Friday, May 25, 2012

I Spy - Week 12B

I just want to briefly mention that I used Tom's minimal pairs memory/matching game that he had us try last week.  I found the website, printed off six sets of cars, printed them in colour and even laminated them.  I used it for a lesson with my second year Ss.

I started by briefly explaining minimal pairs with a few examples on the WB.  I had them choral repeat everything several times so they could hear the difference.  I then presented a PPT with three examples from each deck of cards I prepared.  I nominated Ss one at a time, showed them one pair and then had them guess the other.  Then more choral repetition.  Awkward pronunciation was dealt with on the spot but in some cases some Ss just couldn't get it.  

After explaining the game I set the Ss up in groups of 5 and had them play.  They really enjoyed it.  There was lots of noise but it was noise that came from winning and losing so I didn't mind.  I instructed the Ss to say each word so they can practice the pronunciation but I found that when I wasn't standing there they would forget or not bother.  They just wanted to play.  Usually I have a co-teacher to help me police such things but she didn't bother to show that day.

One issue that came up was the Ss thought that minimal pairs were words with one letter that's different so when matchs like 'cop' and 'cough' for 'p vs f' they were a little confused.  As a reaction I just explained to each group separately as they were playing.  They easily understood me.  When I do this again next week I'll be sure to explain that point before the game starts.

1 comment:

  1. Hmmm. Glad you tried it. Keep the photocopying going -- probably best to use this when the need for a particular phoneme to be distinguished arises from the TLC of a particular lesson. So you might have everyone playing with p/f, for example.

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