Week 7, lesson 2 Grapheme "a" Review - Phonics Phase 5, unit 2 - Lesson plan

In the second lesson of Week 7 during Phase 5 of the All Aboard Phonics curriculum, children delve into the complexities of the English language by exploring the grapheme "a". The lesson's objective is to review the different phonemes that the letter "a" can represent, acknowledging that a single grapheme may correspond to multiple phonemes. This concept is crucial for children to grasp as they encounter the variability in grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) that exist beyond the foundational phases 2-4. To aid in decoding and spelling, especially for children facing challenges with these inconsistencies, resources such as the Decoding Aid Card and Spelling Aid Card are recommended, alongside the trainertext used in All Aboard Phonics Plus.

The lesson begins with a 'Tricky Word Race' where children read aloud from word flashcards, and progresses to a team-based challenge to enhance engagement. The teaching segment involves writing the letter "a" on the board and discussing its phonemes with visual aids like Ant, Ape, Ox, Ark, and Organ, with children participating by connecting the graphemes to their respective phonemes. In the practice phase, the 'Word Match' activity encourages children to discern between similar word pairs, using yes/no flashcards to indicate their answers, and volunteers clarifying any mismatches. Finally, the lesson concludes with an 'Apply' activity where children, working in pairs, use a provided resource to decode words and link them to the correct phoneme or pictophone, reinforcing their understanding of the grapheme "a" and its variations.