Can I...?
The can had beans in it.
'Can' is our word today. Now you are probably thinking what is the purpose of this word? Too simple. Well I am here to tell you that our language learners will and do get words mixed up.
When our beginning readers are starting to decode, 'can' is an easy word. Say it slowly: c-a-n. It is very decodable; /c/ like can or cat, /a/ like ant, and /t/ like top. (can, cat, ant, top- are all my sound and image words for these letters). Resources can be found on my Teachers Pay Teachers page where you can find charts, scripts, and abc lines that connect all of these sounds and images for a simpler more concise teaching method.
Can is a homonym. It is spelled the same but has two different meanings. It can be uses as a question word, a word to explain to be able, and as a noun. For our language learners we have to teach this. Can comes up in early level readers, typically in kindergarten. But do we expose them to how words work and the idea that some words can work in more than one way?
We have to teach, even the youngest ones, two things:
1- the same word can have multiple meanings
2- words are ideas
If we only teach our students 'can' is a question word, they might not remember it can be used as something that holds something- speaking more for language learners. But because all students are English language learners to some degree, when we teach even small decodable words, pick words that have a little more depth to them.
So as you look at your alphabet hanging on your wall does it say cat? If so, can we change it to can...?
You can really start to show how words work at even a young age. The more exposure we give our kids to words, parts, sounds, and the more we make them do the discovering, the easier they pick up strategies to read, write, and make sense of English.
So trying teaching your students /c/ is like can! Not cat. And teach all the ways we use it! Watch how your students get interested in word studying!
Happy Teaching. As always let me know how it goes!
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