Long ee and ea

Explicit Phonics  Lesson

ee/ea Spellings

Day 1

          We have studied the short vowel sounds: /ă/, /ĕ/, /ĭ/, /ŏ/, and /ŭ/. The vowels use their short sound in words or syllables where they are closed off by a consonant. (CVC pattern)

          This week we are going to study two ways to spell long ē as in the word bee. These two ways both have two vowels, but only represent one sound: /ē/. When two e’s are together in a word they say /ē/. When an e and an a come together in a word, they also represent the sound /ē/. (Write the spellings on the board or display cards with the vowel teams on them.) You have learned to read the color word green. It has the long ē sound. Close your eyes and see if you can see the letters in the word green in your mind. What spelling is used for /ē/ in the word green? ee  Yes, the long ē sound in green  is spelled with double e. (Write the word on the board or show it on a card.) I know you have seen the word read  before. Close your eyes again and see if you can see the word read  in your mind. What spelling is used for the long ē sound in read? ea That is another way to spell the /ē/ sound. So the two ways we are spelling long ē in words this week are double e as in green  and ea as in read. Ee and ea are vowel teams. The two vowels in ee and ea work together as a team to say /ē/ as in bee.

PA

          I’m going to say some words. If you hear long ē in a word I want you to touch your earlobe.  If you don’t hear the long ē, keep your hands in your lap.  So if I say ear, you would touch your earlobe because it has the long ē sound. If I say echo, you would keep your hands in your lap because it does not have the long ē sound. Pronounce these words to have the students indicate if the word has the long /ē/ sound:

hear            mess            cheese         clear            chest           smear

cheer           year            spend          speech         breath         breathe

Decoding:

          Use two colors of markers to write /ē/ words one spelling at a time on the board as the class sounds out and then blends the words as a group. When using the ee or ea spellings write both vowels, use 2 fingers to touch each vowel at the same time for the vowel teams, and say sound.

                   queen           clear            cheer           tear

                   dream          cheese         plead           year

                   least            peer            screen         team

          After the words are decoded, briefly discuss meanings of words that may be unfamiliar to the students. Reread the lines of words with the class. Then give clues and have the students tell their buddy which word is the answer. Call on one set of buddies to give and spell the answer. Circle the words on the board as they are given as answers. Clues could be:

1.     Synonym for beg                                              plead

2.    365 days/52 weeks/12 months                          year

3.    Female ruler                                                    queen

4.    Something used to keep bugs out                       screen

5.    To look at something                                         peer

6.    Antonym for cloudy                                          clear

7.    A milk product                                                 cheese

8.    A group of people working together                   team

9.    A drop of salty liquid that your eyes make         tear

10. A loud encouragement                                       cheer

11.  The smallest                                                     least

The last word (dream) is read by a student and used in a sentence. This exercise will give practice in reading words with the /ē/ sound and will help expand vocabulary at the same time.

Reading Decodable Text:

          Use the decoding practice page to practice reading long e words in sentences. Read the passage to the students, have the class read it chorally, and then have buddy A read to buddy B. Then B will read to A.

         

         

Day 2

Review:

          Review the spellings of long e. Give a key word for each spelling.

Phonemic Awareness:

I am going to give you a word with the long e sound in it. I want you to segment the words into individual sounds. So if I say ”teeth” you would give me /t/, /ē/, /th /.  If I asked you where the long ē sound is in the word you would tell me that it is in the middle of the word.

          Pronounce these words to have the students segment the words and tell where in the word the long ē sound is heard (beginning, middle or end):

please         /p/ /l/ /ē/ /z/               sheep           /sh/ /ē/ /p/

baby           /b/ /ā/ /b/ /ē/              east             /ē/ /s/ /t/

feet            /f/ /ē/ /t/                     dear             /d/ /ē/ /r/

eagle           /ē/ /g/ /l/                     tea               /t/ /ē/

clean           /k/ /l/ /ē/ /n/               leap              /l/ /ē/ /p/

three           /th/ /r/ /ē/                   green            /g/ /r/ /ē/ /n/

each            /ē/ /ch/                         flea               /f/ /l/ /ē/

Decoding:

          Write the following words on the board as the students sound and blend into words (Use buddy strategy for more student engagement. See Day 1.)

         

          greed          please           smear          fear

          bleed           spear           near             hear

          steer           leak             squeal          dear

Use these clues or make up your own (Be sure to push the vocabulary factor):

1.     Synonym for satisfy                                                 please

2.    loosing blood                                                            bleed

3.    To guide to keep on track                                         steer

4.    Antonym for far                                                      near

5.    A high pitched sound                                                squeal

6.    A cause of not wanting to share                                 greed

7.    An emotion that results from a dangerous situation     fear

8.    A person who is special to you                                   dear

9.    To spread all around                                                 smear

10. A sharp tool used to hunt with                                   spear

11.  To trickle out a little at a time                                  leak

Have the student read the last word (hear) and use it in a sentence, telling their partner.

