State and Model the Objective

Tell children they will read about things that short-a can do, then act them out.

Literacy Activities

Read Short A, Take a Nap! text together

• Read Short A, Take a Nap! with the children and fade support.
• Ask the children to make noises to go with the words in the text (e.g., tap, clap, snap, crash, smash, splash, chat, rat-a-tat-tat, wham, crack, whack)
• Re-read the text, having children substitute actions or sounds for some of the words. 
• Pretend to take a nap at the end.

Make noise with short-a words

• Have the children read displayed words from the text: whack, tap, clap, slam, wham, crack, snap. 
• Have the children use objects or instruments to create the sounds.
• Let all noise-making items “take a nap” as they are put away.

Read Short A Needs a Nap! text together

• Read Short A Needs a Nap! with the children and fade support.
• Have the children tell you some words they heard that have the short-a sound.
• Brainstorm with the children other words with the short-a sound (e.g., pan, sand, candy, sad, dad).

Create words with the short-a sound

• Say the beginning, middle, and end sounds of a short-a word (c-a-n, r-a-n, c-a-t, ch-a-t, s-l-a-m). Have the children blend the sounds into words (e.g., c-a-n = can, s-l-a-m = slam).
• Say words and help the children segment them into their sounds (e.g., can = c-a-n).  
• Have the children change either the beginning or the end sound to make a new word (e.g., “Change the /k/ in can to /m/. What’s the new word?”)