Letter Sound /ai/
TOPIC: Letter Sound /ai/
Objectives:
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
Learn and practise mouth formation for the vowel digraph "ai."
Blend phonemes to form words containing "ai."
Substitute consonant sounds in "ai" words to create new rhyming words.
Recognize and use basic sight words in reading and writing activities.
Content: The sound /ai/ is written using two letters. When these two letters come together they make a different sound. When two letters make one sound it is called a digraph.
Listen to the video clip below to hear the one sound that the letters 'ai' make.
Phonics 5E Lesson Plan (Vowel Digraph "ai")
Grade Level: Grade 1
Duration: 60 minutes
Focus Sound: Vowel Digraph "ai" (as in rain, train, pain)
STEM Link: Weather (rain) & Train Engineering
Teaching Model: 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate)
Lesson Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
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Learn and practise mouth formation for the vowel digraph "ai."
-
Blend phonemes to form words containing "ai."
-
Substitute consonant sounds in "ai" words to create new rhyming words.
-
Recognize and use basic sight words in reading and writing activities.
Let’s look at the letter sounds we have done
so far.
/s/, /a/,/t/, /i/, /p/, /n/, /c/, /k/, /e/, /h/, /r/, /m/, /d/, / g/, /o/, /u/, /l/, /f/, /b/
🧠 Engage (10 mins)
Activity: Show a short animated video or image sequence of a rainstorm and a train on a track.
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Ask: What do you see? What sound do you hear at the middle of "rain" and "train"?
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Introduce the sound "ai" using a large flashcard and mouth mirror. Model the sound and ask students to observe their mouth in a small mirror.
STEM Connection: Ask students why it rains and what trains are used for. Introduce the idea of rain sensors and train engines.
🧪 Explore (10 mins)
Activity: Hands-on "ai" Word Sorting
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Prepare picture-word cards (e.g., rain, brain, chain, snail, paint).
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Students work in pairs to sort the pictures with the "ai" sound and write the words underneath.
Differentiation:
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Tier 1: Match pictures to printed "ai" words.
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Tier 2: Write the "ai" words from memory.
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Tier 3: Create a sentence using one "ai" word and illustrate it.
📖 Explain (10 mins)
Teacher-led phonics instruction:
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Break down the phonemes: /r/ /ai/ /n/ = rain
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Model mouth formation of the /ai/ digraph – lips slightly open, tongue in mid-mouth.
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Use blending cards to form words (ch + ai + n = chain).
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Display sight words that rhyme or relate (e.g., said, play, day – explain that "said" is tricky).
✏️ Elaborate (15 mins)
STEM Integration Activity: Rain or Train Station
Students rotate through stations:
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Rain Station: Use droppers to simulate rain on a tray with the word "rain" written in salt/flour/sand. They trace the word with fingers.
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Train Station: Build a paper train with juice boxes. On each carriage, write an “ai” word (train, paint, chain). Discuss how engineers use blueprints (connect to design thinking).
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Word Substitution: Use onset/rime flip books to substitute consonants and form new words: rain → pain → gain → main.
Differentiation:
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Tiered word cards (pictures only, word + picture, sentence cards)
📝 Evaluate (15 mins)
Three-Tier Evaluation Task:
| Tier | Task | Skills Assessed |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (Support) | Match "ai" words to pictures (cut-and-paste) | Sound recognition, visual discrimination |
| Tier 2 (Middle) | Fill-in-the-blank sentences with “ai” words (The ___ is on the track.) | Phoneme blending, word usage |
| Tier 3 (Extension) | Write 3 sentences using 3 “ai” words and underline the digraph | Sentence construction, digraph application |
Sight Words Focus:
Words used in the lesson and practice: said, play, day, way, may
🔄 Closure (Wrap-up) (5 mins)
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Recap the “ai” sound using a song or chant.
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Ask: What are some "ai" words you remember?
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Exit Ticket: Students say an "ai" word and use it in a sentence or match it to a picture.
Vocabulary - Jolly Phonics
aid, aim, bait, fail, laid, maid, mail, main, nail, paid, pail, pain, raid, rail, sail, tail, claim, plain, brain, drain, trail, train, snail, train, faint, paint, saint
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
1. Activity 1
2. Activity 2
3. Activity 3
4. Activity 4
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