Appetizer 1-2 / THE ALPHABET / Day 2 of 2
GENERAL AIMS
- To pronounce the letters well.
- To reinforce what was covered in the previous class (and to introduce the material and approach to any students who may have been absent).
STEP SUMMARY
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A |
Singing |
Reintroduce letters & song |
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B |
Sound groupings |
Identify sounds (review) |
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C |
Teacher/Student |
Practice, taking turns |
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D |
Sing again |
Final review |
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E |
Hangman |
Follow-up game |
RECOMMENDED LEVELS
Beginner to intermediate
ACTIVITY TIME
15+ minutes
MATERIALS
- Board, screen or flip chart
- Handouts for class:
HO1 alphabet(given temporarily for pair-work)>
HO2 alphabet sound grouping chart - Video APPVID1 song
- Video APPVID2 sound groupings
- Video APPVID3 teacher-student
- Video APPVID4 hangman
SPECIAL NOTES
– Note 1
– Note 2
Quickpage
Class Plan
PART A: SINGING
THE ALPHABET LETTERS HO 1
The letters of the alphabet organized to better sing the ABC song
APPVID1
This video is from last class but looking at it again can remind you how to approach the rhythm and melody.
ABC SONG – APPAUD1
Audio only version of the song
A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N O P
Q R S T U V
W . . . X Y Z
ABC LETTERS – APPAUD2
Here is another option: simply the letters without the song.
PART B: SOUND GROUPINGS TABLE
SOUND GROUPINGS HO 2
The pronunciation of the names of the letters of the alphabet can be categorized according to a particular vowel sound
APPVID2
(This video is intended for the teacher’s reference only.)
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B |
STEP 1 |
IDENTIFY SOUND GROUPINGS ELICIT EXAMPLES THE ALPHABET |
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If many students were absent in the last class or if you feel it would be helpful for them, reintroduce the sound groupings that were done in the previous class. This is how it can be done: |
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a) |
Give one handout (HO 2) to each student. |
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a) |
Write or indicate on the board/screen /ei/ and pronounce it. |
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b) |
Have the students repeat the sound. (Students don’t write anything until STEP 2, just pay attention.) |
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c) |
Ask the students which four letters have this sound, eliciting and filling in the lines with A H J K |
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d) |
Continue with the following groups /ai/ I Y /ju:/ Q U W /i:/ B C D E G P T V (AmE) Z in American English (AmE), ‘Z’ is pronounced /Zi:/ /Ɛ/ F L M N S X Z in other dialects ‘Z’ is pronounced /Z Ɛd/ The two remaining letters are O /əu/ and R BrE /a:/ |
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SOUND GROUPINGS OF LETTERS – APPAUD3
Optional listening for Ss to hear letters grouped by similar vowel pronunciation
/eI/ A H J K /aI/ I Y /ju:/ Q U W
/i:/ B C D E G P T V /e/ F L M N S X Z O R
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B |
STEP 2 |
IDENTIFY SOUND GROUPINGS REVIEW / Ss COPY THE ALPHABET |
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a) |
Erase the letters you just elicited but leave the sounds (/ei/ etc) to serve as a reference. |
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b) |
While it is still fresh in their minds, say the first sound (/ei/) and elicit one more time the letters that correspond ( A H J K). |
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c) |
Students now write those letters down in their handouts (HO2). |
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d) |
Do the same thing with the remaining lines. |
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e) |
When they’re done they can check their answers with the person sitting next to them. |
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B |
STEP 3 |
IDENTIFY SOUND GROUPINGS CORRECTION THE ALPHABET |
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a) |
Elicit the answers from the class and write the answers on the board/screen, pointing out any difficulties they may have had. |
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b) |
Say each line and have the students repeat. |
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c) |
Say the vowels as indicated on the handout: AE then IOU. |
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d) |
Students repeat two or three times as a class. |
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PART C: T/S TEACHER / STUDENT PAIRWORK
THE ALPHABET LETTERS HO 1
The letters of the alphabet organized to better sing the ABC song
Or, you could use …
SOUND GROUPINGS HO 2
The pronunciation of the names of the letters of the alphabet can be categorized according to a particular vowel sound
APPVID3
Check this out to see how it can be done:
(This video is not intended to be used in the classroom. It is for the teacher’s reference only.)
