2nd Term week 2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE LESSON NOTE: Phonemic Awareness I (Identifying and Producing Sounds) for Primary 2

 

• Term: 2nd Term

• Week: 2

• Class: Primary 1 / Basic 1 (Lower Basic)

• Subject: English Studies (Phonological Awareness)

• Topic: Phonemic Awareness I (Identifying and Producing Sounds)

• Duration: 40 minutes

1. Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, the pupils should be able to:

1. Identify and repeat target consonant and short vowel sounds correctly.

2. Blend individual sounds to read simple CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) words (cat, dog, sun).

3. Segment spoken CVC words into their three individual sounds.

4. Identify rhyming words and match words with the same beginning or ending sounds.

5. Participate actively in phonics songs and hands-on sound recognition games.

Note :You may split it to 3 or 4 days

2. Step 1: Listening to and Repeating Sounds (Vowels & Consonants)

Before writing any words, pupils must focus strictly on what they hear and say.

A. Consonant Sounds (The "Squeezers" and "Poppers")

The teacher produces the sound clearly (not the letter name) and has the pupils mimic the mouth shape and sound:

• /k/ (as in cat) – a short, sharp back-of-the-throat sound.

• /d/ (as in dog) – a bouncy, voiced sound behind the teeth.

• /s/ (as in sun) – a long, hissing snake sound.

• /t/, /g/, /n/ – clean, crisp pronunciations without adding "uh" at the end (e.g., say /t/, not "tuh").

B. Short Vowel Sounds (The "Engine" of the Word)

Vowels are open-mouth sounds. Practice these three short vowel sounds:

• /æ/ (Short 'a') – Open mouth wide as if taking a bite of an apple (cat).

• /ɒ/ (Short 'o') – Make a round "O" shape with the lips as if saying octopus (dog).

• /ʌ/ (Short 'u') – A relaxed mouth sound, like putting up an umbrella (sun).

3. Step 2: Blending and Segmenting CVC Words

This is where pupils learn how sounds glue together to make words (blending) and how words break apart into sounds (segmenting).

A. Blending (Putting Sounds Together to Read)

The teacher stretches out the sounds, and the pupils "smash" them together to say the word. Use Arm Blending (tapping shoulder for first sound, elbow for middle, wrist for ending sound, then sliding down the arm to blend).

• /k/ ... /æ/ ... /t/ $\implies$ cat

• /d/ ... /ɒ/ ... /g/ $\implies$ dog

• /s/ ... /ʌ/ ... /n/ $\implies$ sun

B. Segmenting (Pulling Words Apart to Spell)

The teacher says the whole word, and the pupils chop it into its individual sounds using their fingers (Sound Fingers).

• Teacher: "How do we chop sun?"

• Pupils: "/s/ (thumb) ... /ʌ/ (index finger) ... /n/ (middle finger)."

• Teacher: "How do we chop dog?"

• Pupils: "/d/ ... /ɒ/ ... /g/."

4. Step 3: Rhyming and Sound Matching

A. Rhyming Words (Same Ending Family)

Explain that rhyming words sound exactly the same at the end.

• Examples to practice:

  • Cat rhymes with Hat, Mat, Rat, Bat.

  • Dog rhymes with Log, Jog, Fog, Frog.

  • Sun rhymes... Run, Bun, Fun, Gun.

The "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down" Game:

The teacher says two words. If they rhyme, pupils give a thumbs up 👍. If they do not rhyme, pupils give a thumbs down 👎.

• Cat - Mat (Thumbs Up!)

• Dog - Sun (Thumbs Down!)

• Sun - Run (Thumbs Up!)

B. Sound Matching (Beginning Sounds)

• Which word starts like "cat"? (cup or dog?) $\implies$ cup

• Which word starts like "sun"? (sad or man?) $\implies$ sad

5. Step 4: Songs & Activities for Sound Recognition

A. The Phonics Blending Song (Tune: Are You Sleeping?)

The class sings together to practice blending:

♫ Let's build a word, let's build a word, ♫

♫ Hear the sounds, hear the sounds. ♫

♫ /k/ - /æ/ - /t/, /k/ - /æ/ - /t/, ♫

♫ That makes cat! That makes cat! ♫

(Repeat with /d/-/ɒ/-/g/ for dog and /s/-/ʌ/-/n/ for sun)

B. Classroom Activity: "The Sound Box Jump"

• Setup: Draw three large chalk circles on the floor: 1, 2, and 3.

• How to Play: The teacher calls out a CVC word (e.g., dog). A pupil jumps into circle 1 and says /d/, jumps to circle 2 and says /ɒ/, and jumps to circle 3 and says /g/. Then, they jump forward out of the circles and shout the full blended word: "DOG!"

6. Classroom Evaluation

To check if pupils have understood, ask these quick diagnostic questions:

1. "Listen to this sound: /æ/. Is it the middle sound in cat or sun?" (Answer: cat)

2. "I will say three sounds. Tell me what word they make: /d/ ... /ɒ/ ... /g/." (Answer: dog)

3. "How many sounds can you hear in the word sun?" (Answer: 3 sounds: /s/, /u/, /n/)

4. "Which word rhymes with cat—is it dog or hat?" (Answer: hat)

7. Homework / Follow-up Activity

1. Match the Rhymes: Draw a line from the word on the left to its rhyming friend on the right:

   • Cat  Run

   • Dog  Mat

   • Sun Log

2. Sound Practice: Practice saying the individual sounds of the words c-a-t, d-o-g, and s-u-n with your parents at home.