.  Say:  Now I’m going to have you spell some words in letterboxes.  You’ll start out with easy two boxes for zoo.  When you do zoo, I want you to think of “Boo like a ghost!” What should go in the first box? [Respond to children’s answers].  What goes in the second box? I’ll check your spelling while I walk around the room. [Observe progress.]  You’ll need three letterboxes for the next word.  Listen for the beginning sound that goes in the first box.  Then listen for the /OO/ and don’t forget to put the letters after the /OO/ to finish up the word.  Here’s the word:  pool; I need to go put on a bathing suit so I can swim in the pool. [Allow children to spell words.]  Time to check your work.  Watch how I spell it in my letterboxes on the board:  p – o – o – l and see if you’ve spelled it the same way.  Try another with three boxes:  hoop; The man threw the basket ball and it went into the hoop. [Have volunteer spell it in the letterbox on the front board for children to check their work.  Repeat this step for each new word.]  Next word.  Listen to see if this word has /OO/ in it before you spell it: rock; I tripped on the rock in the road.  Did you hear /OO/?  Why not? That’s right, because we don’t hear oo say its name.  We spell it with our short vowel o.  Now let’s try 4 phonemes: broom; My mom made me go get the broom and sweep the floor.  One more then we’re done with spelling:  school; I get to go to school almost every day.  Remember to stretch it out to get this tough word.

 

5.  Say:  Now I am going to let you read the words you’ve spelled, but first I’ll show you how I would read a tough word.  [Display poster with drool on the top and model reading the word.]  First I see there is oo in the middle; that’s my signal that the vowel will say its name /OO/.  I’m going to use a cover-up to get the first part. [Uncover and blend sequentially before the vowel, then blend with the vowel.]  /d//r/ = /dr/.  Now I’m going to blend that with /OO/ = /drOO/.  I have one more letter that is missing, /l/ = /drOOl/.  Drool; that’s it.  Now it’s your turn, everyone together. [have children read words in unison.  Afterwards, call on individuals to read one word on the list until everyone has had a turn. 

 

6.  Say:  You’ve done a great job spelling words with /OO/.  Now we are going to read a book called Zoom Groom.   This is a story of a poodle named Scooter.  A poodle is a type of dog that is really fluffy.  One-night Scooter decided he was tired of howling at the moon.  Scooter decided what he really wanted to do instead was open up a new grooming shop for other dogs. Does Scooter open up a groom shop?  Does Scooter help other dogs get groomed? Let’s pair up and take turns reading Zoom Groom to find out what happens with Scooter and the grooming shop!! [Children pair up and take turns reading alternate pages each while teacher walks around the room monitoring progress.  After individual paired reading, the class rereads Zoom Groom aloud together, and stops between page turns to discuss the plot.] 

 

7.   Say:  That was a fun story.  Did Scooter open up his grooming shop after all?  What happened during the day at the grooming shop? [Discuss answers as a class].  Before we finish up with our lesson about oo = /OO/, I want to see how you can solve a reading problem.  On this worksheet, I have pictures and below the pictures there are three words that have the “OO” sound that we worked on in class that goes with the picture.  Your job is to look at the picture in each box and also look at the list of words below and decide which word best fits the picture that also has the “OO” sound.  First try reading all the words in the boxes, and then choose the word that best fits the picture that is in each box.  Reread your answers to see if they make sense.  [Collect worksheets to evaluate individual child progress.] 

 

Assessment worksheet:

 

References:

 

Click here to return to the Connections Index

bottom of page