State the Objective
Tell the children that they will help a hen get fed and go to bed as they read and write words that end in ed, such as bed, red, led, and shed.  
 

Literacy Activities
The hen needs to be fed 

• Show the children a drawing of a hen (like the example below).
• Tell the children: “The hen needs to be fed. The hen gets fed in a red shed.”
• Write -ed words around the shed (e.g., bed, red, shed, led, fed).
• Designate an area to be the “shed.”
• Let the children toss the imaginary food to the hen or into a bowl.
• Chant together, "We fed the hen! Now the hen can go to bed in the shed!"

Recognize rhyming words 

• Have the children repeat pairs of words (e.g., bed, head; fed, spread; led, sled; tread, cat; head, said; wed, fled).
• If the words rhyme, have the children touch their heads.

• If the word pairs don’t rhyme, have the children shake their heads no.

   

Write words that end in ed

• Write a list of words that end in ed, such as bed, red, and fed.
• Write the -ed word ending with a space in front of it.
• Let the children make words by adding the letters b, r, and f in front of the -ed.
• Make comments as the children add the letters:
  • “Bed starts with /b/. What letter makes the /b/ sound? Add a b to -ed to make the word bed.”
  • “Red starts with /r/. What letter makes the /r/ sound? Add an r to -ed to make the word red.”
  • “Fed starts with /f/. What letter makes the /f/ sound? Add an f to -ed to make the word fed.”