State the Objective 
Tell the children that they will look for someone who can take care of a cat and that they will read and write short-vowel words, such as cat, pet, hug, bed, fed, lost, and desk. 
 

Literacy Activities 
Introduce target words

• Show the children the short-vowel target words.
• Read the words with the children.

Find someone to take care of a cat

• Read the A Cat for a Pet target text (see below) with the children.
• Show the children a toy cat or a picture of a cat (see below) and tell them that they will pretend to look for someone who can take care of a cat.
• Have the children write the pretend job requirements.
  • Hug the cat.
  • Feed the cat.
  • Pet the cat.
  • Put the cat to bed.
  • Let the cat sleep by your bed.
• Have the children write short-vowel words from dictation (e.g., cat, lost, hug, pet, nap, desk, fed, bed).

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: cat→ rat, nap→ tap, job→ rob
  • Change the vowel: hug→ hog, pet→ pot, lost→ last
  • Change the ending consonant: rap→ ran, lit→ lip, can→ cap

Identify vowel sounds

• Say short-vowel target words (e.g., cat, pet, hug, bed, fed, lost, desk) and ask the children what vowel they hear.
• Stretch out your arms and lengthen the vowel as you say target words (e.g., Cat. c-aaaa-t. Cat.).
• Have the children identify the sounds in the words and then write the words.