State the Objective 
Tell the children that they will read a funny story about bugs that tug a jug as they practice blending beginning sounds with the –ug ending to make words such as bug, tug, jug, and hug.

Click here to view a video demonstration similar to this lesson.  

Literacy Activities
Introduce target words
Read the target words with the children: bug, jug, tug, mug, hug, and rug.

Act out The Bug and the Jug story 

• Divide the children into three groups: red bugs, slugs, and water bugs.

• Give each child a name tag (see below) that corresponds with their group

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• Read The Bug and the Jug story (see below), letting each group of children lug the jug (see below) across a rug at the appropriate part in the story.
• Have the children give a hand hug (shake hands) every time they hear an –ug word.

Identify, blend and manipulate sounds, and write target words

• With word-building cards (see below), have the children make new words by changing a consonant or the vowel.

   

  - Change the beginning consonant: bug → dug; rug → lug; tug → jug

   

  -Change the vowel: jug → jog; dug → dog; bug → bag; rug → rig

   

  -Change the ending consonant: bug → bud; rug → run; hug → hut

• Let the children write words from dictation, changing one or two letters each time to make a new word
  - bug → rug → dug → dig → big → bag → bad → mad → rad → rod → rot

Read, write, and blend target words

• Have the children help write a list of words ending in ug. 
• Read the words in the –ug list together. 
• Randomly say words from the list while having the children write the letter that matches the beginning sound of each word (e.g., you say rug, then the children write the letter R).
• Say the beginning sound of an -ug word and let the children guess which –ug word you were thinking of (e.g., You say /j/, then the children call out jug).