Word Patterns

Author: prepared by Susan Stuart (adapted from Kate Colosimo)

Grades: Kindergarten – 1

NE Standards: 1.1.5 Students will respond to literature. 1.2.1 Students will speak in clear, complete, coherent sentences using standard English.

Objectives: The students will be able to identify word patterns and words from a selected list of context words in the text of Goodnight Moon (selected the words that appeared at least twice).

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

24 index cards or oaktag cut 3X5 (twelve containing the words: balloon, moon, room, mouse, cow, comb, bears, chairs, kittens, mittens, mush, brush; and twelve containing copies of corresponding pictures from the text).

Anticipatory Set: Begin by asking the students to retell the story in their own words, highlighting key ideas in the text that students recall. Ask the students to share their favorite parts of the story. Prompt the students, if necessary, until of the content words in the lesson have been spoken aloud and each student has had an opportunity to speak.

Vocabulary: balloon, moon, room, mouse, cow, comb, bears, chairs, kittens, mittens, mush, brush.

Activities:

1. Pass out the oaktag word cards and the oaktag picture cards making sure there is one-to-one correspondence within the class. If there is an odd number of students, then the teacher also takes one.
2. After the students have an opportunity to look at their card, ask them to hold their front of them so that everyone in the circle can see it. Allow time for students to look at all of the other students cards. After significant time, ask the students if they can identify the student that is holding the picture or word card that matches their card. Assist the students by matching pairs of picture cards and word cards, if necessary, until they demonstrate an understanding of what you are asking them to do.
3. Once all the students are matched up, ask them if they notice anything about the picture cards and word cards they are holding. Assist them in identifying, if they are not able to do so on their own, that the pictures and words are all from the story Goodnight Moon. Explain that they were able to match the picture in the story with the word as it appears in text.
4. As a whole class, ask the students to sit back down in their pairs and discuss between themselves what they noticed about their word. Give them sufficient wait time before prompting them, if necessary, to look at the beginning letter(s), ending letter(s), beginning sound, ending sound, letter patterns, rhyming sounds, or whatever you want to focus their attention on.
5. Call the group back into a whole and select one pair to share what they observed about their word. For example the students with the balloon word card may have noticed their word begins with the letter b. Ask if any other pairs noticed their word begins with b. Make a list of each observed word pattern until all the possibilities are exhausted.

Closure: When the lists are completed ask the students to make observations about the lists. Prompt the students with questions such as which lists has the most words? Which list has the least words? Which list has the longest word(s)? Continue until an observation has been made about each list. Discuss with the students how when they are reading can they look at the words to see if they notice word patterns.

Assessment: Reread the story Goodnight Moon, except the student pairs are going to be on the lookout for their word. When you come to the word the students should stand up and point to their word in the text. The students will identify the content word in the text and name at least one word pattern for their word.