State and Model the Objective
Tell the children they will pretend to put ten hens in a pen as they read and write words that end with -en, such as hen, ten, pen, and men.
Literacy Activities
Click here to view a video demonstration similar to this lesson.
Get ten hens in a pen

• Teach the children that a pen is a fence that keeps farm animals in. 
• Cut the bottom off a tissue box and tell the children it is a hen pen. 
• Write the words hen and pen for the children.
• Count the hens together, then write the word ten, showing the children it ends in -en as well.
• Let the children take turns being men who put the ten hens in the pen and count as each hen is placed in the pen.
• Once all the hens have been put in the pen, lift up the cup so the hens fall out and tell the children that the hens got out of the pen.
• Repeat the activity, letting all the men (children) help read the names as they get the ten hens back in the pen.

Read target words in a text 

• Read the Ten Hens in a Pen target text with the children.
• Read the text again, fading support.
• Let the children take turns beating the drum when they hear a word that ends with -en as the other children clap or pat their laps. 

Identify, blend, and manipulate sounds

• With word blending cards, have the children make new words by changing the vowel or either of the consonants:
  • hen→ pen, men→ ten, Ben→ Ken
  • pen→ pin, men→ man, ten→ tin
  • men→ met, pen→ peg, yen→ yet

Continue to practice the skill on Hideout (optional)

• Download or install the Hideout application onto an iPad.
• Within the app, open the -en Hen activity.
• Have children take turns, individually or in groups, playing with the -en sound within the application.