PGCC Pronunciation and Fluency Curriculum

revised 8 Jan 2013

This section contains 7 "mini-lessons" (5-15 minutes) that can be used in a 4-skills or above classroom. They are meant to be implemented by NON-pronunciation teachers, allowing all students to attain a base level in pronunciation.

This section contains 10 full length lesson plans comprising the first semester of Pronunciation and Fluency. The lesson plans include units 1-9 of the book Clear Speech, extensive use of the Color Vowel Chart, and introductory spelling rules. The learning objectives for P&F1 are as follows:(to be added)

This section will contains 10 full length lesson plans comprising the second semester of Pronunciation and Fluency. The lesson plans include the second half of the book Clear Speech, extensive use of the Color Vowel Chart, and intermediate spelling rules. The learning objectives for P&F2 are as follows:(to be added)

General

Philosophy: How should we teach pronunciation?

Many people think of pronunciation as a primarily aural activity, but most of our students are kinesthetic and/or visual learners.  Therefore we should look for ways to tap into these ways of learning. 

Kinesthetic learners can

Visual learners can

"Hearing" the difference between "ship" and "sheep" is a very difficult skill to teach, while seeing and feeling the difference are relatively simple.  Therefore, we should strive to teach pronunciation kinesthetically and visually, and allow Ss time (probably more than 10 weeks) to develop the ability to distinguish the sounds by ear.

 

Regular Class Activities in Pronunciation and Fluency classes:

Word sort using CVC – this activity gives Ss who come on time (!) something to do while waiting for class to start.  Ss get a list of words and an uncolored but labeled Color Vowel Chart.  They sort the words into the correct spaces in the chart, copying and crossing out each word from the list.  T can review the classifications and meanings of the words at the start of class.

Conversation Line – the purpose of a conversation line is to help students develop fluency by repeating a similar conversation with multiple partners.  Ss should NOT use written texts or notes to help them.  Instead, they receive a prompt or topic to talk about, and about 1 minute to think of how to respond.  The class then splits into two matching lines, A and B.  Ss in the A line have 2 minute to tell their partners in the B line what their response is.  "B" students should interject questions to keep the conversation moving, but "A" students should be doing most of the talking.  The lines then shift 1 place, and Ss have 1.5 minutes.  The lines shift once more and Ss have 1 minute.  The whole sequence repeats with B Ss telling A Ss their responses.  Once Ss understand the procedure, the whole process should take about 10  minutes.  The topics given are just suggestions.

Dictation – the focus in dictation is for students to "hear" the structure words (for example: the, in , is, for, to).  Dictations should be read by the teacher in a NATURAL voice, and structure words SHOULD be reduced.  For example, "to" pronounced with a schwa, "him" or "them" pronounced with silent "h" and "th", "and" reduced and linked to the word before ("catsan dogs"), etc.  The dictation notes indicate the important points in each sentence.  AFTER students write the sentence, the class should discuss the structure words and how they sound in the sentence.

Spelling

The Pronunciation and Fluency classes use a systematic approach to teaching spelling.  The approach is continued in Pronunciation 2, so its really important that students get a good foundation in Pronunciation 1.

Basically, English spelling is confusing because we have 2 sets of rules – 1 for still vowels (comes from German) and 1 for glide vowels (comes from Latin).  To sound out new words, and to spell effectively, they have to learn these 2 sets of rules.  We will add a new rule every week to the list.

When you begin spelling each day, write "Spelling Rules" on the board.  Underneath, write "still" on the left, and "glide" on the right.  Then elicit all rules that you've already covered and write them under the headings.  THEN begin the new rule.

 

Always bring to class:

Outside Resources:

list of minimal pairs:  http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/wordscape/wordlist/

color vowel chart: colorvowelchart.org

hot seat activity: http://www.cal.org/adultspeak/pdfs/InstructionalActivityPacketDHotSeat.pdf


 

Mini-lesson #1:
Producing glide vs. still vowels

Time: 15 mins

Materials: mirrors (optional), CVC

Objective: Teach the mouth positions necessary for still and glide vowel sounds (also known as short and long vowels).

Step 1: Teach glide/still as vocab.  Make sure learners know the words “glide” (“moving slowly or smoothly”).   and “still” (“not moving” or “calm”).

Step 2: Still mouth position.  Show students the still mouth position.   Teach them to check their mouth position by using two fingers, as in the pictures below.  Use mirrors if available.

Step 3: Model still color words.  Model the 5 still vowel sounds (black, red, silver, olive, mustard) and have learners repeat, paying special attention to how the mouth stays still while pronouncing the vowel.  (It helps to lengthen the vowel sound → “blaaaaaaaack”).

Step 4: Y-glide mouth position. Show students the glide-Y mouth position.  Teach them to check that their lips end up stretched beyond their fingertips.  Use mirrors if available.  Practice moving from the neutral position to the stretched (Y-glide) position.

Step 5: Model y-glide color words. Model the 3 major glide-Y  vowel sounds (gray, green, white) and have learners repeat, paying special attention to how the mouth moves while pronouncing the vowel.  (It helps to lengthen the vowel sound → “graaaaaaaay”).  Show students how the vowel sounds “clipped” without the glide (“graaaaaa”).

