letter sound ie

letter sound /ie/

Objectives:

Learn and practise mouth formation for different sounds of the alphabet (vowel digraph "ie").
Blend phonemes to form words with "ie".
Substitute consonant sounds in "ie" words to form new words.
Learn and use basic sight words in speech and writing

Watch the video clip below to learn the sound of /ie/.

Video clip

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/, /ai/, /j/, /oa/

5E Lesson Plan: The Letter Sound /ie/

Grade Level: Grade 1
Time: 60 minutes
Phonics Focus: Vowel Digraph "ie" as in pie, tie, cried
STEM Integration: Engineering (Building a word tower)
Materials: Flashcards, mirrors, magnetic letters, mini whiteboards, chart paper, markers, ‘ie’ word building cards, audio chart, printed sight word cards

Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

Learn and practise mouth formation for different sounds of the alphabet (vowel digraph "ie").
Blend phonemes to form words with "ie".
Substitute consonant sounds in "ie" words to form new words.
Learn and use basic sight words in speech and writing.

ENGAGE (10 mins)

Objective: Spark interest and activate prior knowledge

Begin with a short video or song introducing the "ie" sound (e.g., “ie says /ī/ as in pie!”).
Use mirrors and have students observe their mouth movement as they say “ie”.
Ask guiding questions:
- “What sound do you hear in the word pie?”
- “Can you think of another word that rhymes with tie?”

STEM Link: Briefly explain how we use sound waves and our mouths like engineers designing tools — to produce different sounds.

EXPLORE (10 mins)

Objective: Hands-on phoneme blending and identification

Students work in small groups with letter tiles or magnetic letters to form "ie" words (e.g., tie, pie, lie, die, cried).
Use word mats or Elkonin boxes to break words into onset and rime:
Example: p - ie, t - ie

STEM Extension: Introduce the idea of engineering words—using letter tiles like parts to “build” a word.

Differentiation:

Tier 1 (Support): Use picture-word cards for support.
Tier 2 (Core): Form "ie" words independently using tiles.
Tier 3 (Extension): Use an "ie" word in a sentence and build new ones by changing the consonants.

EXPLAIN (15 mins)

Objective: Introduce rules and teach blending and substitution explicitly

Use an anchor chart with “ie” words grouped by rhymes (tie, lie, pie, cried).
Teach students how to blend onset and rime.
Model how to substitute consonants in words:
- Change tie → pie
- Change lie → die
Introduce sight words with "ie" and without (e.g., the, said, cried).

Interactive Activity:

Play a “What’s the New Word?” game where teacher changes the first letter of a word, and students call out the new one.

Visual & Auditory Learners: Use flashcards and word walls
Kinesthetic Learners: Use jumping or clapping per phoneme

ELABORATE (15 mins)

Objective: Apply learning in new context
STEM Integration – Word Tower Engineering Challenge:

Students build a tower with blocks/boxes, each labeled with an “ie” word.
Each level must use a word with a substituted consonant (e.g., pie → tie → lie → die).

Sight Word Extension: Use “cried” and other “ie” sight words in oral sentences.

Differentiation:

Tier 1: Use pre-written “ie” words to build the tower.
Tier 2: Think of their own “ie” words to write on blocks.
Tier 3: Write a short silly sentence using 2-3 “ie” words from the tower.

EVALUATE (10 mins)

Objective: Assess learning using a 3-tier evaluation

Tier 1: Below Expectations (Support Needed)

Task: Match "ie" word cards to corresponding pictures
✔️ Success Criteria: Correctly match 3 out of 5

Tier 2: Meeting Expectations

Task: Write 3 “ie” words and form a simple sentence with one (e.g., "I tie my shoe.")
✔️ Success Criteria: Accurate word formation and a complete sentence

Tier 3: Exceeding Expectations

Task: Write a short 3-sentence story using at least 3 “ie” words and 2 sight words.
✔️ Success Criteria: Accurate spelling, correct sight word usage, sentence fluency