R-Controlled Vowel: or

Explicit Phonics Lesson

Introduction to R-controlled vowels: or

Day 1

Objective: Sound and blend words using the or spelling as r-controlled.

Review

       You know that there are two kinds of letters: consonants and vowels. You also know that every word or syllable must have a vowel. What are the names of the letters that we call vowels? a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y What are the short sounds of these vowels? Ask for them one at a time reviewing the key words and hand signals as well as the short sounds.

          Today we are going to learn about a letter that is “bossy” and makes the vowels change their sounds. You might want to use the Bossy R illustration from Project Read materials. The name of that bossy letter is R. R is not always bossy. If it comes in front of a vowel, it doesn’t get upset at all. It leaves the vowel that comes after it alone. But if R has to follow after a vowel, it gets upset and gets bossy. The vowel we are going to work with today is O, but R can boss the other vowels as well. We’ll study the other vowels in lessons later on.

When R follows O in a word, the R controls the O and makes the or spelling say /ôr/ as in the word fork. Some other words with the /ôr/ sound are: or, port, corn, and born. Write the words on the board or use flash cards with the words. The or should be written in red to establish the spelling pattern that the students are to look for.

What do we call R when it follows a vowel? Bossy

What does the R make the O say when R comes after it? /ôr/ as in for

Does R get bossy when it has to follow other vowels? yes

When does R become a bossy letter? When it has to follow a vowel in a word.

What is the sound of or? /ôr/  

PA (oral)

          Listen to these words and see if you can hear the /ôr/ sound or not. If you hear the /ôr/sound in the word, I want you to give me a thumbs up. If you don’t hear /ôr/ in the word, give me a thumbs down. So if I say horse, /h/ /ôr/ /s/, you would give me a thumbs up because the /ôr/ sound is in the word horse. If I say coat, /k/ /ō/ /t/, you would give me a thumbs down because you do not hear /ôr/ in the word coat.

torn             short           fort             foot             story           stop

core             corn             court           sport           porch           patch

Decoding

          Use the decoding procedure as in previous lessons. Take time to talk about the meanings of any words that might be unknown.

north           torn             thorn           horn            

short           fork             cork             fort

storm          port             born            pork  

Some clues might be:

1.  a very light wood used on bulletin boards  cork                               

2. antonym  for tall                                       short

3. a sharp point on the stem of a rose           thorn

4. a direction on a compass                           north

5. Your birthday is the day you were ___.     born

6. meat that comes from a pig                      pork

7. bad weather                                             storm

8. synonym for ripped                                   torn

9. a musical instrument                                 horn

10. a utensil used to eat with                        fork

11. the place where ships come to shore        port

          When there is only one word left, have the buddies read the last word. Each buddy then uses the word in a sentence.

Decodable Text

          Practice reading words in text using the decoding practice page.

Day 2

Review

What is the short sound of the letter o?   /ŏ/

Yesterday we studied a letter that bosses the vowels around. What is that letter? R

The letter R is not always bossy. When is it not bossy? When it comes before    the vowel.

When is it bossy? When it has to follow the vowel.  

When R comes after O, what sound do they make? /ôr/

PA (oral)

          I am going to say some words with the /ôr/ sound. I want you to tell me if the sound is at the beginning or in the middle of the word. If I say order, you would tell me the /ôr/ is at the beginning of the word. If I say porch, you would  tell me the /ôr/ is in the middle of the word. Be sure your Buddy agrees with you before you raise your hand to give me your answer. (Segment words if needed.) Where is the /ôr/ sound in the word order? At the beginning.

orchid         acorn           story           orbit           orchestra              resort

morning       organ           sport           torn             ornate                   form

Decoding

          Use the same procedure that was used on Day 1.

          form            sport           stork           torch

          scorch         sort             Mort            popcorn

morn            worn            scorn           dorm

1.  Short for morning                                             morn

2.  Short for Mortimer                                          Mort

3.  To almost burn something                                  scorch

4.  A treat to eat at a movie                                  popcorn

5.  Synonym for shape                                            form

6.  Used to light the way                                        torch

7.  A large building where students live                  dorm

     (Short for dormitory)

8.  I have ____ those shoes before.                      worn           

9.  A bird with long legs and a long beak                 stork

10. A feeling of hate for something                        scorn

11.  Baseball is a _____.                                         sport

          Have the students read the last word to their partner. Then each makes up a sentence using the word. Have them go for 7-Up sentences (7 or more words in the sentence.)

