Lesson 16: Poetry & Vowel I Study (Little Jack Frost)

1. Master Diacritical Map: Phonological Marking of Vowel i

Lĭttle Jack Frost went up the hĭll,
Watchĭng the stars and the moon so stĭll,
Watchĭng the stars and the moon so brīght,
And laughĭng alone wĭth all hĭs mīght.

Lĭttle Jack Frost ran down the hĭll,
Late ĭn the nīght when the wĭnds were stĭll,
Late ĭn the fall when the leaves fell down,
Red and yellow and faded brown.

Short ĭ (/ɪ/) Breve: Little, hill, still, with, his, in, winds, -ing Long ī (/aɪ/) Macron: bright, might, night (Trigraph -igh-)

2. Master Five-Letter Word Inventory (Directive 3)

Frost /frɒst/

5 letters: Blend fr- + short o + blend -st

stars /stɑːrz/

5 letters: Blend st- + r-controlled ar + plural -s

still /stɪl/

5 letters: Blend st- + short ĭ + FLOSS rule -ll

alone /əˈloʊn/

5 letters: Prefix a- + base lone (VCe long o)

might /maɪt/

5 letters: Onset m- + trigraph -igh- (/aɪ/) + -t

night /naɪt/

5 letters: Onset n- + trigraph -igh- (/aɪ/) + -t

winds /wɪndz/

5 letters: Noun wind (short ĭ) + plural -s

faded /ˈfeɪdɪd/

5 letters: Base fade (VCe) + past participle -ed

brown /braʊn/

5 letters: Blend br- + vowel diphthong ow (/aʊ/) + -n

3. Science of Reading & Poetic Structure

Orthography of Trigraph -igh-

In bright, might, and night, the silent letters gh mark historical Germanic palatal/velar fricatives [ç]/[x]. Through compensatory vowel lengthening, the vowel became long diphthong /aɪ/.

Meter & Phonological Rhyme

Couplets AABB (hill/still, bright/might) and CCDD (hill/still, down/brown) foster prosodic reading fluency and reinforce the phonological word families -ill, -ight, and -own.

4. Assessment Rubric (25 Points Total)

Task Focus	Instructional Standard & Criteria	Scoring
1. Copying Accuracy	Neat, baseline-aligned transcription of all 8 lines with proper capitalization and punctuation.	8 pts (1 pt / line)
2. Diacritical Marking	Correct identification of short ĭ (breve) vs. long ī (macron) across the poetic text.	5 pts (Accuracy & consistency)
3. 5-Letter Word Discovery	Accurate extraction and spelling of all 9 distinct five-letter words from the poem.	9 pts (1 pt / word)
4. Oral Reading Fluency	Rhythmic, expressive recitation demonstrating prosody and accurate vowel articulation.	3 pts (Fluency & meter)