- Hello readers.

Welcome to "Read, Write, Roar."

Today we're going to learn all about the letter A.

We're also going to learn two new high frequency words and listen to a nursery rhyme about the weather.

For today's lesson, you're going to need something to write on like a piece of paper, and something to write with like a pencil.

So go get your things and we can get started.

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by the Michigan Department of Education, the state of Michigan, and the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation.

Additional support by, and by viewers like you, thank you.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) - Hi, I'm Mrs. Skelley, and today your going to be a letter hero.

You're going to learn the name, sound, and how to write the letter A.

Learning how to read and write this letter is going to help you read and write many words.

Let's get started.

This is the letter A.

This is the uppercase letter A.

Can you say that?

Uppercase A.

Good!

This is the lowercase letter A.

Can you say that?

Lowercase A.

Good!

Let's practice naming this letter.

Are you ready?

What letter is this?

Yes, uppercase A.

What letter is this?

Good, lowercase A.

Great work!

Let's practice naming the sounds that the letter A makes and the letter A is a super special letter because it can make two sounds.

Let me show you the sounds that A can make.

A can make it the short sound.

It can say, ah, like in the word apple.

Can you hear that at the beginning of the word ah-ah-apple?

Ah.

Watch my mouth and practice making this sound.

You're going to put your chin down and say, ah.

Can you try that?

Ah.

That's the short sound.

Good!

The other sound that the letter A can make is the long sound, it can say its own name like this, A.

Like in the word ape.

Can you hear that sound at the beginning of the word a-a-ape?

Good!

Let's practice making that sound.

Watch my mouth.

You're going to make a big smile and say A.

Can you try that?

A.

Good job!

All right, let's practice making the sounds for the letter A.

Are you ready?

Let's start with the short sound.

Now, remember, ah-ah-apple.

Ah is the short sound.

Make the sounds with me.

Ready?

Ah, ah, ah, ah.

Good!

Okay, now let's practice making the long sounds like in the word ape.

A-a-ape, A is a long sound.

All right, let's practice making it.

Here we go, ready?

A, a, a, a.

Yes, you did it!

Remember A can make two sounds, it's super special.

And the short sound is ah, and the long sound is A.

Great work!

All right, now I'm gonna show you a question and we're going to be on the lookout for the letter A in our question.

Our question is, do you like rainy days?

All right, now, I'm going to get out my handy dandy magnifying glass and we're going to look for the letter A in our sentence.

Are you ready?

Okay, here we go.

Let's look at the first word.

The first word is the word do.

Do you see A in the word do?

No.

The next word is you.

Do you see an A in the word you?

Nope.

The next word is like.

Do you see A?

Nope.

The next word is rainy.

Do you see an A?

Oh, I know I do!

Look, rainy.

I'm gonna get out my handy dandy highlighter and highlight the A.

Can you point to it with your finger?

Here it is.

The A in the word rainy makes the long A sound.

Let's listen for it.

Rainy, good.

Okay, let's look at our last word, days.

Do you see an A in the word days?

We do don't we?

There it is.

Listen to the sound, days.

Do you hear the long A sound in that word?

Yes, great job!

All right, now we're going to work on writing the letter A.

Are you ready?

Make sure that you have something to write on and write with so you can practice along with us.

I'm going to show you how to write the uppercase letter A first.

This is the uppercase letter A.

Now watch me.

I'm going to start at the top, slant down, back up, slant down, back up, and slide to the right.

So before we practice writing it with our pencil or pen or marker, we're going to put our finger in the air and practice tracing it.

So put your finger in the air and trace it with me.

Here we go.

Start at the top, slant down, back up, slant down, back up, and slide to the right.

Let's try it again.

Trace it with me.

Start at the top, slant down, back up, slant down, back up, and slide to the right.

One more time.

Start at the top, slant down, back up, slant down, back up, and slide to the right.

Good, now we're ready to write.

So get out your pencil, marker, or pen and let's get writing.

Here we go.

Start at the top, slant down, back, up, slant down, back up, and slide to the right.

