Differentiating between the long and short i sound

Explain that the letter i represents both the long i and short i sounds.

Read the following word pairs to children. Write them on the board. Have children raise their hands when they hear the short i sound, as in pin:

In, ice

Bin, bite

Scribble, driver

Have each child come up with a short i word and a long i word, and write them down. Have children read their words aloud as other children volunteer to tell which sound (long i or short i) was in the word. Make sure that children understand the difference between long i and short i before moving on.

Word Work
Have children turn to page 8 and ask: Why is the word poisonous in parentheses? Look at page 14 and discuss the use of parentheses. Explain that parentheses are used to set aside ideas related to a word or sentence, but do not make sense when included in the sentence. Point out that parentheses are like stage directions in a play.

Mechanics activity
Have children look at pages 4 and 5 and discuss how the author used the bullets to emphasis important information. Explain that if there were no bullets, the text would run together, and you would not know where one point ends and the next begins.