a claw and a paw can draw

State and Model the Objective
The children will draw with paws and claws and will read and write words that end in -aw, such as claw, draw, paw, saw, and straw.
 
Literacy Activities
Draw with paws

• Wear a sock like a paw.
• Let the children take turns using the sock paw to draw.
• Have the children hold a picture of a paw in their hands and use the paw to trace or draw a saw or a seesaw.

Draw an -aw word with a claw

• Show the children a picture of a claw (see graphics), and talk about animals that have claws (e.g., lobsters, crabs).
• Show how clothespins or tongs are similar to claws.
• Explain that the word draw can mean to create a picture or pick a card.
• Tell the children they will draw a word card with a pretend claw.
• Have the children read the -aw word cards out loud.
• Mix up the -aw word cards and place them face down in a row.
• Let children draw an -aw word with a claw (clothespin or tongs) and read it.

Follow a path of paws to read -aw words

• Set out a path of paws (see graphics) leading to an animal resting in straw (see graphics).
• Hide -aw word cards under the paws.
• Let the children follow the path of paws and read -aw words under the paws.
• Comment on what you saw under a paw: "I saw the word thaw under the paw."
• Have the children say what they saw: "I saw the word seesaw under the paw."
• Let the children find the animal resting in straw (see graphics) at the end of the paws.

More Practice
Identify, blend and manipulate sounds

• With word blending cards, have the children make new words by changing the vowel or either of the consonant sounds:
  • paw → saw; raw → jaw; law → slaw; claw → flaw; raw → draw; straw → thaw 
  • paw → pawn; draw → drawn; claw → claws; thaw → thaws
  • draw → drew; flaw → flow

Read target words in texts

• Engage the children in reading the target text I Saw a Paw and Claw Draw. 
• Read the text again, fading support.
• Have the children make a list of the -aw words that they heard.

Write about the activity using target words and patterns

• Let the children write words from dictation: claw, paw, slaw, draw, saw, jaw, law, straw, seesaw, and thaw.
• Engage the children in interactive writing about their experience by generating sentence frames and letting the children fill in target words and phrases. 
  • "I saw ___ (e.g., a claw, a paw, words under a paw, a seesaw, any of the -aw words)."
  • "A claw can draw ___ (e.g., a card, any of the -aw words)."
  • "A paw can draw ___ (e.g., a saw, a seesaw)."