Hi! I'm Caroline. What's your name? And... [squeaky sound offscreen] Whoa, what's your name? Hey! Hey! Hey A!
This is the letter A. Vowels can say their letter names. When it says its name,
it's making its long sound. We know that A is a vowel sound because when we make it, our teeth,
lips, and tongue don't do any of the work. All of the sound comes from the middle of our mouth.
Listening to sounds and making sounds will help us as we learn to read. So,
get your mouths ready because we are going to be making lots of sounds today! Let's go!
So the sound A [long A sound] is the same as the name of the letter. We can also call this sound long A.
I remember that this is the long sound because my mouth has to move a long way to make it.
A [emphasizes long A sound]. See how my chin comes all the way up? That's long A! A! It looks like I'm making a long
smile! Now it's your turn! Can you make a long smile and repeat the A [long A] sound after me? A! A!
A! Can you think of any words that have the long A sound?
Hmm... A... Maybe acorn? Or alien? There are lots more words where we hear the long A sound in the
middle of the word, like in cake. Repeat that word with me. Cake. Can you hear the A [long A] sound? Or
what about train? Can you repeat that one too? Train. I can hear the A [long A] sound in the middle.
What other words can you think of? I thought of mail, game, snail, rain...
Vowels can say their name to make their long sound, but they can make short sounds, too. We
know that the long A sound is A [long A sound]. Do you know what the short A sound is? Short A makes the sound A [short A sound].
We know it's a vowel sound because the sound is coming from the middle of our mouth. A.
I remember that this is a short sound because my mouth doesn't open as much as with
long A. To remember the short A sound — A — I think of an apple [repeats short A sound].
Pretend to bite the apple with me while we make the sound together.
Apple [repeats short A sound]! Can you think of any words that have the short A — A [short A] — sound?
Oh! Apple! A [short A sound]. A. A. Hmm maybe actor [repeats short A sound], or astronaut [repeats short A sound]?
There are a lot of words where we hear the A [short A] sound in the middle of the word, like in
map. Can you repeat the word with me? Map. Map [sounds out each letter].
Do you feel your mouth opening to bite the apple [repeats short A sound]? Map.
Or what about sad? Say that with me. Sad. I can hear the short A sound
right in the middle. What other words can you think of? I thought of bat, snack, fast, lab.
Let's practice making our long A and short A sounds. I'm going to make the sound
three times. Then, you can make the sound three times. Let's do long A first. A [long A sound]!
A! A! Keep repeating after me! A! A! A! Nice job. How about short A? Repeat after me! A [short A sound]! A! A!
Keep repeating after me! A! A! A!
When we start reading, we have to remember that when we see the letter A,
it could be making its long A — A [long A] — sound but it could also be making its short A — A [short A] — sound.
Let's practice saying words and listening to sounds so we can hear the difference. I'll show
you a picture. You can say the word. Let's do this one first. What is it? Apple? What sound do you hear?
Long A or short A? Apple [repeats short A sound]. That's short A! Remember our short little sound? A [short A sound]. A. A.
What about grape? Grape. Do you hear long A or short A?
Grape [emphasizes long A sound]. That's long A! My mouth needs to smile and my chin needs to move up for that one.
Let's practice with some more words! Crab. That's short A! A [short A sound]. A. A.
Lake. That's long A! A [long A sound].
Giraffe. That's short A! A [short A sound]. A. A.
Snake. That's long A! A [long A sound].
Hay. That's long A! A [long A sound].
Play. That's long A! A [long A sound].
Trap. That's short A. A [short A sound]. A. A.
Raft. That's short A. A [short A sound]. A. A.
Great job today [emphasizes long A sound], Letter A! And you did a great job, too! It's so cool that letter A can make
two sounds. We learned that letter A can say its letter name, A, to make the long A sound.
A. That's like a big smile! And we learned that A can also make a short A sound. A. A. A.
We make our mouth open like we're going to bite an apple [repeats short A sound]! Keep practicing these two
sounds and keep an ear out for any A [long A] or A [short A] sounds you hear! And don't forget to always be clever!