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EDU 603 Final Project

EDU 603 Final Project: A Pre-K unit on “Blending Letters”

Krystal Jeffries-Johnson

Post University
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EDU 603 Final Project

EDU 603: A Pre-K unit on “Blending Letters”

Part I: Statement of Educational Philosophy

The United Negro College Fund: a historically black scholarship program is known for

Its’ motto, “The Mind is a Terrible thing to Waste.” (Patterson, 2023). The truth

behind this motto brings us to the topic of education today. With so many different things to

consider, one must have a sure belief and strong foundation when it comes to how children are

educated. Therefore, this paper is a review and reflection of the author’s perspective about an

educational philosophy known as Constructivism. Education is extremely important in life.

Whether a person is filling out a job application, visiting a foreign country or even eating at

a new restaurant, one’s education is the one thing, like a reputation, will follow everywhere

you go.

Constructivism is the educational philosophy that will be explored here as the author ‘s

chosen educational foundation. Constructivism focuses on the” learner” and their expressions.

This “learner center approach” has been penned by child theorist Jean Piaget. His belief is that

children influence and shape their own environments through their experiences based upon their

own understandings. (Piaget, 1964). With a “learner centered approach”, the teacher learns from

the student rather than the learning being teacher-led. This Constructivism Philosophy is

particularly essential in today's educational field because children are much more inquisitive and

tech savvy today than they were centuries ago.

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Constructivism aligns with the contemporary teaching context due to this strong

emphasis on student-centered learning. According to Piaget, the constructivism approach allows

children to make sense of things the way they come natural to them. Rather than suppress their

true self, Piaget encourages us as educators to welcome the little one’s interpretation of things

rather than ignoring them. This approach promotes a meaningful, active and engaging learning

environment which is very beneficial to the learners. (Shah, 2019). According to research

studies, young children need to actively explore their learning environments, so they can

build their own understanding of it. Our role as teachers are to provide them opportunities to

have these kinds of experiences that promotes learning within this spectrum. (Mills, 2007).

This way, children can ask questions, create solutions, discover new things and be challenged to

go deeper regarding their thinking capacity which extends their learning and prior knowledge.

For example, my two-year old son has his own little play area in our home. He has so

many toys, educational resources and technology to utilize for play and activities. Due to this

multi-faceted environment, that is available and accessible to him, he has the freedom to

explore and discover so many things. One thing he did which was very shocking to us was he

stuck an ink pen in one of his toy trucks. He found the perfect spot for it too and when you look

at it one may think, now why didn’t the manufacturer think of this? Maybe an opinion but this is

a great example of what constructivism looks like inside or outside of the classroom.

Also, constructivism is a good philosophy because it allows for teachers to think for themselves

too and invite them to use their own intelligence to help teach rather than always conforming to a

certain way of teaching. The problem with this is it is passed down to the students which erases

their own way of thinking and learning which is not beneficial to them in no way. (Miils, 2007).
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In conclusion, a bold and sturdy educational system puts the learner at the forefront of its

Curriculum. Teachers are to be committed to providing the rich, learning free classroom

environment that is conducive to learning. In so doing, we must keep the needs

of every learner in mind. Our biggest priority as educators is to ensure that all student needs are

met and that our teaching pedagogy is in alignment with the framework and instructional model

known as UDL (Universal Design for Learning) ; this way no child is left behind.
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Part II: Rationale of Curriculum

This unit is designed for a regular education classroom of pre kinder students. The

class that this unit was designed for consists of:

 9 pre-kinder students (ages 4-5 years old)

• 5 boys, 4 girls

• 2 non-speaking English students (1 boy and 1 girl)

The students in this class have had no experience with “blending letters” or two sounds

but they do all have prior knowledge of identifying the alphabets and making these letter sounds.

Therefore, students have worked on basic phonemic awareness skills but not too much just yet.

However, the students have not yet been taught how to put two letters together and make one

sound. This unit utilize backward design in its early planning stages, beginning with the essential

question (EQ) as a starting point. This is why the unit’s work centers on students understanding

that putting two sounds together makes one sound and this helps to read words. Wiggins and

McTighe (2005) explained that work surrounding EQs should consider purpose and audience.

