Lesson plan · Grade 2 · 40 minutes

Contraction Crusher

I can squish two words into a contraction and put the apostrophe where the letters fell out.

Standard: L.2.2 CCSS-ELA
Shape: Teach, then practice
Grouping: Whole class on the carpet, with partners for practice.
You need: The tool on the big screen. Whiteboards and markers, or paper and pencils. A picture book you have already read aloud.
Tool: curioclass.org/tools/contraction-crusher/

Before class

Open the tool. Leave the Word families set to All, so it starts with "do not".
Write on the board, big: "I do not like getting wet."
Find two or three contractions in the picture book and mark the pages.

Read the board sentence like a robot: "I. Do. Not. Like. Getting. Wet." Then say it the way people talk: "I don't like getting wet."
"What changed? Did the meaning change?" (Two words became one. The meaning stayed the same.)
"Today we learn the trick for squishing words together, and the little mark that makes it work."

In the tool, read the sentence strip together. Say: "A contraction is two words squished into one. Some letters fall out, and an apostrophe takes their place."
Think aloud: "When do and not squish, I think the o in not falls out." Tap the o so it turns red, then press Crush! Watch the apostrophe land in the gap.
"Where did the apostrophe land? What letter used to be there?" (Where the o was.)
Press Uncrush to run it backwards: the letters come home. "So don't means do not."
Name the apostrophe and draw one on the board. It is not a comma: it floats up high.

Choose the n't family. For each card: partners whisper which letters will fall out, one child comes up to tap them, and the class says the contraction before Crush!
If the tool says Not quite., ask the class to help fix it: "Which letter did we forget?"
Switch to 's (it is, she is, let us), then 're (you are, we are, they are).
Switch to 'll (I will, we will). Stop: "How many letters fell out this time?" (Two.) Then try 've.
Open the Made today shelf and read every contraction the class made, then the two words it stands for.

Say two words, and children write the contraction on whiteboards and hold them up: is not, we are, I am, they have, you will, that is.
Check that every apostrophe sits where the letters used to be.
Read the marked pages of the picture book. Children give a thumbs up when they hear a contraction, then say the two words it stands for.
Share the rule breaker: will not becomes won't. "Does this one follow the pattern?" (No. It is just one to remember.)

Say a pair of words. Children hold up one or two fingers for how many letters fall out: is not (1), I will (2), we are (1), I have (2).
Then three children each say a contraction and the two words it stands for. Note who still drops the wrong letters.

Support: start with just the n't family until it is solid, and let a partner do the tapping while the child says the word.
Support: write the two words on a strip of paper, cut out the dropped letters and tape an apostrophe in the gap.
Stretch: find contractions in a book of their own and sort them by family.
Stretch: "Can not usually becomes cannot first. Why does can't drop two letters?" (The n and the o both fall out.)

Hook (3 min), then teach with "do not" (5 min).
Practice with the n't family only (8 min), and end with the fingers check (4 min).

How each button works is in the teacher notes. From Curio Class, free under CC BY 4.0: change it, print it, share it.