Letter Warm-Up with Flash Cards: First Grade

Carla Miller: Are we ready to go? We're going to start our deck drill ...

Narrator: To get her first graders warmed up for their daily phonics lesson, instructional coach Carla Miller guides them through their letter flashcards. This helps them become automatic at matching letters to sounds.

Carla Miller: We're just going to say the name of the letter and the sound. Are you ready? 'G', /g/ (students say the letter names and sounds wit her). 'Y', /y/. Okay. Let's do that one more time. 'Y', /y/.'E', /ē/ ... long sound ... /ē/. Good 'q', 'u', /qwa/ ...rule 'q' and 'u' are stuck like glue. So good. 'A', /ā/ long sound ... /ā/. Very good 'F', /f/. 'I', /ĭ/ ... Long sound? /ī/. Good. 'R', /r/, 'i' ... oh, stop right there. There's something going on here. Who can raise their hand and tell me how this card is different? Ashton?

Ashton: 'Y' says /ī/.

Carla Miller:

'Y' says /ī/. Why does 'y' says /ī/ and not /yuh/?

Student: 'Y' is a special consonant that takes 'i'.

Carla Miller: Excellent. So, at the end of a one-syllable word 'y' says /ī/ and at the end of a two-syllable word 'y' says /ē/. Good. Okay, let's keep going. Let me see who has their tracers out. Thank you so much, Ellie. Let's go.(Students continue to say the letter names and sounds wit Ms. Miller.) 'D', /d/. Writing roll ... 'c', /c/. 'B', /b/. Oh, one more time ... 'b', /b/, 'c', /c/. Who knows a rule that goes with 'c'? Blakeley?

Blakeley: Curvy 'c' goes with curvy /ā/, /ō/, and /ū/.

Carla Miller: Very good. Let's keep going, friends. 'V', /v/, 'u', /ǔ/ ... Long sound? /ū/ or /oooh/ ... reminder "oooh, you stink!", you sink. Good. 'G', /g/, 'y' /yuh/ ... This one was different. This is not 'y' the vowel. This is 'y' the what? Who can tell me? Eloise ...

Eloise: A consonant.

Carla Miller: A consonant. Very good.

Narrator: Enjoyed this video? Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. For more information, please visit ReadingUniverse.org. Special thanks to Burgess Peterson Academy and Atlanta Public Schools. Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale, the American Federation of Teachers, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and three anonymous donors. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington, DC, the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.

Carla Miller: This is Reading Universe.