Because the big ideas are at the core of this unit, the skills, knowledge and understandings in

this unit are based on reasoning, not recall (Kineticstreaming, 2014). For example, while

students will be able to say the alphabets and make the one letter sounds, they will more

importantly understand that “blending letters” are used to help produce CVC (consonant-

vowel-consonant) words that they must be able to soon read.

When the essential questions were developed, Wiggins and McTighe’s (2011) six facets
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of understanding were considered. The students will be introduced to “blending letters” with

their teacher and they will branch off into different centers or spaces to revisit the unit’s lesson in

which they will be allowed to incorporate two letter sounds. This shows one of the six facets:

interpretation. With demonstrating their prior knowledge of one-to one letter sounds, students

will begin to understand that adding another letter produces another sound. (Wiggins &

McTighe, 2011). This experience will help foster and uplift their phonemic awareness skills

which with the end goal in mind will help them to eventually become strong, fluent readers in

Kindergarten. Afterwards, students will use a graphic organizer which will require students to

think about and see what they understand and what they do not so they with the help of their

teacher can improve.

In an effort to plan daily lessons, which focus on the enduring understanding of teaching

students how to blend letters through play, this unit follows a dramatic play model and preschool

center activities. With a dramatic play model and centered activities, students will have a varied

choice of learning while playing experience. The dramatic play/center format is as follows:

whole class mini-lesson, independent stations, individual/small group conferencing and the

dramatic play area which incorporates role playing. This model lends itself nicely to

differentiation. Students select their own choice of instruction after the whole mini lesson and

apply that day’s mini-lesson teaching point within their own activities when appropriate.

Teachers are then able to meet with individuals or a few students grouped by skill/level during

Center rotations. This allows students an opportunity to practice blending letters with their

teacher and she provide individualized formative feedback and make any corrections necessary.

In terms of differentiation, the workshop format lends itself nicely to many components
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of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This unit addresses the “Representation” component of

UDL because each day’s mini-lesson teaching point will demonstrate the lesson precisely which

relates back to the essential question, or big idea (Post University, n.d. a). Additionally, this unit

relates to students’ real lives because they are able to use the letters to make sounds which

strengthens their communication abilities. This unit also addresses the “Action” component of

UDL because students are able to use multiple tools (Post University, n.d. a). Students have a

wide variety of literacy tools available to them (puppet sticks, puzzles, letter magnets and tiles, I-

pads, dry erase board and markers and blenders, etc ). Because students will use the

letter sounds throughout the unit, teachers have a chance to reflect on individuals and create

tiered instruction within the classroom in the form of strategy groups, another key component of

UDL Post University, n.d. a). This is specifically geared towards the two non-speaking English

students to prevent future barriers. Lastly, this unit addresses the “Engagement” component of

UDL because students have so many different choices in extending their depth of knowledge and

learning something new. They are able to do something that will allow them to have fun and

learn in the process which is always a win-win situation with young children or learners.

The constructivist learning theory was also considered when planning this unit to ensure

that students were active participants in their learning. The constructivist theory emphasizes

learning by solving meaningful, authentic problems, collaborating with peers, and forming one’s

own conclusions based on experiences (Post University, n.d. b). In other words, constructivism is

a student-centered approach to learning as mentioned previously. Constructivism gives the

teacher the role of a guide who can help a student make sense of his/her own learning (The

Office of Learning and Teaching, 2004). Moreover, in early education we call this scaffolding.

We help the children understand things in the process of the learning according to Vygotsky.
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( Winsler, 1995). The constructivist theory emphasizes the importance of

students navigating their own learning, while they practice skills like self-direction and

communication (The Office of Learning and Teaching, 2004). This unit allows students to direct

their own learning by providing a high level of choice and fostering independence.
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EDU 603 Final Project

Part III: Unit Plan

Stage I

Grade or Level: Unit Title: Blending letters (Pre-K)

Description of unit…This unit is uniquely designed to introduce blending letters to pre-k

students ages 4 & 5 or to teach them how to blend letters together.

STAGE 1- STANDARDS/GOALS
What should students understand, know, and be able to do? Stage one identifies the desired
results of the unit including the related state content standards and expected performances,
enduring understandings, essential questions, knowledge and skills.
 Students should know at least some of the alphabets and be able to identify them. They
should understand that letters have sounds. They should already be able to pronounce
or say the alphabets they are familiar with so they can begin to learn blending.