Step 6: Teach W-glide. Show students the glide-W mouth position using their fingers and mirrors if available.  Model the glide vowel sounds (rose, blue).

Step 7: Guided practice. Learners can practice distinguishing still, y-glide, and w-glide vowels, in a variety of ways.

1. Teacher says a vowel sound or color vowel word, and exaggerates lip position.  Learners say “still”, “y-glide” or “w-glide”.

2. Teacher mouths the vowel sound or color vowel word.

3. Teacher points to a color, learners say or mouth the word, teacher checks lip positions visually.

4. Learners do the same in small groups.

W-Glide

Start with neutral mouth, THEN Squeeze mouth small

Your lips will fit between your fingers

Still

Keep mouth neutral

Your lips will touch your fingers

Y-Glide

Start with neutral mouth, THEN Stretch mouth wide

Your lips will stretch past your fingers

 

Note to teacher (why teach glide and still vowels): Many ESL learners, even in the upper levels, do not realize that each vowel letter makes two distinct and predictable vowel sounds.  Learning the two sounds will (partly) demystify English spelling, and will help learners sound out words more easily.  Moreover, the two sets of sounds are different in a very important way: SHORT vowel sounds are made with a still mouth, while LONG vowel sounds are made with the mouth starting in a neutral position and moving (“gliding”) to a final position.  Mastering the still and glide mouth positions is THE MOST IMORTANT THING English learners can do to improve their pronunciation, and will also help with comprehension.

Another note to teacher (why I don't say  "long" and "short" vowels): Many English speakers learned that vowels have “long” and “short” sounds in English. This concept is important for English learners to understand, but the terminology “long” and “short” is extremely confusing, since the sounds are the same length (take the same amount of time).  Instead, I say “GLIDE” and “STILL”, since these words are easy to say and describe the pronunciation differences  accurately.

Mini-lesson #2:
Relating still & glide to the CVC

Time: 15 mins

Materials: CVC, tape, blank cards, 20 cards with color words: black, cat, gray, day, red, dress, green, tea, silver, pin, white, tie, olive, sock, rose, coat, cup, mustard, blue, moon

Objective: Demonstrate that the vowels in the color vowel chart can be classified as still or glide, work on distinguishing vowel sounds aurally.

Step 1: Prepare cards.  Write headings “still”, “y-glide”, and “w-glide” on the board.  Shuffle cards and pass them out to learners.

Step 2: Sort the cards.  Ask each learner to read their card, exaggerating the vowel sound.  The class as a whole can decide whether the sound is a still, y-glide, or w-glide.  Or, this step can be done in small groups or pairs.  Finally cards are taped to the board under the correct heading.

Step 3: Review.  Read the cards in each category and have students repeat.

Step 4: Guided Practice: brainstorm words. Students generate their own words and categorize.  (You may want to suggest a theme, such as clothing, body parts, or animals).

Mini-lesson #3:
Vowel sorts: glide E vs. still i

Time: 10 mins

Materials: none

Objective: Practice distinguishing between two vowel sounds that students often confuse.

Note to teacher: Vowel sorts are quite difficult for most students, so it is important NOT to jump in and ask students to sort lists of words containing all possible vowel sounds.  Instead, choose two vowel sounds to start, and evaluate whether to repeat with more difficult combinations.

Step 1: Prepare.  Ask learners to write headings “glide E” and “still I” in their notebooks.  Write the list of words to be sorted on the board (alternatively in a very advanced class, you could dictate the list).

Step 2: Review Pronunciation.  Make sure that learners remember the difference between still and glide vowels, and how to use their fingers to check their mouth position.  Have learners practice the still I and glide E specifically.

Step 3: Sort the vowels.  Say each word out loud, exaggerating your lip positions.  Ask learners to write the words under the correct heading.   

Step 4: Check.  Write the words on the board under the correct heading and have learners check their own work.  Ask them to write the number correctly sorted at the top of the page so you can walk around and check. 

Step 5: Guided Practice: brainstorm words.  Ask learners to brainstorm words that they know that contain either a glide E or a still i. 

Extend: If learners are ready, you can add more vowels or use vocabulary from reading.  If you use multisyllable words, make sure that learners understand they should be sorting based on the STRESSED vowel only.

Extend (Spelling):  You can extend this activity if you wish by asking students to look for spelling patterns in the words.  Generally glide vowels will be spelled with two vowel letters (AEIOUYW) or a vowel and silent E.  Generally still vowels will be spelled with just the one vowel letter.  These spelling patterns are covered extensively in the pronunciation classes.

Word list for glide E vs. still I:  sick, feet, fit, tip, reach, rich, hit, heat,  sip, teach, real, fill, feel, beat, bit, sit, seat

Mini-lesson #4:
Hearing and producing stress

Time: 10 mins

Materials: 1 kazoo, rubberbands if desired

Objective: (1) Make students aware of word stress, and (2) Help learners hear the stressed syllable by using kinesthetic and visual reinforcement.