Decodable Text

          Use or phrases to practice reading. The first time through have them follow as you read. The second time have them chorally read with you. Then the Buddies can take turns reading to each other.

Day 3

Review

What letter is bossy if it can’t go in front of the vowel in a word? R

What sound does the spelling pattern or make? /ôr/

Does R change the vowel sound when it is in front of the vowel? No

Can R change the sound of other vowels? Yes

What is the spelling pattern that makes the /ôr/ sound? or

Encoding: Dictation

Use the dictation procedure. Be sure to make them ask, “Which spelling?”

1.   /ŏ / o          /ŋ/ ng    /th/ th    /ôr/  or     /ŋk/ nk

2.  born        horn        torn

3.  port        sport      short

4.  popcorn            passport

    The bag of popcorn is torn.

Decodable Text:

       Practice reading the or phrases as it was done on Day 2.

Day 4

Review: Have the class decode 6 to 18 /k/ words on the board or on flashcards.

Word Building or Word Chaining

          Use as much as you feel is appropriate.

or                          born                    fort

for                        corn                     sort

port                      horn                      short

sport                     thorn                    port

sort                       torn                      porch

sort                       worn                     pork

fort                       sworn                   fork

forth                                                 cork

north                                                 stork

Decodable Text

          Use the or sentences to practice reading words in context. Follow the format of the phrase reading.

Day 5

Review

What is the letter that is sometimes bossy? R

The letter R is not always bossy. When is it not bossy? When it comes before the vowel.

When is it bossy? When it has to follow the vowel.  

When R comes after O, what sound do the two letters make? /ôr/

Encoding/Dictation

1.       /ôr/ or      / ĭ/ ĭ       /k/ ck    /ŋ/ ng     /ŏ / o

2.       torn       storm      form

3.      cork        fork         stork

4.      foghorn       duststorm

         He has torn the form.

Decodable Text:  Use or sentences to practice reading with a buddy.

Decoding Practice

corn   born   fork    fort  short       sort   storm   pork   stork  form

with a fork              

a bad storm

the big stork            

into the port

1.         We had pork chops.

2.       The storm was bad.

3.        Fill in this form.

4.         We like to play on the porch.

5.         Sort the forks for me.

6.         The corn stalk is short.

or Phrases

1.         tall and short     11. ship in port

2.       on the porch      12. north of a fort

3.     in the fort         13. back and forth

4.       torn in back       14. a Ford truck

5.     sort of short     15. worn and torn

6.       a bad sport        16. a good sport

7.       the short stork   17. play the horn

8.      pork skins        18. report on storks

9.    from the dorm    19. sort the corn

10. the short form   20. born to run

or Sentences

1.         Mort plays the horn.

2.       They had popcorn in the bag.

3.       The stork sat on the porch.

4.       Do not be a bad sport.

5.       That stem has six thorns.

6.       Dora is sort of short.

7.       The grass was wet from the storm.

8.        He has torn his pants on a thorn.

   9.   Pop the cork off the top.

10.   I saw the horse snort.

11.  The rat had popcorn and acorns.

12.  I was born in York.

13.  The story was set at a fort.

14.  Go north at the fork in the path.

15.  Dad had the pork rib dish.

16.  Mort is good at ball sports.

17.  We ran from the storm to the dorm.

18. He will fill in the passport form.