Content Standard(s)

Generalizations about what students should know and be able to do.

 Students should be able to say most of the alphabets so they should grasp the concept
of blending, although they may not catch on quickly at first.

Content Standards Primary Expected Performances

- Identify some if not all upper & lowercase

Recognize uppercase & lowercase letters. letters.

Make letter sounds

Demonstrate basic knowledge of letter Make letter sounds

sound correspondences by producing the
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most frequent sound for each letter.

Begin to demonstrate knowledge of one-to- Students must be able to maneuver from one
one letter sound correspondence by letter sound to the next.
producing the most frequent sound for
familiar consonants.

Enduring Understandings Essential Questions

Insights learned from exploring
generalizations via the essential questions Inquiry used to explore generalizations
(Students will understand THAT…)
K-12 enduring understandings are those Why do letters talk or make sounds?
understandings that should be developed
over time, they are not expected to be Why do the letters sound funny?
mastered over one unit or one year.
Do you hear that letters c & k make the same
sound? Wonder why?

Overarching Enduring Understandings: Understand the concept of phonics

Unit Specific Enduring Understanding Students should have basic level understanding
of phonics, particularly letter sounds as it
relates to blending the letter sounds together.

Knowledge and Skills

What students are expected to know and be able to do

Knowledge
The students will know…uppercase & lowercase letters and alphabet sounds

Skills
The students will be able to…isolate letter sounds and pronounce them individually &
collectively.
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Knowledge
The students will know:

 How to pronounce most of the alphabets

 How to identify the letter sounds by ear

 How to make one-to one corresponding letter sounds

 How to add another letter to blend two sounds together

Skills: The students will be able to:

 Say the letters of the alphabets

 Make the letter sounds of letters to join them to “blend”

 Identify letter sounds by hearing

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Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

Performance Task
Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate the desired
understandings, knowledge, and skills? (describes the learning activity in “story” form.
Typically, the P.T. describes a scenario or situation that requires students to apply knowledge
and skills to demonstrate their understanding in a real life situation. Describe your
performance task scenario below)
By what criteria will performances of understanding be judged?
GRASPS Elements of the Performance Task
G – Goal Students performance task will be the students creating puppets
What should students accomplish by and compasses for their television show. Students may choose
completing this task?
how they want to present the information that they will be
R – Role
What role (perspective) will your
sharing with their television audience. Their choices will
students be taking? include: construction paper, pieces of cloth material, cups and
A – Audience copy paper.
Who is the relevant audience?
GRASPS elements outlined for students:
S – Situation
The context or challenge provided to
the student. • Goal: To help pre-K students learn how to blend letters
together to make certain sounds, which eventually leads to
reading words later in life.

• Role: You will be an actor on a television show. You will use

your puppets and compasses to teach blending letter sounds.

• Audience: Your audience will be younger children who watch

kid learning television shows.

• Situation/Scenario: You have to use your knowledge about

P – Product, Performance “blending” to teach other children how to blend. Your television
What product/performance will the show will clearly and thoroughly teach how to make letter
student
create? sounds from one letter to another. The television show will be
aired all over the world to teach children your age how to blend
letters.

• Product: You will need to create puppets to express to the

children viewing the show how to make letter sounds and blend
them together. In using your compass with the directional letters
on them you will directly address your audience and show them
step by step (through your voice and pictures) how to blend two
letters together.

S – Standards & Criteria See Appendix A

for Success
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Other Evidence Student Self-Assessment

Through what other evidence (work samples,

observations, quizzes, tests, journals or other
means) will students demonstrate achievement
of the desired results? Formative and
summative assessments used throughout the
unit to arrive at the outcomes.
Students will complete an oral sound test at the
end of the unit in which they will have to blend
the letters from the directional words (North,
South, East and West) and choose the correct
blend that the teacher asks them.
How will students reflect upon or self-assess
their learning?
Students will use graphic organizers in the
form of a white board throughout their mini
lessons to ensure they have understood the
concept of blends and they will complete
sound activities with the teacher during
circle time and small group activities.

Students will be working on many pieces of

letter sound activities throughout this unit that
they will be able to use throughout the
classroom.

Additionally, the teacher will take detailed

notes during student one-to one and small
group time as another way to formatively
assess and adjust instruction.