Note to teacher: stressed syllables in English share 4 characteristics: they are longer, louder, higher (in pitch), and clearer (in vowel sound) than the other syllables of the word.  For our purposes, rules about how to divide the word into syllables are NOT important – as long as learners understand that each vowel sound belongs in its own syllable.

Step 1: Which syllable is stressed?  Write the word “America” on the board and say it several times, exaggerating the stress.  Ask learners how many syllables the word has (4).  Then ask which syllable sounds the most important (the second). 

Step 2: How does a stressed syllable sound different?  Ask learners how they know that the syllable sounds more important.  Elicit or teach the following:

           1. Longer.  The syllable takes more time.  Have learners clap the syllables to show that the rhythm is not even.  You can also ask learners to say the word in their native language and clap the syllables – in most languages, the syllables will be quite even.

           2. Louder.  Exagerate this by having learners whisper the non-stressed syllables and shout the stressed syllable.

           3. Higher.  The teacher should say the word through a kazoo to demonstrate that the tone is indeed much higher (although this is more true for women than for men).  I find that many students have difficulty with a kazoo, so I do this as a demonstration.

          4. Clearer.  Point out that the other vowels in the word sound unclear.  The two A’s sound like still U (mustard), and even the “i” can be pronounced that way.  Again, if learners say the word in their native language, they will usually hear that each vowel is very clear.  The English pronunciation (unstressed vowels are less clear) is called reduction, and will come up again…

          Students should repeat as a chorus “Stressed syllables are … longer, louder, higher, clearer!”

Step 3: Put it all together.  Have learners repeat the word with you, and “act out” the stress.  I like to have them raise their arms or stand up on the stressed syllable – other teachers use clapping, stomping, stretching a rubber band, etc.  Find what works for you and your students.

Step 4: Guided Practice: countries or vocab. Use the same procedure to practice pronouncing the countries of origin of each student.  Students can also group together by home country to “figure out” their country’s name and present it to the class.  Or do the same with vocabulary from reading.

Mini-lesson #5:
What color is this word?

Time: 10 mins

Materials: CVC, 4x6 index cards, tape

Objective: Establish and practice an easy, non-intrusive way for learners to ask about pronunciation

Note to teacher: This method allows students to quickly ask for the pronunciation of a new word.  It can also be used in vocabulary journals, to help students remember pronunciation of new words.

Step 1: Pick an unknown word (example: "hilarious").  Write the word on the board.  Tell students: “if you see this word and you don’t know how to pronounce it, what do you need to find out?”  (Answer: where the stress is, what the stressed vowel sounds like).

Step 2: Teach "what color is…?".  Teach students to ask “what color is this word?”  Then underline the stressed vowel (a), and write “gray” underneath.  Ask students to pronounce the stressed syllable (“lair”).  Then say the whole word and have them repeat.

Step 3: Guided Practice: student names.  Ask each learners to write their name on a card in large letters.  Then individuals come to the front of the class and present their name.  Class members should ask “what color is your name” and learners should underline the stressed vowel and write its color in smaller letters on the card.

More guided practice: reading. Use a newspaper article or other difficult reading.  Ask students to read in small groups until they find unknown words, then ask other students in their group for pronunciation (“Do you know what color this word is?”)  If no students know, they should ask the teacher.

More practice words:  fascinating, cheerful, outraged, satisfied, suspicious, amusing, elated…

Mini-lesson #6:
Reductions

Time: 10 mins

Materials: CVC

Objective: Establish and practice an easy, non-intrusive way for learners to ask about pronunciation

Step 1: Review the meaning of stressed syllables.  Remind learners that stressed syllables sound different in 4 ways.  Say “stressed syllables are… “. Learners should respond “longer, louder, higher, clearer.”

Step 2: Non-stressed (reduced) vowels become still U.  When we reduce a vowel, we make it quicker and easier to say.  What is the easiest vowel to say?  Still vowels are easiest than glide vowels, so it must be a still vowel.  Still A and still O require you to open your mouth really wide, so it won’t be one of those.  Still I and still E require you to push your tongue up,  so it won’t be one of those either.  The only possibility left is still U (also called schwa).  For this vowel, your mouth is in a completely neutral position, not too open, not too closed, and your lips don’t need to move.  That’s why “mustard” is at the very center of the color vowel chart.  And “uh” and  “um” are what people say when they don’t know what to say. 

Step 3: Show reduced vowels visually.  Write the word “America” on the board.  Ask students how the word would sound if every vowel was pronounced clearly.  Then draw slashes through a, i, and a in the word.  Ask students to listen closely to the sounds – each one sounds more or less like the still U in mustard.  Do the same with the students’ countries of origin (Guatemala works particularly well, but be aware that the stressed A is pronounced like “olive”, not “black”).

Step 4: Practice words. Here are some more words with reductions

In fact we pronounce MOST multisyllable words in English with at least one reduction!

Step 4: Guided Practice: Vocabulary. Write vocabulary on the board.  Pronounce each word, and ask students to put slashes through reduced vowels.