Reading Decodable Text:

          Have student Buddies practice reading the long e phrases (You will need at least one copy for each pair of students.)

Day 3

Review:

          Use the long ē card to review the 2 spellings that they have studied for the long ē sound. Have words with these spellings on flashcards (about 8) to quickly practice decoding.

Word Building:

          Using a pocket chart and letter cards or magnetic letter tiles work through the word chain:

rear                      deer                      near

hear                      cheer                    tear

heat                      peer                      year

beat                      peek                      dear

bleat                     seek                      deal

pleat                     sleek                     teal

plead                     sleet                     steal

lead                       fleet                     seal

lean                       feet                      meal

mean                     meet                     peal

meat                     beet                      peat

Reading Decodable Text:

          Have student Buddies practice rereading the long e phrases (You will need at least one copy for each pair of students.)

Day 4

Review:

          Review quickly the  long ē spellings, and the key words for each. Have the students give words that have these target spellings. List them on the board with the students’ help to spelling them.

Encoding:

          Use the dictation procedure.

          1.   /ā/ a_e      /ĕ/ e      /ē/ ee      /ē/ ea      /kw/ qu

          2.   near       dear         spear

          3.   clear       year        yeast

          4.   cheerful      clearing

          The queen said that I was near the clearing.

Reading Decodable Text:

                    Provide students with copies of sentences (text sheet #2.) Have them locate and circle words with the long ē spellings. Then practice reading the sentences with buddy strategy.

Day 5

Review:

          Review quickly the long ē spellings using the yellow, long ē spelling card. Using six to eight word cards, have Buddy A read the first word and tell a sentence using the word to Buddy B. Call on one Buddy A to share their sentence. Then for the next card, Buddy B reads and tells a sentence using the word to Buddy A. Continue until all the word cards have been used.

Encoding:

          Use the dictation procedure:

          1.       /ĭ/ i      /ē/ ea       /ĕ/ e     /ă/ a    /ē/ ee

          2.       teeth           seen            seem 

          3.       sheet           sweet          sweep

          4.       between         seaweed

          Brush your teeth between meals and eating sweets.

         

Reading Decodable Text:

          Reread long e sentences and phrases using the buddy strategy.

 

                          Decoding Practice

year     please      team     dream    cheap sheet     street     deep     seen      sweet

cross the street             

sweet dreams

hear the cheer                

the deep blue sea

1.           The sheep will leap near the street.

2.         The queen shed a tear in my dream.

3.         We had beets, peas, and green beans to eat.

4.         Lee could hear the cheer for the team.

5.         Mom will have to clean the sheets.

6.         Do you like cream in your tea?

7.         We’ll ride in the jeep over the weeds.

8.         The deer was near the tree by the stream.

ee/ea Phrases

1.  steer the jeep

2.  deep in sleep

3.  fear of hot steam

4.  put in gear

5.  clear the street

6.  a green leaf

7.  hear the scream

8.  steam clean

9.  rich cream

10.  heap of leaves

11. deer meat

12. hear the cheer

13. the dream team

14. a mean queen

15. leap the stream

16. the big screen

17. near the sea

18. a cheap jeep

19.  treats to eat

20.  all last year

ee/ea Sentences

1.     Jean will eat peas and beans.

2.   Will you eat the meat or the treat?

3.   Lee had a feast of beef and deer meat.

4.   We’ll cheer for our team this year.

 

5.   They will clear the dirt off the street.

6.    A breeze feels good in the heat of the day.

7.    Can you sweep the leaves into a heap?

8.    This year is a leap year.

9.     Put clean sheets on the bed.

10.      When you sleep you may have a dream.

11.       We will feast on beef, cheese, green beans,    sweet peas, and ice cream.

12.      The green leaf will turn red in the fall.

13.      Three sheep had a seat in the jeep.

14.      A tear made a streak down her cheek.

15.      We need a clean sheet for the bed.

16. We will feast on peas, green beans, and deer meat.

17. She hears them cheer for her dream team.

18. That seal is real weak and needs a meal.

19. Jean heats the lean, deer meat that we will eat.

20. I fear that team will beat us this year.

21. Sit in the seat near the man that will speak.

22. It is clear you have a tear on your cheek.

23. The weak tea will help you heal and feel well.

24. We have a need to stop the leak before he can speak.

25. We will seal the deal not to cheat or steal each year.