Let's do it again.

Start at the top, slant down, back up, slant down, back up, and slide to the right.

One more time.

Start at the top, slant down, back up, slant down, back up, and slide to the right.

Nice work!

What letter did we just write?

Uppercase A.

Are you ready to learn how to write lowercase A?

All right, here's how we do it.

We're going to start right in this middle line.

Start in the middle.

We're going to make a C, close it, and go down.

All right, let's take our finger and trace it in the air.

Here we go.

Start in the middle, make a C, close it, and go down.

Do it again.

Start in the middle, make a C, close it, and go down.

One more time.

Start in the middle, make a C, close it, and go down.

Good, now we're ready to write.

Here we go.

Start in the middle, make a C, close it, and go down.

Do it again.

Start in the middle, make a C, close it, and go down.

One more time.

Start in the middle, make a C, close it, and go down.

Great work!

What letter did we just write?

That's right, lowercase letter A.

All right, today you were a letter hero!

You learned how to read, write, and name the letter... What letter is this?

That's right, the letter A.

Now remember it's special because it can make two sounds.

It can make the short sound like in the word apple.

It can say ah.

And it can make the long sounds like in the word ape.

It can say its own name, A.

Great job!

Next time you're walking around your neighborhood, check out the street signs and see if you can find the letter A.

(gentle music) When we were learning all about the letter A today, I asked you the question, what do you like do on rainy days?

Well stand up and let's act out some of the things that I love to do on rainy days.

Let's put our imaginary boots on and one of the things I love to do is to stomp my feet in the puddles.

Can you stop with me?

Stomp, stomp, stomp!

So fun!

Another thing I love to do is dance in the rain.

Can you dance with me?

Woo, dance, dance with me!

Another silly thing that I love to do is to take off my boots and either squish my feet in the mud or stop my feet in the puddles.

Jump in the puddles.

What else do you like to do in the rain?

(gentle music) Now that you're a letter hero I need your help.

I'm going to my friend Anna's letter A party.

Anna's name starts with the letter A.

And I really want to bring her a gift, but I really need help picking out gifts.

I'm going to give her a gift that starts with either a short A or a long A sound.

Ah or A, will you help me?

You will?

Okay, if the toys starts with a short or long A sound, you're gonna give me a thumbs up and I'll put it in the bag.

If it doesn't start with a short A or long A sound, you can give me a thumbs down and I'll know not to bring the gift.

Are you ready?

Okay, let's go.

All right, let's look at our first gift.

It's a puzzle.

We have to decide if it belongs in Anna's letter A bag for her gifts.

Let's listen to the beginning sound of the word puzzle.

Ready?

P-p=Puzzle.

Does that start with a short A, ah, or long A, A, sound?

Yes or no?

No, you're right.

Puzzle starts with P, not an ah or an A sound.

So I'm gonna put that gift to the side and not bring it with us.

Let's look at our next gift.

An alien.

Can you say that word?

All right, let's listen to the beginning sound of alien.

Ready?

A-a-alien.

Does that word start with an ah or an A sound?

Yes, it does.

It starts with the long A's sound, a-a-alien.

It's the perfect gift for Anna's party.

I'm going to put it in the bag.

She's going to love it.

Our next gift is an alligator.

Can you say that word?

Let's listen to the beginning sound.

A-a-alligator.

Hmm?

Does that word start with a short A or long A sound or not?

Yes, you're right.

It starts with the short a sound, ah.

It's the perfect gift!

Let's add it to the bag.

All right, our next gift is a dinosaur.

Can you say that word?

Let's listen to the beginning sound.

D-d-dinosaur.

Does that word belong in Anna's letter A bag?

What do you think?

Does it start with an ah or an A sound?

No, you're right, it doesn't.

It starts with a D sound.

I'm not going to bring this gift.

Our last gift is an anteater, which is a type of animal.

This is a stuffed animal anteater.

Let's listen to the beginning sound, ready?

A-a-anteater.

What do you think?

Does this belong in Anna's gift bag?