Mini-lesson #7:
Dictation for learning to hear reduced words

Time: 20 mins

Materials: none

Objective: Students will learn to hear reduced words and improve their ease of writing

Note to teacher: Learners who are verbally fluent often have trouble when they try to write, because they don’t hear all of the “little” words in a sentence.  Expressions like “hafta”, “wanna”, or “didja” contain reductions – these are perfectly normal in spoken English, but are not used in writing.  When students learn to listen for reduced words, they can dramatically improve their ease of writing.  Therefore it is vital that when using dictation exercises, the teacher uses reduced pronunciation (i.e., DO NOT pronounce each word separately and carefully).

Step 1: Review reductions.  Review that stressed syllables are “longer, louder, higher, clearer,” and that unstressed syllables are reduced. 

Step 2: Mark a sentence.  Write the sentence “He was going to go to the store.” on the board.  Read it carefully, pronouncing each word.  Ask students if this pronunciation sounds natural (no!).  Then read the sentence with reductions (“He was gonna godathe store”).  Ask students which vowels are reduced, and draw a slash through them.  Note that some letters get eliminated altogether, so erase or draw an X through those (the i and second g in going). 

Step 3: Compare the written and spoken sentences.  How many words does the written sentence have (8).  How many “words” do you hear in the spoken sentence (answers will vary -- 5 to 7).  How many syllables does each sentence have (9 written, 8 spoken). 

Step 4: Frequently reduced word list.  Ask learners to start a list of “frequently reduced words”.  From the sentence above, they should add:  “gonna”, “to”.  From the color vowel chart, read “a cuppa mustard” and add “of”.  Ask if students know other common reductions.  They will probably know “wanna”, “hafta”, “didja”, and “shoulda” – if not, introduce them.

Step 5: Guided Practice: Dictation.  Read a sentence for dictation – ALWAYS use reduced pronunciation.  After students write the sentence, ask them how many words it contains, and which words are reduced.  Add any new words to the frequently reduced word list.

Sample sentences for dictation:

Didja needta getta book feryer class?                     (Did you need to get a book for your class?)

I dunno what wassa matter withim.                        (I don’t know what was the matter with him.)

Wudja rather gotowa movie, or stay here?          (Would you rather go to a movie, or stay here?)

Y’hafta getta lotta money t’buy-a new car.          (You have to get a lot of money to buy a new car.)

Lesson 1-1 / no book
Intro to CVC, conversation line, melody

Materials:

10 min Jazz Chants: Hi How are you?

 “Hi, how are you?” “Fine, how are you?” 

“What’s your name?” “What’s your name?”

T uses a kazoo to emphasize the “melody” and rhythm. 

20 min Intro: logistics

introductions, parking, snow days, how to get the book

20 min Conversation Line: Your last English class

tell your partner about the last language class that you took

40 min CVC: Sorting activity

Full directions for the sorting activity, and printable cards, are found in the following file: sorting activity

Note: be sure to print and cut out 3 sets before class!! Keep and reuse or pass on to the next teacher!

20 min Fluency: Interview

Ss interview each other in pairs and hand the results in. This is partly to help T get to know Ss.

Questions:

Where did you grow up?

How long have you been in the United States?

What kind of education did you have in your country? (For example, how many years, what subjects did you study in depth?)

What English classes have you taken in the United States?

What kind of work do you do here?

Do you have family here? In your country?

What is one interesting thing that most people don't know about you?

Lesson 1-2 / Unit 1-2:
still vs. glide, syllable counting

Materials:

10 min Review

“Hi, how are you?” and “What’s your name?”

10 min Fingerspelling

Ask Ss what are the vowels in English (AEIOU and sometimes Y and W) 

Show them fingerspelling

fingerspelling AEIOUYW

Practice showing the vowel in common words -- say the word clearly, show the vowel sound using fingerspelling, or ask Ss to show you the vowel sound. Use only common words so that Ss are not confused about what vowel to show.

sick, take, see, and, in, on, at, etc.

50 min CVC: glide vs. still, game, stickers

Introduce the words “still” and “glide” and talk about their meaning

Identify still and glide vowels on the CVC with stickers

30 min Book: Gliding vowels Unit 2 B-F

Do Unit 2 B-F as needed, use mirrors

for E, write color words under vowels, say color word together with listed word, then mix up and ask if color word is correct (i.e., green mail? white file?), then do F

20 min Conversation Line: TV shows

What’s your favorite TV show, and why?

40 min Book: Syllables  Unit 1    A-I

recommended: A, C, D, E, F, I

Notes

Terminology:

The book says “alphabet” vowel sound, rather than glide vowel, and “relative” vowel sound rather than still vowel.  Ss should cross out and write in our terminology to avoid confusion.  They should also replace the key words used on pages 12 and 13 (cake, tea, ice, cone, pan, ten, etc) with the color words.

Fingerspelling:

Fingerspelling the vowels is simple because the shapes of the hands mimic the shapes of the vowels.  Fingerspelling provides an easy way to communicate about vowels when the learners language uses a different name for the vowel.  It also reinforces learning for visual and kinesthetic learners.

