cart at the mart

State and Model the Objective
The children will pretend to push a cart at a mart and then read and write words spelled with -ar, such as mart, cart, smart, part, and hard.
 
Literacy Activities
Help fix a cart at the mart

• Show the children a cart graphic with and without a missing part.
• Let a box be the cart and a paper towel tube be the missing cart handle.
• Read and act out the A Cart at the Mart target text:
  • Start out in a mart with a cart that has a missing part.
  • Park the cart, find the missing part, and put the part back on the cart.
  • Dart through the mart and put things in the cart (e.g., jars, tarts, cards, yarn).

Find -ar words at the mart

• Place word cards around the room.
• Have the children take turns as they pretend to dart around with an imaginary cart to collect a card.
• Let the children read their word cards and place them in your cart.
• When all of the word cards have been collected, have the children take turns using their finger to circle the -ar on the cards.

Write a story using target words

• Help the children build a word wall of -ar words from the story of the cart with a missing part (e.g., cart, mart, part).
• Have the children sit in groups of four with a set of story-prompt pictures.
• Invite the children to put the pictures in order to tell the story of the cart with the missing part (e.g., Which picture goes at the start?).
• Let each child choose a picture to write a sentence or two about, using as many -ar words as they can and underlining the -ar words.
• Have each group share their story with another group as they hold up their pictures and read their sentence(s).

More Practice
Identify, blend, and manipulate sounds

• With word-building cards, have the children make new words by changing the vowels or either of the consonants:
  • Change the beginning sound(s): part→ mart; smart→ start; bar→ jar
  • Change the ending sound: dart→ dark; yarn→ yard; hard→ harm

Read target words in texts

• Engage the children in reading the Cart at the Mart target text with you.
• Have the children make a star around each word that is spelled with -ar.
• Read the text again, fading support.

Write and dictate target words

• Have the children get into pairs.
• Make a list of -ar words that were used throughout the lesson with the children. 
• Let the children take turns spelling out an -ar word from the list to their partner while the other child writes the word down.