Starting to Read

Preschool, Kindergarten Reading, ESL

Use this alphabet-focused lesson plan to teach your ELs all about beginning letter sounds.

Objectives

Objectives

Academic

Students will be able to identify the beginning letter sound of a word.

Language

Students will be able to identify and generate the beginning sound in a grade-level word using visual supports.

Materials and preparation Key terms

Class set of R is for...

Class set of F is for... TIER 1 rat: a small rodent
Class set of Vocabulary Cards
Teacher copy of the Glossary rabbit: a small mammal
Teacher copy of Teach Background Knowledge
Template rock: a small stone
Teacher copy of Write Student-Facing Language
fan: something that blows cool air
Objectives Reference
foot: a part of the body

fish: a cold-blooded animal with scales

TIER 2

ring: a piece of jewelry for your fingers

rain: water that comes from clouds

face: a part of the body

Attachments

Teach Background Knowledge Template (PDF)

Write Student-Facing Language Objectives Reference (PDF)
R is for... (PDF)
F Is For... (PDF)

Introduction (3 minutes)

Introduce the lesson by gathering the students together.

Write the letter R on the board and say, "This is the letter R. Let's practice writing this letter in the air
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2022 Education.com
 with our fingers. Start at the top and follow my finger."
Point to the letter and say, "Let's look at some pictures of things that start with this letter. R says /r/ the
same sound as (display: rat/rabbit). Can you think of some other things that also start with the same
sound (/r/)?"
Tell students to turn and talk to share their ideas with a partner.
Ask pairs to share their words using the sentence frame: "____ starts with the /r/ sound."
Record words on the board (draw basic pictures of each word for reference if able).

Building Academic Language

Word (3 minutes)

Explain that today you will practice listening to the beginning sound in words.
Display an alphabet chart or write the letter F on the board. Point to the letter F and say, "This is the
letter F. It makes the sound /f/. Let's practice writing this letter in the air with our fingers. Start at the top
and follow my finger."
Point to the letter F again and say, "What are some words that also start with the /f/ sound? I'll start, 'Fan
starts with /f/.'"
Display the vocabulary cards one at a time and say each word aloud, emphasizing the beginning sound
("fan," "rain," "face," "rock"). Ask students to turn and talk to share which of the pictures start with the /f/
sound.
Point to the pictures again and have students give a thumbs up when you point to the ones with the /f/
sound. Repeat to have students identify which words start with the /r/ sound.
Tell students to turn and talk to a partner to share another word that starts with the /f/ sound using the
sentence frame: "____ starts with the /f/ sound."
As time allows, repeat this process using additional letters.

Sentence (10 minutes)

Write the letters R and F on the board or chart paper.

Review the letter sound for each letter and then tell the students to turn and talk to a partner to share
words that start with the same sound (using their chosen letter).
Invite the students to repeat after you, "The letter R makes the /r/ sound. The letter F makes the /f/
sound."
Explain that now students will practice identifying words that begin with the R or F sound using the F is
for.. or R is for.. worksheets.
Display the worksheets, review instructions (color in the pictures that match the target letter) and allow
students to choose which worksheet to start with. Then send students off to work independently.

Discourse (2 minutes)

Have students share with a partner or the whole group (depending on time) some of the things they
identified on the worksheet. Provide the following sentence frame to support students: "This is a ____. It
starts with the ____ sound."
Invite the students to share how they chose which pictures to color in and/or if they had any other ideas
of words that started with the same sound.

Additional EL adaptations

Beginning

Provide additional support by playing a matching game with the vocabulary cards and asking students to
match each picture to its letter sound.
Gather together a smaller group of students to practice finding the beginning sounds in additional words.

Advanced

Have students practice writing the target letters on unlined paper, and then drawing pictures that begin
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2022 Education.com
 with the same letter sound.
Ask students to practice labeling each of their pictures with the beginning letter.

Formative Assessment of Academic Language (5 minutes)

As students share out, assess if they are able to accurately identify words that start with the same
beginning sound.
Collect student work samples to check students' ability to identify words that start with the same
beginning letter sound.

Review and closing (2 minutes)

Gather the class back together.

Review the letter sounds /r/ and /f/ by pointing to the written letters, saying the sound aloud, and inviting
the students to write each letter in the air with their fingers.

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2022 Education.com
 Teach Background Knowledge
Lesson Topic:
Choose a topic from the main content
lesson that will help ELs understand the
main content lesson. Your non-ELs will
already have knowledge about this topic.

Total Lesson Time:

(20 - 30 minutes)

Student-Facing Language
Objective:
Example: I can learn new vocabulary
using pictures and sentence frames.

Student ELP Level(s):

Consider each student’s ELP level and
their academic strengths when choosing
scaffolds for the lesson.