 Teaching still and glide:

Ss make a “V” with 2 fingers, and place their hand so their fingertips touch the corners of their mouths.  This is where their lips should be to make “still” vowels.  To make glide vowels, the lips must move from this relaxed position to stretch beyond the fingertips (for Y-glides) or to contract between the fingertips (for W-glides).  Ss should practice

The still/glide concept is really useful for separating short i / long E, as in green vs. grin, sheep vs. ship, beach vs. ….!

Stickers:

Each S needs 5 round stickers plus 4 half-circle stickers (made by cutting 2 round stickers in half).  T models each phrase on the CVC and asks “glide or vowel”?  If the vowel is a glide, T asks “W glide, or Y glide?”  For w-glides, Ss place a round sticker above the phrase on the CVC, and write a “w” on the sticker.  For Y-glides, Ss use a half circle sticker and write a “Y”.

 


 

Lesson 1-3 / Unit 2:
still vs. glide, intro to spelling

Materials

30 min Book: 1 and 2 vowel rules Unit 2 G-N

recommended: G, H, I,

Put 1-vowel and 2-vowel rules on board, ask Ss to copy into notebooks

“1 vowel: still”  

“2-vowels: 1st vowel glides, 2nd is silent”

do M, N – use CVC to decipher the words in N

20 min Conversation Line: What’re ya gonna do…

What are you going to do this weekend?

Teach pronunciation of “ya” and “gonna”.  This is an example of reduction that we’ll cover in detail later.  Teach adjectives  exciting/difficult/relaxing/romantic.  Ss should answer using one of the adjectives, plus a specific plan, for example, “I’m gonna do something romantic.  I’m gonna take my wife to a new restaurant …” etc.   Emphasize that these kinds of stories are part of making small talk.

30 mins CVC: Drawing still and glide

In this activity, a group of students creates a page-sized poster for a particular vowel.  For example, a group working on “A” would produce a poster titled “A: gray day for a black cat” in large letters.  They would then draw a picture of a black cat on a gray day, and color it in black and gray.

When all groups have finished, each group presents their poster like this:

Our letter is A.

The still sound of a is …, like in black cat.

The glide sound of a is …. like in gray day

 

The teacher can demonstrate the process using the vowel “I”, for example by drawing a white necktie and using a metallic pen to draw a silver pin (or an actual sewing pin).

Posters can be displayed during future classes to review the still/glide pairs.

20 mins Spelling: Spelling out loud

Use exercise K on page 7 to introduce melody of “how do you spell…”

Practice “list intonation” when spelling (i.e., intonation goes up on every letter until the final letletter goes down). 

Tell Ss that during THIS quiz, you will ask them ONLY words with still  or glide I.  Review the 1 and 2 vowel rules, and tell them that the 2nd vowel will always be a silent “e” (in this quiz). 

Practice with the words “bit” and “bite”.  Exaggerate your mouth position!

Quiz: sit, site, wipe, lip, tip, hide, line, glide

 

Notes

Spelling quizzes:

These are really spelling exercises.  Pronounce each word clearly 3-4 times, making sure to exaggerate mouth positions.  Review the correct answers immediately after the quiz, and use this as an opportunity to review the rules as well.  Ask Ss to write any corrections NEXT TO the incorrectly spelled word so that T can walk around and check for understand.  Also ask Ss to write their total “score” on the top of the page.

Lesson 1-4 / Unit 3:
stress, -ck vs -k

Materials

10 mins Review: still or glide

20  mins vowels: still and glide

Before class: Print the flashcards out from this link: vowel sound flashcards, 1 set per student.

Hand out flashcards printed on one side, Ss cut apart, fill out back.

Ss practice in pairs

still or glide? worksheet with partner

40 mins Book: Hearing stress Unit 3 A-H

Ask students to pronounce “banana” in their own language , i.e., Spanish .  Note that rhythm is steady and the pitch is consistent. In English the middle syllable is lengthened and the pitch is higher.  Use clapping and/or kazoos to make this clear.

Other words to use as needed: chocolate, computer, telephone, America, names of countries that Ss come from.

There are many ways to have students show stress, such as rubberbands, clapping, stomping, etc.  I find that raising the arms above the head (like doing “the wave”) works the best and gets the least resistance.

in G, point out that the 1- and 2-vowel rules apply to syllables, not words

Teach that the stressed syllable in a word is “longer, louder, higher, clearer”

20 min Spelling: -ck vs. –ke

Tell Ss that English spelling is confusing because we have 2 sets of rules – 1 for still vowels (comes from German) and 1 for glide vowels (comes from Latin).  To sound out new words, and to spell effectively, they have to learn these 2 sets of rules.  We will add a new rule every week to the list.

Today’s rule: the “k” sound can be written in 2 ways at the end of a word.  After a still vowel, we usually write “ck”.  After a glide vowel, we usually write “ke” (e is silent).  Ask Ss to brainstorm words they know (i.e., sick, sock, black, make, take, smoke).

Quiz using ~4 words from each list below:

bike, shake, lake, pike, poke, woke  

shock, shack, rock, tack, hack, flock, block, clock

10 mins Vowel Recognition

Tell Ss that you will give them a list of words with glide vowels to spell.  Review that glide vowels are spelled with 2 vowels, and tell them they can use silent “e” as the second vowel.  Write t_m on the board (since each word will contain those 2 consonants).

