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#9 Dolch Homophones

Lesson Title/Subject/Grade Level
Dolch Homophones
Reading
Grades 2 and 3

Materials Needed
- Choose one of these sets of Dolch word homophones and print the words on 5" by 8" cards or tag board strips using a black felt pen: for, four, fore; no, know;
to, two, too; be, bee; knew, new; by, buy, bye; right, write, rite; their, there, they're; eye, I; would, wood. You will need 3 cards of each word in the set you choose. Note: My advice is to teach only one set of homophones at a time to avoid confusing the children.
- Tape
- Sentences written on the chalkboard (see below).
- Ditto for each student with sentences appropriate to the set of words you choose.
- A pencil for each student.

Goal Statement
Students will learn what homophones are and how to use one set of Dolch homophones correctly.

State Standard Addressed
In this section, the teacher cites the state standard focused on in the lesson.

Review Previous Skills
Review reading the Dolch homophone words, which should have been introduced prior to this lesson.

Anticipatory Set
The teacher should say, "Today we have a challenge. English can be a difficult language. Sometimes, in English, there are words that sound exactly the same, but have different meanings and spellings. These words have to be used carefully when we write stories to make sure that we use them correctly. Today we are going to learn to use one set of these words, which are called 'homophones.'"

Instruction
The teacher says, "Homophones are two or three words that have completely different meanings and are spelled differently, but sound exactly the same! Have you ever seen homophones, like 'made' and 'maid'?" (Write them on the board.) "They sound the same, but 'maid' means a person who cleans houses and 'made' means to create an object."

"Another set of homophones is 'see' and 'sea.'" (Write them on the board.) One means the ocean and the other means to look at something. These are words that are homophones. There are hundreds of homophones in English!"

"Have you ever seen the words 'great' and 'grate'?" (Write them on the board.) "They are homophones. What does 'great' mean?" Call on a student to answer the question. "What does 'grate' mean?" Call on another student to answer the question. "They have different meanings and spellings, but they sound the same so they are homophones."

"Today, we are going to learn the homophones: there, their, they're." (Write them on the board.)

(Note: The other homophones should be taught in a similar manner at different times; this set of homophones is so often confused by children and adults alike that I chose them for this lesson.)

Instruction
The teacher says, "The first homophone today is 'their.' 'Their' is used when a group of people own something, for example, Their dog ran away. Or, It was their idea to have a carnival."

The teacher says, "The second homophone is 'there.' 'There' is used to mean a place. For example, I could say "There is my new pair of shoes." I am saying that my new pair of shoes is in a place called 'there.' I could say "Donna went to school there in California." And I would be referring to a place where Donna went to school."

"The word 'there' also is used when we say things like, "There will be a test tomorrow." Or, "There was rain on Monday." And then it means that something happened or is going to happen."

The teacher says, "The third homophone today is 'they're.' 'They're' is a contraction. It is two words put together. The two words are 'they' and 'are.' When you put them together, they make the contraction 'they're.' (Demonstrate how to do this on the board.) This homophone would go into a sentence like: "They're going to the fair tomorrow." Or, "I will be nice or they're not going to like me." "If you can use the words 'they are,' in a sentence, then you can substitute the word 'they're' for them." Show the students how you could use the words 'they are' or 'they're' in those two sentences.

"Here are some sentences that need the homophones we are studying today."

Have these sentences written on the board:

_____________ is my best friend, Michael.

My dog grabbed _______________ ball and ran away with it.

Jon and Jenny are my best friends. _______________ so kind.

______________ are 30 children in my class.

The teacher gave them ____________ grades on the last day of school.

I will give my friends each a cookie and ______________ going to give me treats, too.

It was ____________ last time to go swimming that summer.

I must hurry to get ______________ before the bell rings.

_________________ planning to go to the playground.

Put the word cards (or strips) on the chalk tray for the children to choose.

Read the first sentence and ask if anyone can choose a homophone card to go in the blank. If the child you call on chooses the correct homophone, ask him or her to tell why
he or she chose that homophone. (You may have to help the child explain.) If he or she chose the wrong homophone, explain why it is wrong and ask the child to choose one of the others. Tape the correct choice in place in the sentence. Then, have the class read the sentence. Stress that any of the homophones would sound O.K. because they all sound the same, but the correctly spelled homophone must be chosen.

Do the same with each sentence.

Guided Practice
Next, hand out the ditto. Choose a student to read each sentence aloud. Ask which homophone should go in the blank. Instruct the students to write the homophones in the blanks.

The Ditto
At the top of the ditto, print the homophones: their, there, they're.
Sentences for this ditto:

1. Mother went over _________________ to pick flowers.

2. _________________ going to go shopping today.

3. The children had to pick up _______________ toys.

4. Adam's birthday is Friday and __________________ going to his party.

5. __________________ was a lot of snow this year.

6. Jason wanted to play _________________ game, but he did not know how.

Independent Practice
Create another ditto similar to the one above for the children to complete during seat work time.

Closure
Ask three students to explain when you use 'there,' 'they're,' and 'their.'

Review
For homework, create a third ditto with sentences that need the homophones in this lesson. Children should be required to fill in missing words with the homophones.