Groupings (pairs, small-groups, a teacher-led group)

Potential Scaffolds:
Choose some of these material supports
and instructional scaffolds based on each
EL’s individual strengths and needs.
Word banks, word wall, and bilingual glossaries
Sentence frames, sentence stems, and paragraph frames
Home language materials
Reduced linguistic load, repetition, rephrasing and modeling
Practice new academic skills with familiar topics

Materials & Resources List

List the materials you’ll use in the lesson.

Key Vocabulary Words (5-8 words)

List the words with student-friendly
definitions in English. Provide
definitions in student’s home language
when appropriate.

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Copyright © 2018 Education.com LLC All Rights Reserved
FindFind
worksheets, games,
worksheets, lessons
games, & more
lessons
More worksheets & at education.com/resources
more at education.com/resources
at www.education.com/worksheets
© 2007©
- 2020
2007 Education.com
- 2022 Education.com
Introduction
Access EL’s prior knowledge about the
lesson topic with a brief comprehension
check.

Potential activities:
Creating captions for images
Opinionnaires
Carousel brainstorming
Conversations with sentence starters
Time estimate for Introduction
(3 - 5 minutes)

Explicit Instruction of
Background Knowledge
Model a learning activity that embeds
the teaching of academic language and
background knowledge.

Potential activities:
Lunch brunch discussion
Teacher-created, adjusted text and
questions
Brief videos or visuals
Text-based instruction
Home-language connections
Pre-teach a small number of
vocabulary words
Show real-world objects
Complete word family or bilingual
glossaries
Word walls or word bank creation

Time Estimate for Explicit Instruction

(4 - 6 minutes)

Guided Practice
Provide an opportunity for students (in
pairs or small groups) to practice the skill
or information taught during Explicit
Instruction, offering appropriate
scaffolds as needed.

Time Estimate for Guided Practice

(5 - 7 minutes)
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
FindFind
worksheets, games,
worksheets, lessons
games,
Copyright 2018&Education.com
more
© lessons & at education.com/resources
more atAll
LLC education.com/resources
Rights Reserved
More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets
© 2007© - 2020
2007 Education.com
- 2022 Education.com
 Formative Assessment
Ask students to show comprehension of
new background knowledge and
associated skills through an oral or
written task. Provide appropriate
scaffolds dependent on their ELP level.

Potential assessments:
Act out concepts
Hands on tasks
Drawings, models, or graphs
Graphic organizer completion
Captions of images
Reading response or content
area logs
Retellings
Role plays
Audio or video recordings
Oral interviews

Time estimate for Assessment

(5 - 7 minutes)

Review and Closing

Refer to the student objective and relate
information to future lessons. Allow
students to share thoughts about
whether they reached their objective
and/or mention lingering questions.
Provide sentence stems or frames for their
discussion.

Time estimate for Review and Closing

(3 - 5 minutes)

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Copyright © 2018 Education.com LLC All Rights Reserved
FindFind
worksheets, games,
worksheets, lessons
games, & more
lessons
More worksheets & at education.com/resources
more at education.com/resources
at www.education.com/worksheets
© 2007©
- 2020
2007 Education.com
- 2022 Education.com
 Write Student-Facing Language Objectives
A student-facing language objective: A teacher-facing language objective:
begins with “I can...” begins with “Students will be able to...”
is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and
promote their language development. promote their language development.
incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and
supports or scaffolds. supports or scaffolds.
is easy to understand for students at all levels of is intended to guide the teacher’s lesson planning
English proficiency. and instruction.

Steps to convert a teacher-facing objective to a student-facing objective:

1. Replace “Students will be able to” with “I can.”
2. Simplify challenging words but maintain key vocabulary words you’ll address in the lesson.

Students will be able to describe a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.
Language Grammar Support/
Function Structure Scaffold

I can talk about a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.

Language Grammar Support/
Function Structure Scaffold

Language Functions Grammar Structures Supports/Scaffolds

locate create identify nouns adverbs graphic organizers sentence starters

show describe infer modals academic vocabulary teacher modeling strategic grouping
sort ask questions interpret verb forms adjectives word banks/walls home language supports
tell brainstorm collect conjunctions phrases
contrast classify compare sentence structure prepositions
pronouns complex sentences
comparatives
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Find worksheets,
Find worksheets, games,
games,
Copyright lessons
lessons
© 2018 & more
Education.com & All
LLC more
at at education.com/resources
education.com/resources
Rights Reserved
More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets
©-2007
© 2007 2020-Education.com
2022 Education.com
Copyright © 2010-2011Get
by Education.com More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets
more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2022 Education.com
Copyright © 2010-2011Get
by Education.com More worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets
more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Find worksheets, games, lessons & more at education.com/resources
© 2007 - 2022 Education.com