Chirp and Perch

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Objective

Read and write words with the r-controlled vowel spellings -ir, -er, and -ur.

See Standards

Lesson Plan

Target Words:

fir
bird
word
dirt
chirp
perch

Materials:

Bird pattern
Paper sacks
Fir and birch tree graphics
Worm word-cards
Chirp, Chirp, Chirp target text
Chirp and Perch target text

State and Model the Objective
The children will help a bird perch on trees and then read and write words spelled with -ir, -ur, and -er, such as bird, fir, dirt, chirp, and perch.

Literacy Activities
Chirp like a bird

Glue the bird head and bird body graphics to the paper sacks to make puppets.
Explain that baby birds chirp and that the mother bird pecks in the dirt to find worms for their babies.
Pretend that an area of the room has dirt and place the word cards on the dirt.
Have the children pick up a word card and read the word on the card.
Let the children feed the word card with the worm to the bird.

Perch like a bird

Tell the children that birds sometimes like to perch in trees.
Hold up pictures of a fir tree and a birch tree.
Have the children make the paper bird perch in the fir tree and then in the birch tree.

More Practice
Read target words in texts

Engage the children in reading the Chirp, Chirp, Chirp target text together as a group.
Have the children find the words with -ir, -er, and -ur in the text.
Read the text again, fading support.
Repeat with the Chirp and Perch target text.

Write about the activity using target words/patterns

Let the children write words as you say them: perch, bird, chirp, fir, worm, firm.
Have the children write about how a bird can chirp and perch.

Perch and Chirp

Do you hear a bird chirp?
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
A baby bird wants a worm.

Do you see a mother bird?
The mother bird is perched on a fir tree.

Do you see the mother bird fly down to the dirt?
The mother digs for a worm.

Do you see the mother bird fly up in the fir tree?
The mother bird brings the worm to the baby bird.
The baby bird eats the worm and chirps again.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

Chirp, Chirp, Chirp!

I hear a chirp! Do you hear a chirp?
It is a bird!
The bird is in a birch tree.

The bird flies down to the dirt.
The bird finds a worm in the dirt.
Then, the bird flies back up to perch on the birch tree.
It will perch on the birch tree and eat its worm!