SEEL Library | BYU McKay School of Education

Target Words:

far
car
star
yard
dark
hard
farm

Materials:

Picture of stars*
Word cards*
Word-building cards*
Stars in the Yard target text*

*Items included below.

State the Objective

Tell the children that they will find and collect stars and that they will read and write words with the r-controlled vowel spelling -ar, such as far, car, star, yard, dark, hard, and farm.

Literacy Activities

Introduce target words

Show the children the target words.
Read the words with the children.

Find and collect stars

Read the Stars in the Yard target text (see below) with the children.
Hide star pictures (see below) around the room and have the children collect them.
Have each child write a target word (e.g., far, car, star, yard, dark, hard, farm) on a paper star.
Have the children take turns reading the word they wrote aloud.
Have the children write about the activity using target words (e.g., We look for stars; The stars are not far; It is not hard to find stars).

Read and write target words

Have the children take turns reading the word cards (see below) aloud.
Have the children write words with the r-controlled vowel spelling -ar from dictation (e.g., far, car, star, yard, dark, hard, farm).

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: car→ far; dark→ park; farm→ harm
- Change the ending consonant(s): star→ start; cart→ card; harp→ hard

Stars in the Yard

We can look at stars in the yard!
We sit next to our car and look up at the stars.
We can see the stars in the dark.
But it is hard to see stars if it isn’t dark.

The stars are far.
The stars are far, far away.
They are far from us and our car.
They are far from us and our yard.

We can drive to a park to see stars.
It is dark in the park.
It is a little far, so we take our car.
We can see stars at the park and from our yard.
We like looking at stars.