Words: time, tame, tome, tomb, team

Review correct spelling immediately.  Any spelling that shows the student heard the vowel correctly should be considered correct (i.e., tume for tomb, teme for team).

20 mins Conversation Line: Didja change your plans?

Teach pronunciation of “didja”.

Followup from “What are you going to do next weekend”. Each S writes 1 sentence on index card describing the activity they had planned for the weekend: “I was going to …”. Then in the conversation line, Ss talk about their plans and whether the plans were realized.

A: What were you gonna do last weekend?

B: I was gonna…

A: Didja change your plans?

B: Yes or no…

A: How’d it go? Didja have a good time?

B: ...

20 mins Word Sort: animals

   Introduce the idea of a word sort and hand out the blank templates (word sort template).  Write the list of words to be sorted on the board and help the Ss with the first several words. Expect Ss to have difficulty with the first few word sorts.  Ask leading questions, such as

easy words: cat, dog (olive or auburn), pig, fish, rat, cow, frog, snake, duck

harder words: goat, sheep, toad, deer, hog, goose, chick, mouse, horse, fly, bug

In the beginning, 10 words is plenty to sort, so just choose some of the above.


 

Lesson 1-5  / Unit 3-4:
reductions, double consonants

Review

15 mins Word Sort: K words

Review the spelling rule related to -ck and -ke

easy words: sick, take, chicken, back, bake, wake, lucky

harder words: truck, pick, deck, rake, stuck, sake, sack, neck, cheek, flick, hike, shock, shake, woke, nuke

 

30 mins Book: Map game Unit 3 I-J

Note to teacher: read the directions in the book carefully BEFORE class -- the game is not too hard once you understand it, but it is a little tricky to set up the first time through.

Model and practice intonation in I

Review 1- and 2-vowel rules, how to ask for spelling

Play the game in pairs – make sure Ss know which map they are supposed to be looking at!!

20 mins Spelling: Double letters after still vowels

 

list rules and review words: k words: rock, fleck, poke, puke

teach rule for double letters (l, f, s, z must  be doubled after a still vowel) Write –ll, -ff, -ss, -zz under “still” and –l, -f, -s, -z under “glide”

quiz (you may want to tell Ss what vowel is in each set of words):

  • words with a: pass, safe, tail, base
  • words with e: stress,  feel, fell,  beef 
  • words with i: pill, fill, miss, fizz, pile,

note: telling Ss which vowel is needed reduces the cognitive load and stress.  It’s more important at this point for them to determine if the vowel is glide or still and  apply the rule.

 

15 mins Conversation Line: Exercise

Do you like to exercise? What kind?

45 min Book:  schwa, reductions Unit 4 A-H

It’s really important that Ss learn to hear the difference between words with reductions and the same words without reductions.  Doing activity A with the words “Guatemala” and “America” can help a lot. 

Point out that the reduced schwa is

Students need to know that this phenomenon is called “reducing” or “reduction”.  Point out that we have already heard some reductions:

Reductions are all over the place in spoken English, and they make it hard for learners to understand what they hear.

10 min Vowel Recognition

do these first:

Glide vowel words: read, rode, ride, rude, raid

do these next:

Still vowel words: rid, red, rod, rad

10 min Dictation: Common reductions

Procedure: read the sentence in a normal speaking voice, including reduced words. Do NOT pronounce each word separately and distinctly. Ask Ss how many words they hear in the sentence.  (For example, the first sentence sounds like 3 words but is really 6 words). The point of these dictations is to learn to hear the "little" or "reduced" words that are easy to miss.

Dictate

Notes

Whaddaya wanna do?

(What do you want to do?)

5 out of 6 vowels reduced!!

Didja get a lotta stuff?

(Did you get a lot of stuff?)

reductions in didja, lotta – note “of” is often reduced to just a schwa.  Also, why double f in stuff?

Wudja wanna cometothe class?

(Would you want to come to the class?)

7 out of 8 vowels reduced!!  Note “to” is almost always reduced.  Also, why double s in class?

 

Lesson 1-6 / Unit 4:
consolidation, can vs. can't

Materials

15 min Word Sort: Street names

selling, sealing, fedder, feeder, suiter, sutter, grace, grass, otter, oater, witt, white

10 min Book: can/can’t Unit 4 J-K

T show students how to mark the sentences in J

10 min Book: dialog Unit 4 L-M

mark reduced vowels

note: Spanish and French speakers will try to put the stress on the wrong syllable in “photograph” and “photography”.  Use this to discuss how English stress usually comes on the first or second syllable. 

10 min Vowel Recognition

wack, week, wick, wake, woke

mass, moss, muse, muss, mice, miss, mace, mess

10 min Dictation: can vs. can’t

 

Dictate

Notes

Can you ride a bike?

reduction in “can”, 2 silent “e”, ride+a linked

I cn spell a lotta words, but I can’t spellem all.

(I can spell a lot of words, but I can’t spell them all.)

can vs. can’t, a lotta, silent “th” (preview)

She said she can come.

can

30 min Fluency: Can you…?

