Author: British Council | Published on 1 February 2023
Learners need to recognise and produce English vowel sounds correctly to communicate effectively.
This activity helps to practice vowel sounds (and numbers) in a fun and interactive way:
Listen
Listen to the pronunciation of these 10 words:
[play audio]
| pit, put, part, pet, port, pert, peat, pot, pat, putt |
Notice the difference between ‘put’ /pʊt/ (which rhymes with ‘foot’) and ‘putt’ /pʌt/ (which rhymes with ‘but’).
Introduce
Write the grid on the board:
| pit | put | part | pet | port | pert | putt | peat | pot | pat |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
Drill the words: Point, say, learners repeat.
Read a word. Ask: “What’s the number?” (E.g. part = 3) Repeat until learners recognise all the sounds.
Demonstrate
Say: “Let’s play telephone numbers. I’ll say the words; you write the numbers”. Example: pat, peat, part, pet, pit, pit, pert = 0834116.
Play two times.
Pair work
Tell learners to work in pairs and play the game. Monitor and support.