Skill Building

Lesson Plans for DARBY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY level J

Building Skills

Phonological Awareness
Say a target word. Choose children’s names to start with. You can also use the words from the story, the words listed here, or words from children’s own life: school, name, McDonalds, roller blades, bicycle, etc. Ask children to identify the syllables in the word in any of the following ways:

clapping
tapping
clicking fingers
nodding their heads
displaying an appropriate card

The following words have been broken into syllables. Use these words as a fun listening and motor activity.

par-ty (2)
spe-cial (2)
some-thing (2)
el-e-phant (3)
birth-day (2)
dog (1)
run-ning (2)
zoo (1)
food (1)

up (1)
sil-ly (2)
car-pet (2)
bas-ket-ball (3)
Fri-day (2)
spe-cial (2)
Dar-by (2)
fa-vor-ite (3)
Mon-day (2)

Phonics
Short a and long a vowel sounds
Explain to children that vowels can make short or long sounds. The short a sounds like the a in apple, angry, and planned. The long a sounds like the a in cake, games, favorite, play, and place. Help children brainstorm a list of words that have the short a and the long a vowel sounds:

Vowel Sounds
Short a Long a

Once the list is generated, say each word aloud, and have children write the words in two lists. Then post a large Vowel Sounds List poster on a bulletin board or wall for children to see and review. After each word, write a sentence that demonstrates how the word is used in context.

Word Work
High Utility Words
Explain that the words, two, would, what, shall, went, where, because, know, and years are seen many times in books they will read. The words must be memorized because they cannot be sounded out. Write each word on the chalkboard or chart paper. Point to each word, say the word, and ask children to repeat the word. Give children nine index cards. Have them copy the words on the cards. Point to the first word you have written, read it, and then have children find the card that matches the word. Repeat with the other eight cards. Now ask children to make up sentences with the words. As they dictate, you write. Have them read the sentences back to you. Have volunteers come to the chalkboard and circle the high utility words in each sentence with a different colored chalk or marker. Have children add the words to their Word Journals. Record the words on the class High Utility Words List. Post the list on the bulletin board or wall for reference.

Punctuation
Commas
Write the words, Symbol, Name, and When Used under the heading Punctuation Rules on large poster board. Explain to children that there are many types of punctuation marks. Today you are going to learn when to use a comma, a kind of punctuation mark that is used in the book Darby’s Birthday Party. Explain that a symbol for a comma is a ,. Point out that a comma is used to separate items in a series like one, two, three; to separate things in a list like bread, milk, cheese; to separate parts of a date like December 25, 2001; to separate what a person said or to separate a direct quote from the rest of the sentence—for example, on page 7, "Let’s make a list," said Mike. Write the sentence on the chalkboard and ask children to look for the comma. Ask a volunteer to come to the chalkboard and circle the comma. Explain that the comma is used to separate Mike’s direct quote from the rest of the sentence. Give children other examples of when to use a comma:
Jill said, "Go to the store and buy bread, grapes, and jelly."
Tomorrow is Monday, December 10, 2002.
When you have finished writing examples, have children come to the chalkboard and circle the comma in each sentence. Then have them write a sentence of their own, using the examples as a model.

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