Each student gets a card and writes a skill at the top.

Ss mingle to ask if others can do the skill, keeps tally of yes and no – student with the most “unusual” skill wins. 

Teach:

I have a question, do you mind if I ask, I was wondering…

Can you…   Yes,  I can do that.  No, I can’t do that.

Followup: have each S write and rehearse a sentence on the pattern: “I can…, but a can’t…” For example:

I can ride a bike, but I can't ride a unicycle.

20 min Spelling: triplets

Today’s rule: there are 2 sounds that must be spelled with 3 letters after a still vowel: “-tch”  (“ch” after glide) and “-dge” (“ge” after glide).  Brainstorm words with students i.e., watch, page, teach, fridge)

Quiz:

with a: cage, badge, rage, stage

with e: reach, pledge, fetch, hedge

Note: tell students that reach or reech are acceptable for the quiz (but not retch or rech!!)

 

20 min Fluency: This is an egg

All Ss stand in a circle.  Randomly hand out a small object to every 3rd or 4th student.  Objects get passed around the circle with a dialog like this:

A: This is an egg.

B: A what?  (rising intonation)

A; A plastic egg.

B: A what? (rising intonation)

A: A white plastic egg.

B: Oh, an egg (falling intonation)

 

“B” can ask for clarification as many times as they want.  “A” should keep adding descriptions, using a rising intonation for each new adjective.  Any classroom objects can be used, such as a pen, stapler, eraser, key…

20 min Book: Linking with an off-glide Units 4 and 5

Do O on page 32 and P on page 42. Teach Ss to mark linking with a curved line, and make sure they do not pause (stop the flow of air) between words.  This is the first of many kinds of linking they will encounter.


 

Sample “Can you” Card

 

 

                    I can ride a unicycle.

                    My classmates:

                                Yes         √ √ √ √                  No   √ √


Lesson 1-7 / Unit 6-7:
Content vs. Structure words, contractions, reducing “to”, adding -y

Materials

10 min Word Sort:emotions

angry, hungry, tired, confused, happy, silly, sad, upset, determined, bored, frustrated, nervous

30 min Book: Content Words Unit 6 A-H

Understanding content words will be very important for the 2nd half of the class. 

For D, you can create new dialogs, or even have students play charades.  For example:

You look angry … That’s because I lost my purse

You look sleepy … That’s because I lost my pyjamas.

20 min Spelling: Middle of the word rule

Review all spelling rules

When you add on to a still vowel word, you need 2 consonants to protect the still vowel.  So, “fun” becomes “funny”.  

Ask Ss to brainstorm other words that end in “y” (i.e., lucky, happy, silly, rainy).  Point out that you ONLY need to double the consonant if

  • the vowel is still AND
  • there is only 1 consonant (for example, “lucky”, not “luckky”)

      quiz: words with u:  funny,  jumpy, chubby, bumpy

(if needed, write vowels on the board)

More practice: Write the following on the board for Ss to copy and complete.

What kind of day is it today?  Add “y” to the following words:

fog

mist

rain

ice

sun

chill

wind

snow

haze

nip

wind

gust

cloud

mug

bug

 

20 min Fluency: love to, hate to

The word “to” is almost always reduced.  Teach the phrases “love to, hate to, need to, want to”, note reductions and linking (only one t sound in “hate to”, d and t are merged in “need to”, “want to” becomes “wanna”). 

Teach “What is something you love to do?”

mingle: Ss fill in 4-square (below) by  asking a different person for each square

What is something you…

love to do?

 

 

 

name________________

hate to do?

 

 

 

name________________

want  to do?

 

 

 

name________________

need to do?

 

 

 

name________________

 

10 min Vowel Recognition

bad, bade, bead, hid, bod, bode, bud, bed

lime, loam, loom, lam, limb, lame, clime, clam, claim

10 mins Dictation: Reducing to

Dictate

Notes

I like to work hard.

to

He hates to take a bus to get to work.

to x3!  silent “e”

 

20 mins Reading: jokes

Divide Ss into groups of 2 or 3.  Each group takes 1 paragraph from page 48-49.  Ss should read the paragraph silently, then mark stressed words and reductions.  Then Ss practice reading the paragraph to each other, being careful to include reductions, linking, and focus words.

30 min Book: Structure Words and Contractions Unit 7 A-G

If this is easy, move through it quickly.  Consider including some 3-word contractions like


 

Lesson 1-8 / Unit 7:
More ways to deemphasize, middle of the word spelling

Materials

10 min Word Sort: weather words

foggy

misty

rainy

icy

sunny

stormy

windy

snowy

hazy

nippy

windy

gusty

cloudy

muggy

buggy

10 mins Kids Play Ball

As a demonstration of how structure words are de-emphasized when speaking English.