Students will also informally assess their own

learning as they “act” out their television show
before actually performing it while teacher
takes notes and gives feedback throughout
observations.
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Learning Plan (Stage 3)

Students in this unit only have one letter sound alphabet experience, but no blending
experience yet. The teacher will spend time clearly introducing the concept of
“blending” through puppet play, various manipulatives and dramatic play
experiences. In every session, the teacher will inform students that they are learning
how to blend or join two letters together to make sounds so they can read in real life.
This will help them to try to understand and know the purpose for the unit. It is
expected that some students may have trouble understanding the concept of letter
sounding being that these are pre kinder students but most should grasp the concept in
terms of letters having sounds. Individual needs will be addressed through small group
circle time and teacher led one-to one discussion sessions which will occur daily in the
classroom during class rotations. Students are already familiar with the classroom
environment of learning; they know they will learn a skill, apply it independently, meet
with the teacher, meet with a partner and review it at the end of each day.

Students will be engaged by choosing a puppet to sit with during small circle time as
the teacher introduces “blending” to them. This is hands-on, fun and very engaging to
the students. Students have a high level of choice in this unit, another motivating
factor. They may always choose which centers they would like to play in and which
way they would like to learn about this lesson during center times. Students will have
access to many literacy stations which will help mentor alphabets/letter sounds in the
classroom prior to and during the unit as another way to engage students in this unit
which will allow them to feel a sense of ownership of the unit.

Each lesson is labeled with a letter from the acronym WHERETO which stands for:

• W: What is expected of students

• H: Holding student interest
• E (1): Experiencing and exploring unit ideas
• R: Rethinking, revising and revisiting work
• E(2): Evaluations for students to use
• T: Tailored learning plan to fit all learners
• O: Organizational tools for students

Lesson Activities
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Lesson Title Lesson Activity
Intro to the Subject Introduce “blends”: Give
different examples of how to
blend two letters together to
make one sound. Also, will
show pictures of the two
letters and demonstrate how
they go together using
alphabet cards and a play
blender or mixer.
Teacher-Led Activities The teacher will
-initiate and say the letter
sounds (one by one and adding how to blend the letter sounds
the other letter) at least three together and allow then an
times
- mimic how to blend the
sounds together the same
amount of times She will
specifically teach the letters in will have opportunities to
which the students will be
asked to use in their
performance task.
-set up audio stations for
students to listen to letter
sounds and practice them.
Independent Work Students will be given several R-students will be challenged
performance tasks during
center rotations to test their
new knowledge base.
-Observe pictures and say the
letter names of them.
-Use letter tiles to practice
saying letter sounds
-Use a compass to practice
blending directional words.
WhereTo?
W-At the end of the unit
students will be expected to at
least sound out two letters
even if they do not do so
consistently each time.
H-The play blender will draw
student interest and attention
along with singing of the
alphabets.
E-Here, the students will listen
to the teacher demonstrate
opportunity to echo the sounds
during circle time.
-During center time, students
practice saying or blending
letters at audio stations and
literacy stations around the
classroom.
to revisit and rethink about the
teacher led lesson on blending
as they practice doing the skill.
E-students will utilize a
graphic organizer in the form
of a white board to look at
pictures and check off with the
teacher the blends they have
learned to say. Students will
also point out using letter tiles
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which two letters they were
able to sound out together.
T-all students will be
encouraged to choose which
tool they want to use for their
mini lessons during center
rotations and for the ELL
students they will have
Spanish lessons accessible to
them for their learning.
O- technology and
manipulatives. In the
classroom students will use
different manipulatives as well
as technological devices to
enrich their learning.
Core Mini Lessons
MMiniMini
Note that all the following mini-lessons involve the teacher modeling the desired skill.

Following the lesson (10-15 minutes) students will utilize technology by way of an I-pad where
they will watch an online person teach the same skill.

