a sprout sprouts out

Overview
The children will sprout sprouts and read and write words with -ou, such as out, pout, snout, shout, and spout.

Practice the skill within an activity
Explain that when a seed begins to grow, a plant begins to "sprout out." 
Turn seeds into sprouts (sprout seeds)

• Show a sprout or a picture of a sprout and explain that when a seed starts to grow we call it a sprout.
• Have the children sprout seeds by wrapping them in a moist paper towel a few days before planting.
• Watch for the plant to start to sprout out.
• Pretend to shout at the seed to make it sprout.
• Comment on how you don’t need to pout or shout if the seeds or sprouts don’t sprout out.

Plant sprouts and seeds 

• Point out that a spout is the part of a water bottle where the water comes out.
• Put a little dirt in spouts with a lid and comment on how the dirt, seeds, or sprouts won’t fall out.
• Prop up the spouts in cups to keep them from falling over.
• Set the pots with seeds or spouts out and water them.
• Watch for the plant to sprout out.
• Pretend to pout if a seed or a sprout hasn’t begun to sprout out.
• Give a shout when the sprouts begin to sprout out the spouts.

Shout to get animals out of the sprouts

• Put out strips of green paper to be sprouts poking out of the ground (see graphics).
• Read The Cows Are in the Corn, a book about shouting at animals to get them out of the sprouts in a garden.
• Let the children be animals who get in garden plots and stomp on sprouts.
• Pout and shout, “The ___ (cows, pigs, horses) are in the sprouts and won’t come out. Shout to get them out. Get out of the sprouts!”
• Have the children read, “The animals are in the sprouts, and they won’t come out. Shout to get them out. Get out of the sprouts!”  
• Read the target text Shout to Get the Animals out of the Sprouts (see below) with the children.

Apply the skill
Identify, blend and manipulate sounds

• With word blending cards (see below), have the children make new words by changing the initial consonant(s):
  • snout → shout; pout → spout; sprout → spout; shout → out; scout → sprout

Read target words and patterns introduced in the activity (see texts below)

• Engage the children in reading the target text Make a Seed Sprout.
• Read the text again, fading support.
• Have the children make a list of the -out words.
• Repeat with the texts A Sprout in a Spout and A Seed in a Cup.

Write about the activity using target words and patterns

• Help the children list words that end in -out (e.g., sprout, pout, out, spout, about, snout, shout, scout).
• Let the children write words from dictation: sprout, pout, out, spout, snout, scout, shout.
• Make a list of -out words available, and have the children write a sentence or two that relates to one of the texts or activities that they experienced.