Introduce Long a (VCe, ai, ay, ei, ea) and Short a

1. Grade 4, Unit 1, Mini-Lesson 8 (15-20
min.)
Word Study

2. OBJECTIVES
I will be able to:
Use long-a letter patterns to read specific words.
Sort words by vowel sound.
Participate in a discussion with a partner and share
ideas respectfully.

3. Let’s reread the first paragraph of “Solving
Problems” aloud. As I read, we will underline words
with the long a sound.
Underline States, state, make, and nation.
What vowel sound is sharted by all four of these
words? It is the long a sound.

4. Let’s circle the a in each underlined word. Note
that state and make both have the Vowel-
Consonant-e pattern. This makes the vowel sound
long.
Now, let’s underline the word may in paragraph 3.
What letter pattern makes the long a sound in this
word? Let’s think about words in which the letter
pattern ea and ei make the long a sound (wear, tear,
neighbor, weigh).

5. Now, let’s look at the words Sandy and Management
in the sidebar and the word ask in paragraph 3.
What sound do you hear in these words? This is the
short a sound. Let’s think of some other words that
have the short a sound.

6. Let’s create a word sort chart. We’ll place our lined paper
from our AVID Binder horizontal or portrait. Let’s make six
columns. We’ll label the columns: vowel-consonant-e, ai, ay,
ei, ea, and short a.
Where will we place the following words:
pear, rake, saying, sleigh, tail, task
Knowing various letter patterns such as ai, ay, ei, ea, and
vowel-consonant-e will help you spell unfamiliar words.

7. For example, I know that there is a color
pronounced “bayzh,” but I can never remember how
to spell it. Now I can try various letter
combinations that make the long a sound. Both
baige and bayge look strange, but when I get to
beige, it looks familiar.

8. Let’s take another look at the our Word Sort Chart.
We are going to work together to complete the chart.
We complete the word chart using the following
words from “The First Town Meeting’:
stay, fate, sat, hands, gray, answer, places, gazed,
waiting

9. Now, let’s work together for the next three minutes
to think of other words to put in your Word Sort
Chart.
Please put your Word Sort Chart in your AVID
binder’s Language Arts section.

10. Now, you will reread “The First Town Meeting.”
Look for words with either the long a or short a
sound that were not included on the Word Sort
Chart. This will allow you to accurately read each
word and better understand “The First Town
Meeting.”

11. Let’s take a look at this unit’s spelling words. We
will work together on a spelling “test.” I will say the
word, then a volunteer will do their best to spell the
word. It that person spells the word incorrectly,
another person will get a try until we spell the word
correctly.
(give students “test” using words on TE p. 19)
Now, let’s look at how we can use this week’s
spelling words in a sentence.

12. WORD/MEANING/EXAMPLE
SENTENCE
trails
a marked path
through a national
area
I like hiking on
mountain trails.
PHOTOGRAPH

13. WORD/MEANING/EXAMPLE
SENTENCE
maintain
to keep something as it
is
You should always
maintain a cheerful
attitude.
PHOTOGRAPH

14. WORD/MEANING/EXAMPLE
SENTENCE
greatly
very much; by a large
amount
Our school was greatly
improved by the new
basketball court.
PHOTOGRAPH

15. WORD/MEANING/EXAMPLE
SENTENCE
spray
to emit a liquid
I need to spray glass
cleaner on my
monitor.
PHOTOGRAPH

16. WORD/MEANING/EXAMPLE
SENTENCE
natural
caused by nature
The hurricane was a
natural disaster.
PHOTOGRAPH

17. WORD/MEANING/EXAMPLE
SENTENCE
national
relating to a country as a
whole
The American Red Cross is
a national organization.
PHOTOGRAPH

18. WORD/MEANING/EXAMPLE
SENTENCE
staff
the group of people who
work for a business or
organization
My sister joined the staff of
the burger barrel.
PHOTOGRAPH

19. WORD/MEANING/EXAMPLE
SENTENCE
locate
to find where
something is
It’s here somewhere,
but I just can’t locate
it.
PHOTOGRAPH