Yes, you're right.

It starts the short A sound, a-a-anteater.

Great work.

All right, let's look at her gifts and see what we're gonna bring.

Are you ready?

We've got alligator, we've got an alien, and we've got an ant eater.

She's gonna love her gifts so much.

Thank you so much for helping me letter heroes!

(gentle music) Today we're going to learn two new words.

We call these high-frequency words because they come up often in our reading.

The first word is the word we.

Can you say that word?

Good, we can use the word we, when we're talking about something that we're doing with someone else, like, "We are about to make cupcakes."

Yum!

Let me show you how this word works.

Listen to the sounds in the word we.

Wuh-e, there are two sounds in the word we.

Watch me write the word we.

W-E. W-E, there are two letters in the word we.

Now, the first letter is a W and it makes the wuh sound.

The second letter is an E and it makes the long E sound.

It says its own name, E. The word we is spelled W-E.

Stand up with me and let's put out our arm and tap all the letters to help us remember the spelling.

Watch me, W-E, we.

Do it with me.

W-E, we.

One more time.

W-E, we.

Great job!

Another thing I like to do to help me remember how to spell it and write the word we, is to trace it in the air.

Can you put your finger in the air and trace and spell the word we with me?

Here we go.

W-E, we.

Trace it with me again and make sure you're spelling it.

W-E, we.

One last time.

W-E, we.

Nice job!

All right, what word is this?

Yes, it's the word we.

All right, our next word is the word to.

Can you say that word?

We can use the word to when we're going somewhere.

I'm going outside to play with my ball.

To.

Let me show you how this word works.

Let's listen to the sounds first in the word to.

Tuh-ew.

There are two sounds in the word to.

Watch me write the word to.

T-O.

T-O, there are two letters in the word to.

The first letters a T, and it makes the tuh sound.

The second letter's an O and it makes the ew sound in this word.

The word two is spelled T-O.

Let's stand up again and tap out the sounds and the letters in the word to.

Put your arm out, tap it out with me.

T-O, to.

Do it again.

T-O, to.

One more time.

T-O, to.

Nice work!

Put your finger in the air and let's trace and spell the word to.

It'll help us remember how to read and write it.

Here we go.

T-O, to.

T-O, to.

Make sure you're spelling it with me.

T-O, to.

Yes, what word is this?

It's the word to.

Great work!

Today we learned the two new high-frequency words to and we.

Next time somebody reads you a book, see if you can find these words.

(gentle music) I'm going to read a nursery rhyme about a type of weather called rain.

Rain is the water that falls from clouds when they get too heavy.

Your job is to be on the lookout for the letter A.

You're an expert at that letter, you're a letter hero!

So as I'm reading the nursery rhyme, I want you to look out for the letter A, okay?

All right, let's read the title of the nursery rhyme, "Rain, Rain, Go Away."

Oh, I already see some letter A's, uppercase and lowercase letter A's in there.

So make sure you're watching.

Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.

We want to go outside and play, come again some other day.

Did you see the letter A as I was reading the nursery rhyme?

Let's look at the first line.

Let's look at the title.

And I'm gonna get out my green highlighter and we're going to highlight every time we see a letter A.

All right, take your finger and point to them.

See rain, oh, there it is.

Rain, there's another lowercase letter A.

There is an uppercase letter A, away.

Oh, and in that word, there's a lowercase letter A.

Let's look in the second line and point and see how fast we could find the letter A.

Ready?

There it is, did you find that one?

Lowercase A. Lowercase A again.

There it is again.

There it is again.

Okay, take your finger and go to the next line and see how many times you can find the letter A.

Point to it.

Yeah, there it is.

Lowercase A. Lowercase A.

One more time.

Did you find all of those?

Great work!

Okay, let's go to the next line and see how many lowercase letter A's or uppercase letter A's we can find.

Take your finger and point to them.

There's a lowercase A.

There's another one.

This is the word and, it makes the short A sound, a-a-and.

And there's this one right here.

This is the word play, it makes the long A sound.

