Turn and Stir to Churn

Read and write words with the /er/ sound that are spelled with -ur, -ear, -ir, and -or. 

• turn
• stir
• work
• churn
• learn
• yearn

• Plastic spoons 
• A bowl or cups
• Picture of a person churning butter (optional)
• Learn to Churn Butter target text*
• Word cards*
• Labels*

Items included below.

Overview
The children will pretend to stir and turn utensils to churn butter and will read and write words with the /er/ sound spelled with
-ur, -ear, -ir, and -or.

Literacy Activities
Yearn to learn

• Explain to the children that yearn means to want.
• Ask the children if they yearn to learn how to make butter.
• Show the picture of a person churning butter (optional).
• Explain that to churn means to stir cream until it turns into butter.
• Tell the children that they will pretend to churn butter.
• Let children take turns pretending to stir and churn cream into butter with the plastic spoons and bowl/cups.

More Practice 
Read how to churn butter

• Display the Learn to Churn Butter target text (found below).
• Read the target text to the children.
• Engage the children in reading the target text with you.
• Read the target text again and stop at each word that has the /er/ sound (e.g., butter, work, twirl, turn).

Sort words into different /er/ spellings 

• Show a stack of word cards (found below) to the children.
• Display labels (found below) for the different /er/ spellings: ur, ear, ir, and or.
• Invite the children to sort words into the different /er/ spellings under the appropriate labels.

Write a sentence using a target word 

• Have the children write words from dictation in a list (e.g., work, learn, stir, churn, burn, turn, butter, whirl, twirl, earn, dirt, first, hurl, yearn, word).
• Invite the children to write a sentence or two using words with the /er/ sound from their list.

1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.B: Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.

2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.C: Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.