Unit 4: Creating a Lesson Plan
Overview:
In this final unit, you will apply all the information you have learned about the science of reading and design a comprehensive lesson plan that highlights the components of reading instruction. Specifically, you will create a lesson plan focusing on phonemic awareness and phonics-based instruction, as this is geared toward early childhood students or emergent readers.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this unit:
- Participants will be able to design a literacy lesson that incorporates one of the five components of reading for emergent readers.
Lesson 1: Designing a Comprehensive Lesson Plan
Planning a Lesson
When looking through your reading curriculum, it is important to preview the scope and sequence to see what components of reading instruction are already embedded and what needs to add. Emergent readers need to be exposed to explicit and systematic instruction, so planning the scope and sequence is critical. Take a look at a sample Kindergarten Scope and Sequence from the Heggerty curriculum.
Step-by-Step Procedure
Students need a consistent instructional routine to focus on learning a new skill or concept. When beginning a lesson, a teacher will lead the activity before sending the students off to complete the task independently. Here is a brief outline of the routine (Advancing Literacy Learning for Ohio, n.d.):
- First, you directly explain and show students what you want them to do ("I Do").
- In the next step, you practice the skill together ("We Do").
- Finally, you have students practice what you taught them on their own ("You Do").
Phonemic Awareness
- Skills (Bottari, 2020): Phoneme Isolation, Blending (parts to whole), Segment (whole to parts), Phoneme Manipulation: Add, Delete, and Substitute)
- Activities: Rhyming Games, Elkonin Boxes, Phoneme Counting, Sound segmentation, Letter-sound Association
Phonics
- Skills (The Reading Mama, 2022): Letter sounds, Short-Vowel patterns, Blends and Digraphs, Long Vowel words, R-Controlled words
- Activities: Word sorts, Word families, Digraph mats, Roll and Read, Open and Close Syllable games
Sample Lesson Plan
Do: Click on the Heggerty Primary Curriculum. Here you will find how a sample phonemic awareness lesson is planned weekly.
Design Lesson Plan
Do: Click on Lesson Plan Template[1], and make a copy. Create and edit the document based on the grade you are teaching, and what your students are currently learning.
Once you are done, please share your lesson plan with me at sislam3@albany.edu so I can provide feedback.
Final Reflection
Final Reflection: You have just completed the mini-course! Please share your thoughts and reflections about this course. In your digital journal, use the following questions to guide your answers: How has your view of literacy instruction changed? What insights have you gained from skilled reading? What practices would you like to implement in your classroom?
Return to: Sumaiyah Islam's Mini Course
Unit 1: Approaches to Early Childhood Literacy Instruction
Unit 2: How the Brain Learns How to Read
Unit 3: The Foundations of Early Child Literacy
Unit 4: Creating a Lesson Plan
References
Advancing Literacy Learning for Ohio. ALL Ohio. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://allohioliteracy.org/
Bottari, M. (2020, July 23). What are phonological awareness and phonemic awareness? Heggerty. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://heggerty.org/blog/phonological-awareness-and-phonemic-awareness/
K-2 phonics skills list - free printable list! This Reading Mama. (2022, March 9). Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://thisreadingmama.com/k-2-phonics-skills-list-printable/