Play, do you hear it?

Okay, here's our last line, see if you can find the letter A.

Take your finger and point to it.

There it is, it's in this word twice.

One more time, in the word day.

That makes the long A sound.

Nice job finding the letter A.

We found it so many times, didn't we?

I'm going to read the nursery rhyme one more time.

And this time you're going to be on the lookout for our two new high-frequency words, we and to.

As I find them, we're going to circle them in red.

So take your finger and point to them whenever you see that word.

"Rain, Rain, Go Away."

Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.

We want to go outside and play, come again some other day.

Did you find those words?

All right, let's first look for the word we.

Take your finger and point to it.

Did you find it?

Look here it is.

We, W-E, we.

Now in this word, it has an uppercase W, but it's still the same word, it's still we.

All right, now let's look for the word to.

Take your finger and see if you can find it in the nursery rhyme.

Did you find it?

All right, let's look.

Oh, there it is!

Spell it with me.

T-O, to.

Nice job finding our two high frequency words, we and to.

Okay, let's revisit our question about weather, that we learned about a little bit earlier today.

Do you like rainy days?

Well, in this nursery rhyme, the person does not like rainy days because they cannot go outside and play.

Let's take a look.

What kind of weather do you like better, rain or sun?

(gentle music) Letter heroes, I need your help again!

Do you remember that question that I asked you earlier?

Do you like rainy days?

Well, my question got all mixed up and I need your help putting it back together.

Will you help me?

Great!

Okay, let's first count out the words in that question.

Ready, count with me.

Do you like rainy days?

There are five words in that question.

Let's make sure we have all of our words first.

Will you count and see if we have five words?

One, two, three, four, five.

Whew, good, we have all of our words.

We just need to figure out what order they go in.

Our first word is the word do.

Now I know the beginning of each sentence begins with an uppercase letter.

Can you find the word that begins with an uppercase letter?

You're right, it's this one.

This must be the word do, because it starts with an uppercase D. I'm gonna put it right over here because it's the beginning of our sentence.

Okay, do you, you is our next word?

Y-y-you.

You can you find the word that starts with a Y sound or starts with a Y?

Take your finger and point to it.

Did you find it?

There it is.

Y-y-you starts with the letter Y or the Y sound.

I'm going to put it next to the word do, making sure I leave a space between my words.

All right, let's take our finger and read what we have so far.

Do you, like is our next word.

Let's listen to the beginning sound of the word like.

Can you say it with me?

L-l-like, can you find the word that starts with an L sound or has a letter L at the beginning?

Take your finger and point to it.

Did you find it?

Oh, there it is.

The word, like.

It starts with the letter L. We're going to put it right next to the word you, making sure we leave a space between our words.

Take your finger and let's point underneath each word that we have so far so we can figure out what comes next.

Do you like, rainy is our next word.

Listen to the beginning sound with the word rainy.

R-r-rainy.

Can you find the word that starts with the R or the letter R?

Take your finger, point to it.

You found it, good job!

Rainy starts with the letter R. I'm gonna put it right next to the word like, making sure I leave a space between my words.

Take your finger and let's read what we have so far.

Do you like rainy, days is our last word.

Can you find the word days?

Now I know the end of our sentence is going to end with the punctuation mark.

This sentence is a question, it's going to end with a question mark.

A question mark tells us that somebody is asking something.

This word days has a question mark at the end that tells us it's the end of our question.

I'm gonna put it right next to the word rainy.

Great work!

All right, let's take our finger and read our question together.

Make sure that you point your finger underneath each word.

Do you like rainy days?

Nice work letter heroes!

Thanks so much for helping me unscramble the sentence.

(gentle music) Today we learned all about the letter A, we also learned two new high-frequency words, and we read a nursery rhyme about the weather, about the rain.

Great work today, readers and writers.

Thank you so much for learning with me!

I'll see you next time on "Read, Write, Roar."

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by the Michigan Department of Education, the state of Michigan, and the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation.

Additional support by and by viewers like you, thank you.

(upbeat music)