Page 32, Learn to Be a Vowel Detective: B2, 3.01.1

In this lesson, students will be a vowel detective! Students will follow three steps to read the words: 1) Students will use a memorable phrase, “Find the first vowel and give it the code” as the first step to read each word; 2) Students will further develop their understanding of the vowel sound by writing the accent mark above the first vowel and crossing out the second vowel; 3) Students will trace the number 2 in a box to represent the basic rule: when there’s two vowels in a word, the first vowel says its name (this is called a long vowel sound) and the second vowel is quiet (it doesn’t make any sounds). At this level, it is common for students to confuse the b and d, to add a fun and visual image, we ask students to imagine that the tall part of the letter b looks like the tall back of a bear with its fur sticking straight up in the words bee and beep. We ask students to imagine that the round part of the letter d looks like a short round dog’s head in the words deer and seeds. We add a friendly smile to the letter d to emphasize it’s a short-round dog’s head. We have found this to be an effective approach to address the confusion students encounter with the consonant sounds in the letters b and d. Students feel a sense of accomplishment upon successfully reading the words and express their excitement by giving a thumbs-up and saying, “I’m a Super Reader!”