Lesson Plan for Primary 5 - Phonics - The Short 'a' Sound Pattern

### Lesson Plan for Phonics: The Short 'a' Sound Pattern **Grade Level:** Primary 5 **Duration:** 60 minutes **Objective:** Students will be able to identify, read, and write words that contain the short 'a' sound pattern (as in "cat" and "sat"). **Materials:** - Whiteboard and markers - Flashcards with short 'a' words - Alphabet letter cards - Handouts with word lists and sentences - Phonics workbooks or worksheets - Crayons or colored pencils - Audio recordings of short 'a' sound words (optional) - Picture cards matching short 'a' words (optional) **Activities and Procedures:** **1. Introduction (10 minutes)** - **Greeting and Warm-Up:** - Greet the students and do a brief phonics warm-up focusing on vowel sounds. - **Introduction to Short 'a' Sound:** - Write the word "cat" on the whiteboard. Ask students what sound the 'a' in "cat" makes. - Introduce the short 'a' sound. Say the sound together as a class, emphasizing the mouth movement (open wide, tongue low). **2. Teaching the Pattern (15 minutes)** - **Demonstration:** - Write a list of words on the whiteboard that contain the short 'a' sound: "cat," "bat," "hat," "rat," "mat," "sat," "pat." - Read the words aloud and have students repeat after you. - **Identifying the Sound:** - Show flashcards one by one and ask students to identify the short 'a' sound in each word. - Use alphabet letter cards to highlight the 'a' in each word visually. **3. Guided Practice (15 minutes)** - **Word Sorting Activity:** - Distribute word cards to each student. Each card should have a mix of words, some with the short 'a' sound and some without. - Have students sort the cards into two piles: words with the short 'a' sound and words without it. - **Sentence Reading:** - Hand out sentences that incorporate short 'a' words. For example: "The cat sat on the mat." - Read the sentences aloud as a class, then in pairs. **4. Independent Practice (10 minutes)** - **Worksheet Activity:** - Provide worksheets where students match pictures to words with the short 'a' sound. - Another section might involve filling in the blanks with appropriate short 'a' words. **5. Review and Reinforcement (5 minutes)** - **Quick Quiz:** - Ask students to write down as many short 'a' sound words as they can remember within two minutes. - Collect and quickly review, offering praise and corrections as necessary. **6. Closure (5 minutes)** - **Summary:** - Recap what was learned about the short 'a' sound. - **Homework Assignment:** - Assign a short reading passage or worksheet from the phonics workbook that includes more practice with short 'a' words. - **Exit Question:** - Ask students to verbally share a short 'a' word they learned today as they line up to leave. **Evaluation:** - Monitor students during independent and guided practice to assess their understanding. - Review completed worksheets for accuracy and understanding. - Listen to their responses during the quick quiz and exit question to gauge retention. **Differentiation:** - For advanced students, provide more complex sentences or paragraphs to read and identify short 'a' words. - For struggling students, offer more one-on-one support and use additional visual aids or phonics games to reinforce the sound. **Follow-Up:** - Plan for continued reinforcement of the short 'a' sound in future lessons. - Integrate activities that include blending and segmenting words with the short 'a' sound.