Write “Kids play ball.” on the board.  Discuss – each word is a content word.  Have Ss stand and repeat sentence while marching in place.  Each word falls on a step, and there is an extra step after the period, so 1 sentence = 4 steps, like this: Kids | play | ball. ||

Now add “The” to the front of the sentence (or rewrite with ‘the’ in a different color from the rest of the sentence).  “The” is NOT a content word. So the rhythm is

Th’ kids | play | ball. ||

Keep adding:

Kids | play | ball. ||

Th’ kids | play | ball. ||

Th’ kids | play | with th’ ball. ||

Th’ kids | are playing | with th’ ball. ||

Th’ kids | ‘ve been  playing | with th’ ball. ||

(write ‘ as the vowel with a slash through it)

Each sentence takes the SAME AMOUNT OF TIME to say.  (T should practice this before class!)

Also, you can write the translation in Spanish on the board ("Los ninos han estado jugando con la pelota").  Ask a Spanish speaker to read it, then T reads it using exaggerated English melody/rhythm/reductions – Lo’ NINos ‘an’stado ‘uGANdo calapaLOta – Ss find this hilarious, and it helps them understand how different the spoken languages are.

45 min  Book: reducing Unit 7 H-N

M and N: Ss should mark the text before reading

15 min Spelling: middle of the word rule continued

review all spelling rules

Middle-of-the-word rule applies for ANYTHING you add on to a shorter word

Examples:

  • supper vs. super
  • dinner vs. diner,
  • filling vs. filing,
  • whiner vs. winner

Quiz:

hammer, humor, hummer, homer

greener, grayer, redder, whiter, blacker, browner

socked, pinned, doggy, mooning, hooked, catty, dresser

 

10 min Activity: Content word telegram

Write the message below on the board WITHOUT the bold/underlining.  Ask Ss to copy the message and imagine they need to send it in a telegram -- each word costs $1!  Which words do you absolutely need?  Then read message out loud using focus words only.

“The book that you ordered has arrived in our bookstore.  Our address is 921 Main Street.  The store opens at 10:00am and closes at 9:00pm from Monday to Saturday.  We are closed on Sundays. Your book will be kept for you at the customer service counter.”  (other solutions possible)

10 min Vowel Recognition – very challenging!

beaded, bided, bedded, budded, bidded

feel, fell, fill, file, foal, foul, fool, full, foil, furl, fail

15 Dictation: Structure Words

 

Dictate

Notes

Could you tell them what was going on?

cudja, ‘em, gowin on

There were a lot of dogs and cats in the street. 

a lotta, inna street, 2 vowel rule for street

Did he want salt or pepper? 

Diddy, salter, 2 consonant rule

Have you ever fixed a stove?

fiksta, silent e in “stove”

Call him and tell him to tell her we want to see her.

lots of silent h’s, wanna, reduced “to”

 


 

Lesson 1-9 / Unit 8:
Focus Word Rules, Adding to Y

Materials

20 min Book: Chosing a focus word Unit 8 A-D

D2 – do this in pairs and assign one dialog to each pair to mark, practice, and present

10 min Vowel Recognition – very challenging!

feeling, felling, filling, filing, foaling, fouling, fooling, foiling, furling, failing

10 min Activity: The Annoying Teacher

          What are you doing?

                      I’m listening to you.

           Who’s listening?

                      I’m listening to you.

           Who are you listening to?

                      I’m listening to you.

           Why aren’t you listening?

                      I am listening to you.

 

Emphasize that the SAME words are used in each answer, but the answers are NOT the same.  Use the kazoo as needed.  Challenge students to answer the questions in mixed order.

30 min Book: Disagreeing and Correcting Unit 8 F-J

Ask students how they would correct a wrong statement in their language.  For example, propose “Los libros se venden en la biblioteca.”  Most Spanish or French speakers will do some combination of changing the word order (moving the correct “en la libreria” to the front) and adding new words (‘no, es que…”).  Tell Ss that in English we can answer with the exact same words and just use stress to mark the difference. 

In fact Ss often don’t realize that their teachers are correcting their English, because we use repetition (with the corrected word stressed) to make a correction.  If Ss learn to recognize this pattern, they will be able to recognize when people are correcting or providing help.

Another good prompt:

Did you write a book in English?

 

No, I READ a book in English  or

No, I wrote a book in SPANISH, or

No, I wrote a LETTER in English, or even

No, I wrote a LETTER in SPANISH, etc.

20 min Spelling: adding to Y

Review spelling rules

There are 2 patterns for adding on to a “y” at the end of a word:

  • no change if the y is the second letter in a glide vowel 
    (day → days, play → played)
  • y changes to ie if it is by itself 
    (party → parties, partied)

add “s”

day, play, say, tray, stay, cry, apply, fly

add “ed”

fry, apply, party, try, study,  enjoy, pray

 

15 min Conversation Line

Reproduce “A Strange Diet”.  Don’t worry about memorizing word for word, just try to get the main ideas.

 

 


 

Lesson 1-10 / Review

Materials

Review 30 mins

Use “This is how English sounds” to review

Print out the UNMARKED version for students and have them assemble (note page numbers at the top of the pages)

Read through the book one page at a time with the students, directing them to mark as in the teacher version

 

Party!

Lesson 2-1 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-2 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-3 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-4 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-5 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-6 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-7 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-8 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-9 /

Coming summer 2013

Lesson 2-10 /

Coming summer 2013