a as in all; sentences

Grade K · Day 80 · Alpha-Phonics Lesson 40 · p.56 · 30.4 min · teacher edition of the student sheet

/ɔ/ · aw

Our new sound: /ɔ/ written aw

Open your mouth like short o, then push your lips forward into a round shape and hold it — aww, as in 'all' and 'saw'.

Check yourself: Mirror: wide open AND round lips at the same time. Short o is open with flat lips; this one is open with round lips.

Watch for: Short o. In much of American English 'cot' and 'caught' are the same word — do not fight your own accent. Teach the spelling and accept the vowel your class actually says.

Read these · 16 words

all

Cal

call

gal

gall

Hal

hall

pal

pall

cal's

tall

fall

ball

wall

mall

◆ marks a word that does NOT follow today's pattern — Blumenfeld boxes these on the page. Teach it by heart; do not let the class sound it out and lose faith in the rule.

Read the sentences

Cal's pal Tim is tall.
Did Hal fall?
Cal has the ball.
Cal hit the ball with the bat.
Philip sat on the wall.
His jacket is in the hall.
Tell Cal that his ball is in the hall.
Is the ball in his jacket pocket?

Write what you hear

all

Cal

call

gal

Say the word, have them repeat it, count the sounds on fingers, THEN write. The count is what stops a child writing the first letter and guessing the rest.