“Wild Readers” Decoding Skills Lesson Plan - By David Suits
This lesson is designed to assess a beginning reader‟s ability to decode and
comprehend text. I chose to use “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak for
this activity because it is a fun, engaging, imaginative book with many beautiful
illustrations and interesting words. It was also my favorite book when I was a boy.
Studies show that students learn to read better when the concepts are placed in the
context of a real story. This activity is in PowerPoint form so it is easy to do with the
whole class if need be, but a whole class assessment will be less accurate. I
recommend assessing students one at a time.
Objectives
This activity will assess the students‟ ability to apply the various decoding procedures.
This lesson plan deals specifically with:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Vocabulary (Dolch Sight Words)
Comprehension
If children do not learn how to read at grade level by third grade, they will most likely
have trouble reading for the rest of their lives. It is therefore extremely important that
activities like this one combine multiple methods in order to create the best possible
learning environment. Louisa Moats famously said, “Teaching reading is rocket
science.” This wise insight sums up the challenge teachers face when teaching early
readers. I chose to make this activity as fun as possible, while covering a variety of
decoding skills.
This activity will help the students review important sight words from the Dolch list, so
that they can use these words to decode new words in a sentence. This activity follows
these three key aspects of effective instruction:



Teach words in a meaningful context, using authentic literature.
Teach only a few words per reading selection.
Group each word with other related words.” (High-Frequency Words and
Vocabulary)
The phonemic awareness portions of this activity use both synthetic phonics and the
analytic approach. The analytic approach is a „whole-to-part‟ approach that teaches
students how to recognize similarities in words. The synthetic phonics approach is
a „part-to-whole‟ approach that teaches students the individual sounds on their own. If
we had to learn to read by memorizing new words without understanding how they are
formed this would take a very long time. Understanding how sounds fit together and how
words share similar sounds gives a student the ability to read new words on their own.
This critical decoding skill helps children become independent readers.
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Materials
1. At least one copy of “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak.
2. Laptop computer
3. “Wild Reader” PowerPoint file
4. Hardcopy of “Assessment Checklist”
Time
This activity should last about 20-30 minutes. This is in accordance with research that
suggests that relatively modest amounts of time result in increases in phonemic
awareness performance.
ESL Adaptation
This assessment will be administered to ESL students in small groups. They will be
encouraged to work together to answer the questions, and the teacher can help them
sound out words by starting to say initial sound of the word. The ESL students may also
use the pictures in the book to increase their understanding of the story. The activity
should be administered to them in three 15 minutes blocks to ensure they can maintain
focus. The teacher will have to be flexible with the ESL students, and if the assessment
still isn‟t running smoothly with the adaptations, the teacher must be prepared to stop the
activity, and try again another time. As Mark Twain once said, "To every complex
problem, there is a simple solution... that doesn't work." The teacher always needs to be
prepared to change their tactics if something is not working. This is especially true with
ESL students. If the ESL student is unable to follow this lesson, then they can just watch
while the other ESL students participate. Involve each student in as much of the activity
as possible.
The Activity
1. The teaching assistant or the teacher can administer this assessment. It is
recommended that one student is tested at a time in order to collect more
accurate assessment data.
2. The student(s) read “Where The Wild Things Are” on their own or together with a
classmate or teacher.
3. The teacher then opens the “Wild Reader” PowerPoint file on a laptop (See
attached file).
4. The teacher reads the first few introduction slides with expression and excitement
in their voice.
5. Each of the five sections of the “Wild Reader” PowerPoint test different skills that
help students decode words while they are reading. The skills tested are marked
in red below.
6. The teacher records how the student does on the “Checklist Sheet” (See
attached file).
7. Give examples of each task first as a model, and then let the students answer the
questions.
8. Make the assessment as enjoyable as possible. If you enjoy the assessment, the
students will too. “Where The Wild Things Are” is a fun book, so there is no
reason for the teacher to lack enthusiasm.
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9. After everyone in the class has finished the assessment, “Let the wild rumpus
start!” Take the class out on the playground and march together in a circle while
dancing and making howling noises!
The “Wild Reader” Skills Tested
1. Consonants
A. Spot the similar sound in five words. (Analytic Phonics)
B. Say these words without the R
(Phonemic Awareness: Deletion)
Rumpus
Rolled
C. Name 2 words that start with R
(Analytic Phonics)
D. Spot the similar sound in five words. (Analytic Phonics)
E. Tell the parts you here in these words (Phonemic Awareness: Segmentation)
Flap
Love
F. Name 2 words that start with L
(Analytic Phonics)
2. Vowels
A. Long vowel sounds (EIAOU)
B. Short vowel sounds (EIAOU)
C. Identify short and long vowel.
(Synthetic Phonics)
(Synthetic Phonics)
(Synthetic Phonics)
3. Sight Words
A. Read the sight word sentence.
(Dolch Sight Words in context)
4. Context Clue
A. What is a “Wild Rumpus?”
(Illustration Context Clue)
5. Comprehension
A. Why did Max‟s mother call him a “wild thing”?
Knowledge (ability to recall learned information)
B. How did max travel to see the wild things? (detail 1 pt)
Knowledge (ability to recall learned information)
C. Who do you think put Max‟s supper in his room? Why was
it was placed there?
Comprehension (basic understanding of information)
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Max wanted to read…
So he learned sounds like
R and L….
And vowel sounds like
A and E….
And common words
like
his and bed…
Max had
finally
arrived…
Where The
Wild Readers Are!
What sound is found in:
rumpus
forest
roar
terrible
rolled
“R”
rumpus
forest
roar
terrible
rolled
“R”
1. Say these words without the R
rumpus
rolled
Wild Sounds “R”
1. Name 2 words that start with R
What sound is found in:
wild
wolf
love
fearless
flap
“L”
wild
wolf
love
fearless
flap
“L”
1. Tell the parts you here in these
words
Flap
Love
Wild Sounds “L”
1. Name 2 words that start with L
Wild Vowels
1. Tell me the sound of each letter?
e i a
o
u
Wild Vowels
2. Tell me the other sound for the letter?
e i a
o
u
Long Vowel
Night
Others?
Short Vowel
Max
Others?
Short or Long Vowel?
“BE STILL!”
Wild Sentence
• The night Max wore his wolf suit
he was sent to bed.
“Let the wild rumpus
Start!”
Look at the picture…
What is a wild rumpus?
• Why did Max’s mother call him a “wild thing”?
• How did max travel to see the wild things?
• Who do you think put Max’s supper in his
room? Why was it was placed there?