(A) Lesson Title: Introducing Trigraphs

(B) Standards: TEKS: 4th grade ELR. (2) The student must develop and sustain
foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and
thinking—beginning reading and writing. The student develops words
structure knowledge through phonological awareness, print concepts,
phonics, and morphology to communicate, decode, and spell. The
student will (B) demonstrate and apply phonetic knowledge by (iii)
decoding multisyllabic words with closed syllables; open syllables;
VCe syllables; vowel teams, including digraphs and diphthongs; r-
controlled syllables; and final stable syllables.

ELPS: The student will (H) develop and expand repertoire of learning
strategies such as reasoning inductively or deductively, looking for
patterns in language, and analyzing sayings and expressions
commensurate with grade-level learning expectations.

CCRS: The student will (B) develop effective speaking styles for both
group and one-on-one situations, (1) participate actively and
effectively in one-on-one oral communication situations, and (2)
participate actively and effectively in group discussions.

(C) Learning Using highlighters, the students will identify specific coding rules
Objective: with 80% accuracy.

(D) Prior Learning:

TEKS: 3rd grade ELR. The student must (2) develop and sustain
foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and
thinking—beginning reading and writing. The student develops words
structure knowledge through phonological awareness, print concepts,
phonics, and morphology to communicate, decode and spell. The
student is expected to (A) demonstrate and apply phonetic knowledge
by (i) decoding multisyllabic words with multiple sound-spelling
patterns such as eigh, ough, and en.

(E) Materials: The materials needed for today’s lesson are as follows: purposeful
forms for guided practice, highlighters, and index cards with words
that include trigraphs “igh,” “dge,” and “tch” in them. Printed out
slides from the PowerPoint for coding rules should be given to each
student (slides 6, 8, and 10).

Lesson Cycle
(F) Focus (Hook):
How is the teacher introducing the learning topic? Involving the learner in a relevant way? Connecting to
prior & future learning?
As the students file in, there will be a PowerPoint presentation already pulled up at the front of
the class. The first fifteen minutes of class is always reserved for journaling. Today’s prompt
is to use the following words somewhere in a fictional story: light, bridge, witch.

Teacher: For today’s journal entry, I would like you to write a fiction story that uses the words
“light,” “bridge,” and “witch” somewhere in it. As always, be creative!

Teacher: Time’s up! Let’s have two people share their journal entries today: ____ and ____,
you’re up!

After students share their journal entries, the teacher will pass around the Mystery Bag. The
Mystery Bag is filled with items that pertain to the day’s lesson. For this lesson, the Mystery
Bag will be filled with toy versions of items that contain the trigraphs from today’s lesson—ie.
a toy lightbulb, a toy fridge, a toy witch, etc. As the students each take a toy out, they have to
guess what phonetic rule we’ll be discussing today.

What is the student doing?

The student is writing in their journal; this is routine as we settle into class with a warm-up.
They are putting together a story that includes the words “light,” “bridge,” and “witch.” When
they are done, volunteers are encouraged to share their stories.

(G) Instructional Delivery (Teacher Input):

How is the teacher delivering content related to the central focus and objective? What are the key teaching
points, key vocabulary, and elements of the content? How is the teacher relating content to the learners’
world? What varied instructional strategies are being used? Is the instruction learner centered?

The teacher will begin with a PowerPoint presentation that goes over three different trigraphs:
igh, dge, tch.

Teacher: Now that you’ve all written your stories with “light,” “bridge,” and “witch” in
them, let’s take a closer look at the trigraphs that are working within those words.

But first, let’s review—what’s a digraph? [student name], can you tell me? A digraph is two
letters that work together to make one sound. Let’s review some examples. [ch, sh, ck, qu]

Not that we’ve looked at some digraphs, let’s move into talking about trigraphs. So, if
digraphs are two letters that make one sound, what do you think trigraphs are? [student
name]. what do you think? A trigraph is three letters that work together to make one sound.
Today, we’re going to take a look at three examples of trigraphs and how to code them.

