State the Objective 
Tell the children that they will hop, jump, and skip and that they will read and write short-vowel words, such as can, hop, leg, skip, jump, and step.

Literacy Activities 
Introduce target words

• Show the children the short-vowel target words.
• Read the words with the children.

Hop and jump

• Read the I Can Hop and Jump target text (see below) with the children.
• Tell the children that they hop on one foot and jump on two feet.
• Let the children hop and jump.
• Have the children write short-vowel words from dictation (e.g., can, hop, leg, skip, jump, step).

Learn to skip

• Read the I Can Not Skip target text (see below) with the children.
• Demonstrate how to skip and let the children try to skip.
• Read the I Can Hop, Jump, and Skip target text (see below) with the children.
• Have the children read short-vowel words that appear in the texts (e.g., can, skip, tell, step, hop, leg, did).

Identify, blend, and manipulate sounds

• With word-building cards (see below), have the children make new words by changing a consonant or the vowel.
  • Change the beginning consonant: can→ pan, cop→ top, jump→ dump
  • Change the vowel: step→ stop, tell→ tall, bun→ bin
  • Change the ending consonant: skip→ skim, leg→ let, did→ dip

Identify vowel sounds

• Say short-vowel target words (e.g., can, hop, leg, skip, jump, step) and ask the children what vowel they hear.
• Stretch out your arms and lengthen the vowel as you say target words (e.g., Can. c-aaaa-n. Can.).
• Have the children identify the sounds in the words and write the words.