Scott Foresman Reading Street

Contractions A contraction is a shortened form of two words. An apostrophe appears where letters have been dropped from the original words.

Use word parts to decode contractions.
Review consonant digraphs sh, th, wh, ph, ch, tch, ch/sh/, ng.
Blend and read words that contain contractions and consonant digraphs.
Apply decoding strategies: blend longer words.

Support Phonics Some languages, such as Spanish or Portuguese, use contractions. If possible, provide some examples of contractions in the home language. (In Spanish, d + el = del; in Portuguese, por + os = pelos). Explain that in English, contractions use an apostrophe to replace the missing letters. Have students practice making and saying contracted forms in English. English language learners may also need practice changing contractions back to uncontracted forms of the words.

See the Phonics Transition Lessons in The ELL and Transition Handbook.

Practice Book 3.1 p. 109

with | without Answers

Consonant Digraphs Consonant digraphs consist of two or three consonants that stand for a single sound.

You may wish to explain the meanings of these words.

chatter	to talk constantly and quickly
fashion	the current way to dress
lather	the foam made from soap and water
marsh	a watery area
phase	a stage of development

Contractions

TEACH

Write the words didn’t and we’ll.

Point to the first word.
Which two words form the contraction? (did, not)
Which letter does the apostrophe replace? (o)
Say the word, then repeat it slowly. Point to each syllable as you say it. Then
say the word again, running your finger under the whole word as you say it.

MODEL When I see a contraction, I stop to figure out which two
words it stands for and what it means. The word we’ll, for example,
is the shortened form of we and will. The apostrophe takes the
place of the letters wi in will. It sounds like one word.

Model blending we’ll. Then have

students blend the word with you.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

DECODE LONGER WORDS Write these words. Have students read them and

then tell the two words that make up the contraction.

you’ll	they’ll	she’s	they’re
we’re	couldn’t	I’m	don’t

READ WORDS IN CONTEXT Write these sentences. Have individuals read

them, point out the contractions, and name the words that form them.
Contractions are underlined.

He’s my brother.

I didn’t hear her call my name.

I’ll just grab my coat and then we can go.

To assess, have students look through a story and list all the contractions
they can find. Then have them identify which words make up each contraction.

Review Phonics

CONSONANT DIGRAPHS

CONNECT Write this sentence: What kind of watch does she have?

We studied consonant digraphs, or two- and three-letter consonant combinations
that stand for one sound.
Read this sentence to yourself. Raise your hand when you know which
words have consonant digraphs. (what, watch, she)
What letters make up the consonant digraphs? What do they sound like?
(wh, /hw/; tch, /ch/; sh, /sh/)

Continue the activity with the sentence: They sang into the microphone.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

DECODE LONGER WORDS Have individuals read the following words. Provide

help chunking and blending words as needed.

bring	marsh	machine	phase
shower	mother	ringer	smoothly
phony	chatter	fashion	lather

READ WORDS IN CONTEXT Have students read these sentences. Then, to

check meaning, have them give their own sentence for the underlined word.

The telephone kept ringing and ringing.

What is the weather like today?

We dropped our laundry down the chute to the basement.

We picked enough cherries to bake three pies.

To assess, note how well students read the consonant digraphs.