Remember when you wrote the word “light” in your journals earlier? You were using the
trigraph igh. In the trigraph igh, the “i” is long and says its name. The “g” and “h” are
silent; they let “i” take the spotlight.

Teacher will now switch from PowerPoint to Jamboard. On Jamboard, the words are already
enlarged and ready to be coded onscreen. The teacher will now code trigraph “igh” on
Jamboard.

In your notes, write your own trigraph “igh” and code along with me. First, we can cross out
our silent, ghost letters: g and h. Next, can anyone tell me how we’re going to code our long
vowel “i”? Yes, we’re going to put a straight line, or a macron, above the letter “i.”
Altogether, the trigraph “igh” says “i.” Repeat after me: i.

On the next slide, there will be a list of example words on the next slide as well as on
Jamboard. The teacher can go over the words, code them all onscreen, or code just a few
examples. To elevate the material, the examples are multisyllabic, and some also have suffixes
(weightless, neighborhood, delightful).

Give me a thumbs up if you see a suffix. ____, what’s a suffix? ____, how do we code a suffix?

Alright, now that we’ve looked at “igh,” let’s check out trigraph “dge.”

The next slide will introduce the trigraph “dge.”

When you wrote the word “bridge” in your journals, you were using the trigraph “dge.” In
the trigraph “dge,” “d” and “e” are silent while “g” is a “soft g.” A soft g is a g that makes
the “j” sound.

Teacher will now switch from PowerPoint to Jamboard. On Jamboard, the words are already
enlarged and ready to be coded onscreen. The teacher will now code trigraph “dge” on
Jamboard.

In your notes, write your own trigraph “dge” and code along with me. First, we can cross out
our silent, ghost letters: d and e. Next, we’re going to put a dot on top of the letter g. This lets
us know that this g is a soft g that makes the “j”—“juh”—sound. Altogether, the trigraph
“dge” says “juh.” Repeat after me: juh.

On the next slide, there will be a list of example words on the next slide as well as on
Jamboard. The teacher can go over the words, code them all onscreen, or code just a few
examples. To elevate the material, the examples are multisyllabic (porridge, drawbridge,
acknowledge).

So, that’s the trigraph dge! The last trigraph that we’re going over today is “tch.”

The next slide will introduce the trigraph “tch.”

When you wrote the word “witch” in your journals, you were using the trigraph “tch.” In the
trigraph “tch,” the “t” is silent.” The leftover letters, “ch,” make a familiar digraph sound
that we’ve reviewed before.

Teacher will now switch from PowerPoint to Jamboard. On Jamboard, the words are already
enlarged and ready to be coded onscreen. The teacher will now code trigraph “tch” on
Jamboard. To elevate the material, the examples are multisyllabic, and some also have suffixes
(watchful, patchwork, butterscotch).

In your notes, write your own trigraph “tch” and code along with me. First, we can cross out
our silent, ghost letters: t. Next, we can underline the letters “ch;” that’s how we code our
digraphs, too! Altogether, the trigraph “tch” says “chuh.” Repeat after me: chuh.

_____, do you see a suffix? _____, how do we code a suffix?

After the PowerPoint presentation, the teacher will combine instructional delivery with small
groups/partners leading into the guided practice; Classwide Peer Tutoring, or CWPT, will help
students who may not retain information from the “sage on a stage” lecture position. Instead of
traditional notes, students who learn better with graphic organizers can classify the coding
rules/words using a T-chart. They may work with a partner during this time.

What is the student doing?

Throughout the presentation, the student should be coding trigraphs along with the teacher.
They will keep these examples in their notes to refer to during the guided and independent
practices.

(H) Guided Practice:

How are the students practicing the skill/knowledge they just learned? How is the teacher providing
individual and whole-class feedback? Is the practice directly related to the standards, objectives, and
content? Does this activity allow students to model the behavior/skills being evaluated in the Independent
practice?