They will also listen to blended letter sounds by way of an audio recorder that will continuously
make letter sounds.
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Conferring & Small Group
Work
Creating puppets and learning
how to speaking to the
audience with lots of
expression
Orally tell students in
sequential order how to blend
letters
Pictures can teach too!
The teacher will conduct small
groups with the pre-kinder
class to ensure that every child
understands the unit. During
this time the teacher will take
notes and ask the students if
they have any questions to ask.
In creating puppets for their
television show, the actors will
use their voices to show
different expressions so they
can get their audience’s
attention.
The students will practice on .
orally teaching each other in
the classroom how to blends
using a 3 step process. This
will prepare them to be ready
to go on the television show.
The students will use the
compass that the teacher
provided to show blends using
directional words and they will
also show other pictures which
relate to the same letters they
are blending.
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Checking for UDL Principles

Access & Reflect- (Stage 4)

By what criteria will performances of understanding be judged?

Considerations Comments
The outcomes, learning
experiences and
performance tasks of this Struggling students may be supported by:
unit are aligned and related
by one common theme: • Pairing with other student to learn how to blend sounds
blending letter sounds
-All learning experiences, • Teacher-Led one to one lessons with the student
assessments and outcomes
center around the idea that • Extra practice at the different audio stations
blending letters is an
essential part of literacy and • Practicing saying the alphabet sounds consistently throughout
phonemic awareness. the center rotations.
Students will be assessed on
their ability to clearly blend
two letters and
communicate ideas through
their television show.

-
All essential questions and
learning tasks throughout Excelling students may be challenged by:
this unit are transferrable to
a students’ everyday life, • Adding a “adding a third letter to their compass and practicing
therefore making them
authentic and meaningful • Creating a table of contents and glossary
(Wiggins & McTighe,
2005). This unit is preparing • Properly using commas and/or colons in a list
pre-kinder students to be
successful when they go to
Kindergarten and learn how
to read.
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Additionally, these EQ and

learning activities are
authentic to the learning
experience because they
will allow students to
personalize their EQs and
think about what they are
learning. (Huff, 2007).
Lastly, these EQs and
learning activities are not
only authentic but require
action and rationale (Jacobs,
2010). An EQ should be one
that can be acted upon and
rationalized; these activities
are certainly related to
taking action and can be
rationalized by the idea that
the audience really does
need to be taught how to
blend letters because they
will help them to learn how
to read words and books and
stuff.

This unit was planned with

the expectations of some,
most and all students’
learning outcomes in mind.
See Appendix D for
planning pyramid.

See Appendix D for

planning pyramid.
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References

Kineticstreaming (2014, May 21). Essential Questions [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsx1tsuEm6k&feature=youtu.be

Mills, G. E. (ed.) (2007) Action research. A guide for the teacher researcher. Ohio:

Prentice Hall Columbus.

Patterson, F. ( 2023). A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste. American Society for Microbiology.

https://asm.org/articles/2023/february/a-mind-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste-frederick-d-pa

Post University. (n.d. a). Developing Instructional Goals: Universal Design for Learning

Instructional Model [Presentation Slides]. Retrieved from

https://post.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid2855805-dt-content-rid-

24103450_1/courses/EDU603.901202035642/Documents/EDU603%20-

%20Unit%201%20Lecture%20Notes.pdf

Post University. (n.d. b). Educational Philosophy and Theory [Presentation Slides]. Retrieved f

from https://post.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-2855816-dt-content-

rid24103455_1/courses/EDU603.901202035642/Documents/EDU603%20-

%20Unit%203%20Lecture%20Notes.pdf

Shah, R. K. (2019). Effective Constructivist Teaching Learning in the Classroom. Shanlax

International Journal of Education, 7(4),1-13.

Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2011). The understanding by design guide to creating high-

quality units. Alexandria, VA: Assoc. for Supervision and Curriculum Developme
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Appendix A

Blending Letter Rubric

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Appendix B

Student Self-Checklists

Note: Images should be drawn on the checklist by the teacher which would help his/her

particular students understand what each item is asking for.

How-to Writing Checklist

Structure and Development

Yes Starting To Not Yet

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Appendix C

Self-Rubric for Curriculum Designer

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Appendix D

Planning Pyramid: Some, Most, All Students

Some students will know…

• How to identify letters of the alphabets.

• How to pronounce letter sounds one by one clearly.

• How to use technology as needed in the classroom.

Most students will know…

• How to pronounce the alphabets in order

• How to make the sounds the letters make.

• All students will know…

• How to identify and sound out all the letters of the alphabets.

• How to sound out letters one by one and add a new letter and “blend” the sounds together.
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