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C |
STEP 1 |
TEACHER / STUDENT PAIRWORK MODEL THE ALPHABET |
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a) |
As in last class, model with one student (but not the same person you had chosen before): Approach him/her, indicate one letter and ask how it is pronounced. |
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b) |
Ask the same student four or five more letters. |
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c) |
Ask that student to ask you five or six letters. |
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C |
STEP 2 |
TEACHER / STUDENT PAIRWORK PAIRWORK THE ALPHABET |
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a) |
Divide students into pairs (if odd number of students, one group of three) |
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b) |
Assign the role of teacher and student(s). |
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c) |
Tell the teacher to use his/her handout and ask the student 6 letters before they change their roles. |
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d) |
Teachers/students continue changing roles until you tell them to stop. (for example until after everyone has had at least one turn in each role) |
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e) |
Montitor the groups to make sure they understand the task (ex: only 6 questions, then change roles) and to see what difficulties they may have in pronunciation. |
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C |
STEP 3 |
TEACHER / STUDENT PAIRWORK FOLLOW-UP THE ALPHABET |
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a) |
Ask the class if they have any questions. |
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b) |
Point out to the class as a whole any letters that some people had some difficulties with. |
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PART D: SING AGAIN
THE ALPHABET LETTERS HO 1
The letters of the alphabet organized to better sing the ABC song
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D |
1 STEP |
SING AGAIN CLOSING THE ACTIVITY THE ALPHABET |
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a) |
Sing the song as a class (you included), pointing to each of the letters as you go along. |
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b) |
Sing one more time, but without pointing to the letters. |
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PART E: HANGMAN
NEED
Board, screen or paper
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E |
STEP 1 |
HANGMAN MODEL THE ALPHABET |
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a) |
Draw on the board/screen a hanging pole and a number of lines representing the letters of your mystery word. (in this example, six) |
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b) |
Tell the students that they must tell you a letter. Each time the letter they give you is correct, you write it in the appropiate blank. If wrong, another part of the body is drawn. |
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c) |
Students begin telling you letters. Write each incorrect letter given below the blanks so the students can know which letters have already been used. |
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d) |
Continue until the mystery word is discovered, or the person is ‘hung’. |
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APPVID4
Check this out to see how it can be done:
(For teacher’s reference only.)
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E |
STEP 2 |
HANGMAN PAIRWORK THE ALPHABET |
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a) |
Put the students into pairs and have them take turns as to who guesses and who decides on the mystery word. |
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b) |
If lower level, monitor them, and help them with their pronunciation of the letters. |
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c) |
Continue until all students have had at least one or two turns as the ‘hangman’. |
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Future classes
►If your class is a low level, or if a number of students have some difficulties remembering how to pronounce a few of the letters well, sing the song a couple of times over the next few classes. The melody of the song is a great aid to the students remembering the pronunciation.
►Also for lower levels, the pair-work activity (teacher/student) is very short, convenient and highly focussed so you can use it at any time as a short filler or when you feel it would be helpful for them to practice again.
►If there are no difficulties, especially for slightly higher levels, then it won’t be necessary to repeat any of these activities. However, if it becomes clear that one or more students have some doubts about the letters, you could on occasion have the class sing the song.
►SPELLING BEES As a review of a unit, a weekly review, after their compositions are corrected or following a theme of lexical items, have the students compete one team against another, or working together in pairs to see how many words they can spell accurately.
►DICTATION This could be for any level. The source could be directly from you, a listening or another student. After the dictation have the short passage or list of words be passed on to another student to mark and insist on correct spelling.
►ELICIT SPELLING When new vocabulary comes up in the class, ask students how they would spell it.
►Independent of level, incorporate a spelling factor into some of the activities every so often. For example, if there is a pairwork exercise where they have to come up with a list of vocabulary (ex professions), have each of the students ask the other to spell one or two of them on occasion.