When the presentation is finished, the teacher will pass out purposeful forms that contain a
coding word exercise. Students will first highlight the vowels before coding words—focus:
trigraphs—with a pencil. The coding words will start off with one syllable before leading into
multisyllabic words.

Teacher: In this exercise, you will be coding words with trigraphs that were introduced today.
I want to make sure that everybody has a firm grasp on trigraphs igh, dge, and tch before we
move onto the group activity. As you fill out these worksheets, let me know if you have any
questions. I’ll be moving around the room.

What is the student doing?

The student is coding examples of trigraphs on a purposeful form; this will reinforce their
understanding of trigraphs igh, dge, and tch before moving onto the independent practice.

(I) Independent Practice:

Does the activity described in this section directly relate to the Learning Objective? Does this activity
reinforce the learning of the lesson? Is the assessment authentic? How will this assessment be scored?
Remember that you must create the assessment, including full instructions, an answer key, rubric, and/or
grading guide.
The teacher will introduce the group activity to the class. Students will divide into pairs, and
each pair will be given a set of index cards with words written on them. The words will be
multisyllabic and vary between having trigraphs igh, dge, and tch. Students will take turns
fanning the index cards and allowing the other student to pick a card. Once they pick, they will
code that word. The other student will check their work before they switch. While Kagan
Cooperative Learning activity 6.30 involves groups of four, this variation for pairs will ensure
that each student gets ample coding practice.

Teacher: I have given each pair index cards with words written on one side. In your pairs, I
would like you to fan the index cards and allow your teammate to blindly pick. After they
choose, they will code that word. You will check your partner’s word before switching roles.

Teacher: Time is up! Let’s check out what some pairs did.

What is the student doing?

Students will pair off and participate in the fan-n-pick Kagan activity. One partner will fan
index cards with words including trigraphs igh, dge, and tch; their teammate will pick a card
and code it. Once they’re done, their partner will check their work before they switch roles.

(J) Closure:
Does the closure summarize the learning? Does it involve the learner? Does it connect to future learning?

Teacher: Alright, it’s almost time to go! But before we leave, let’s go over some things. With a
partner, I would like you to talk about what you wrote in your journals at the beginning of
class. How did you each use the words “light,” “bridge,” and “witch”? What are the
similarities and differences between your stories? Scan your entries—can you find any other
words with trigraphs?

What is the student doing?

The student is discussing their journal from the beginning of class with a partner. They are
looking at their word choice through a newfound lens of morphology.

(K) Enrichment: (L) Reteach:

What learning opportunities will you offer to Describe different instructional strategies you will
students who have already mastered or quickly use to reteach the material if students do not
master the objective? master the objective?

If students finish early, there will be a “coding
relay race” available. Coding relay races turn
coding into a fast-paced, competitive exercise.
Students will code words as quickly as they
can before passing the sheet to a classmate—
whoever codes the quickest with the most
If learners do not master the objective,
students will participate in Kagan activity
6.54 titled “Poems for Two Voices.” Poems
for Two Voices allows students to dabble in
genre while flexing visual, auditory, and
kinesthetic skills (awesome!). The prompt for
accuracy wins a prize! the shared poem will be to write a poem about
a light, a bridge, or a witch; the goal is to use
words with trigraphs in them, and hope that a
rhyme scheme may develop that involves
those sounds.

(M) Modifications: (N) Accommodations:

[The student will be given extra time on all
guided practice purposeful forms. The main
goal for this student is to understand the
[You will not complete this section for Lesson
Plan/Micro-Teach 1. In this section you will
describe the accommodations you will offer to all
students who are struggling with content or
activities related to this lesson. This is not
restricted to students who have IEPS.]

You must attach a copy of your assessment from the Independent Practice section,
along with an answer sheet, grading guide, checklist, or rubric. Be sure that specific
instructions are included.