Grade 1 Additional Language – Introduction to Phonemic Awareness

Lesson Plan Title: Grade 1 Additional Language – Introduction to Phonemic Awareness

2. Materials Needed:
– Flashcards with simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words (e.g., cat, dog, hat)
– Picture cards corresponding to the CVC words
– Whiteboard and markers
– Audio clips of different phonemes
– Alphabet chart
– Hand mirrors (for mouth shape exercises)
– Worksheets for practice (phoneme matching, phoneme identification)
– Stickers or small rewards for positive reinforcement

3. Learning Objectives:
– To identify and produce individual phonemes in simple CVC words.
– To blend and segment phonemes in spoken words.
– To match spoken phonemes to their corresponding letters.
– To develop awareness of the sounds in words and how they relate to letters.

4. Vocabulary:
– Phoneme
– Consonant
– Vowel
– Blend
– Segment
– Sound
– Letter

5. Previous Learning:
Students are familiar with the basic alphabet and have practiced simple letter-sound correspondences in a whole-group setting. They have had exposure to auditory discrimination exercises (e.g., identifying similar and different sounds).

6. Anticipated Challenges and Solutions:
Challenge: Difficulty in isolating individual sounds within words.
Solution: Use visual aids like hand mirrors to show mouth shape and position when making sounds.
Challenge: Confusion between similar sounds (e.g., ‘p’ and ‘b’).
Solution: Use audio clips and repetition exercises to reinforce the differences. Highlight the physical differences in sound articulation.

7. Beginning Activities (10% of time):
Warm-Up (3 mins): Start with a fun, interactive song or rhyme that includes various phonemes to engage students and prepare them for the lesson.
Introduction (2 mins): Briefly explain what phonemic awareness is and why it’s important. Use simple language and give a couple of examples (e.g., cat starts with /k/).

8. Middle Activities (80% of time):
Activity 1: Phoneme Isolation (12 mins): Use flashcards with CVC words. Show a card (e.g., ‘cat’) and ask students to identify the first, middle, and last sounds. Use hand mirrors to help students see how their mouth forms each sound.
Activity 2: Phoneme Blending (12 mins): Say individual phonemes slowly (/k/ /a/ /t/) and have students blend them to form the word ‘cat’. Use picture cards for visual support.
Activity 3: Phoneme Segmentation (12 mins): Show a picture card (e.g., of a dog) and say the word ‘dog’. Ask students to break the word into its individual sounds (d-o-g).
Activity 4: Phoneme Matching (12 mins): Use a worksheet where students match pictures of objects to the corresponding CVC words. They must say the word out loud, identify each phoneme, and then draw a line to the correct picture.
Activity 5: Listening Exercise (12 mins): Play audio clips of different phonemes. Students must identify the sound and match it to a letter on the alphabet chart.

9. End Activities (10% of time):
Review and Recap (3 mins): Go over what was learned in the lesson. Ask students to share a word they practiced and its phonemes.
Cool-Down (2 mins): End with a quick, engaging game like ‘Simon Says’ with sounds (‘Simon says touch your nose if you hear /t/ in the word “cat”’).

10. Assessment and Checks for Understanding:
Observation: During activities, observe students’ ability to isolate, blend, and segment phonemes.
Questions: Ask individual students to identify phonemes in words.
Worksheets: Collect and review the completed worksheets for accuracy.
Exit Ticket: Before leaving, each student will orally identify the first sound in a word provided by the teacher.

11. Differentiation Strategies:
For Struggling Students: Provide additional scaffolded support like using visual and tactile aids such as letter blocks. Pair them with more proficient peers during activities.
For Advanced Students: Challenge them with longer words or words with blends and digraphs. Increase the complexity of words gradually.
For ELL (English Language Learners): Use clear and slow speech, visual aids, and gestures to reinforce understanding. Offer translations or explanations in the home language if possible.

12. Teaching Notes:
– Keep the pace lively but ensure every student is keeping up.
– Offer lots of positive feedback and encouragement to build confidence.
– Use diverse and inclusive examples to ensure all students see themselves reflected in the learning material.
– Monitor student engagement and adjust activities as needed to maintain interest and motivation.

13. CAPS Alignment:
– This lesson aligns with the CAPS curriculum for Grade 1 Additional Language by addressing phonemic awareness, which is a key component of language development at this stage. The objectives, activities, and assessments match the prescribed outcomes.

14. Indigenous Knowledge Integration:
– Incorporate examples from local languages and encourage students to share phonemes and words from their home languages to build a bridge between their first language and additional language learning.

15. Cross-curricular Links:
– Link to Life Skills by discussing different objects in the environment that correspond to the CVC words used.
– Connect to Mathematics by counting the number of phonemes in each word.


This enhanced lesson plan adheres to the South African CAPS curriculum for Grade 1 Additional Language and integrates additional cultural, cross-curricular, and indigenous knowledge elements to enrich the learning experience.

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