Week 7, lesson 4 Phoneme "er" and Grapheme "er" - Phonics Phase 3 - Lesson plan

In the fourth lesson of Week 7, part of the Phase 3 phonics curriculum, children are introduced to the digraph , which represents the phoneme /er/. The objective of the lesson is to familiarize students with this grapheme and to distinguish it from similar sounds. The lesson starts with an engaging activity where the teacher reveals a flashcard of the grapheme and hints at a familiar character that represents the sound, encouraging the children to guess who it might be without calling out. Following this, the class revisits the alphabet through singing the alphabet song together, and then practices breaking down words into individual sounds in the Word Breaker activity.

The teaching segment of the lesson involves no new characters but revisits an old friend to help with the new grapheme. The teacher presents the Earth Full of Mirth character as a mnemonic for the /er/ sound, along with two other characters, and the children are encouraged to identify the correct one. An action is associated with the sound, where children throw their heads back and laugh in an /er/ /er/ /er/ sound. In the practice phase, students learn how to write the digraph through air writing and finger writing on a friend's back. The 'Word Mood' activity has the children reading words containing the grapheme in various emotional tones to enhance engagement. To apply their new knowledge, the children participate in a Yes/No game, decoding phrases and using YES or NO cards to answer questions. The lesson plan also includes extension activities such as Letter Circling and using Shaving Foam for further practice.