Blending Fun with Short U! Let's Read Together!

English Language Arts Grades Pre-K 6:01 Video
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Lesson Description

Learn to blend letters and read short vowel 'U' words like 'bug,' 'sun,' and 'cup' in this interactive lesson. Get ready to have fun with phonics!

Video Resource

3 Letter Blending Short Vowel Words U - Beginning Readers Pre-Reader Phonics Lesson

FirstStepReading

Duration: 6:01
Watch on YouTube

Key Concepts

  • Letter sounds
  • Blending sounds
  • Short vowel 'U' words
  • Word families

Learning Objectives

  • Students will be able to identify the sounds of individual letters.
  • Students will be able to blend three letters together to form short 'U' words.
  • Students will be able to read aloud short 'U' words with prompting.

Educator Instructions

  • Introduction (2 mins)
    Begin by introducing Teacher Heather and the character Mug. Explain that today, we're going to help Mug learn to read words with the short 'U' sound. Get the children excited and ready to participate!
  • Blending Practice (8 mins)
    Play the YouTube video. Encourage children to repeat the sounds and words after Teacher Heather. Pause the video after each word to provide extra practice and reinforcement. Focus on sounding out each letter individually before blending them together.
  • Interactive Activity (5 mins)
    After the video, write the short 'U' word families (ug, up, un, ut, um) on a whiteboard or large paper. Have the children suggest different consonants to put at the beginning of each word family to make new words. Sound out each word together.
  • Wrap-up (5 mins)
    Review the words learned in the lesson. Ask the children which word was their favorite and why. Remind them that practice makes perfect, and encourage them to continue blending sounds to read new words.

Interactive Exercises

  • Magnetic Letter Fun
    Provide magnetic letters and a magnetic board. Call out a short 'U' word (e.g., 'bug'). Have the children find the letters and build the word on the board.
  • Word Family Sort
    Give children a pile of word cards (containing CVC words with the short 'u' sound) and have them sort the cards into word families (e.g., -ug, -up, -ut, -un, -um).

Discussion Questions

  • What sound does the letter 'U' make?
  • Can you think of other words that have the 'U' sound?

Skills Developed

  • Phonemic awareness
  • Letter-sound correspondence
  • Blending skills
  • Vocabulary building

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1:

What sound does the letter U usually make in the middle of a word, like in 'sun'?

Correct Answer: /u/ (uh)

Question 2:

What word is made by blending these sounds: /b/ /u/ /g/?

Correct Answer: bug

Question 3:

Which of these words ends with 'ug'?

Correct Answer: hug

Question 4:

Which word has the same vowel sound as 'sun'?

Correct Answer: sit

Question 5:

What word is made by blending these sounds: /p/ /u/ /p/?

Correct Answer: pup

Question 6:

Which of these words has a 'u' in the middle?

Correct Answer: sun

Question 7:

Which of these words ends with 'un'?

Correct Answer: run

Question 8:

Which of these word families has short 'u' in it?

Correct Answer: -um

Question 9:

What animal is a 'pup'?

Correct Answer: dog

Question 10:

What can you drink from a 'cup'?

Correct Answer: juice

Fill in the Blank Questions

Question 1:

B _ g is a small insect.

Correct Answer: u

Question 2:

The opposite of sad is f _ n.

Correct Answer: u

Question 3:

You can drink water from a c _ p.

Correct Answer: u

Question 4:

The s _ n is yellow and hot.

Correct Answer: u

Question 5:

A baby dog is a p _ p.

Correct Answer: u

Question 6:

The teacher uses a c _ tter to cut out the construction paper.

Correct Answer: u

Question 7:

After a bath, you should dry off with a towel, or some g _ m.

Correct Answer: u

Question 8:

The students like to chew g _ m in the class

Correct Answer: u

Question 9:

C_t the carrots for me.

Correct Answer: u

Question 10:

The c _ p of coffee has become cold.

Correct Answer: u

Educational Standards

PK.2.PWS.3:Students will produce some sounds represented by letters. PK.2.F.1:Students will read their first name in print. PK.2.PA.4:Students will isolate the common initial sound when given a set of alliterative spoken words (e.g., the puppy pounces). PK.8.R:Students will listen and respond to read-alouds, participate in shared reading, and interact independently with texts.

Teaching Materials

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