Lesson Plan: Tongue Twisters

Lesson Level: All levels Duration: 45 Minutes

Lesson Title: Tongue Twisters¹

Grammar and Vocabulary

No new grammar or vocabulary introduced this lesson.

Focus is pronunciation

Lesson Objectives

Students to practice difficult sounds and difficult combinations of sounds.

Materials Required

A set of alphabet cards.

A set of prepared tongue-twisters.²

Preparation

Prepare materials.

Procedure

1

Ask students if they know what a tongue twister is.

If anyone says yes ask for an example (in English or Chinese)

2

Put tongue twister on board

At three-thirty thirty-three thirsty thinkers thought.

Get someone to read it out.

Ask if someone else can read it faster.

Ask again.

Read it slowly and then over and over getting faster.

Choose next person to guess by ball toss.

3

Organize students into even number of teams. Choose first two teams. Have a student from each team face off. A student from the first team repeats a given tongue twister three times rapidly. If the student pronounces the tongue twister correctly all three times. Decide which team wins.

Repeat with new teams and new tongue twister.

When all groups have tried go to second round of harder tongue twisters with winning teams from round 1.

And repeat for third round with hardest tongue twister.

Applaud the winning team.

4

Take a random letter from the letter cards and use it to create a new tongue twister on the board.

Use format

[Name] the [adjective][noun][verb] a/an [adjective][noun]

where all  [ ]   items begin with your letter

eg Simon the silly sheep saw sleepy Sally.

5

Give each group a letter.

Write own tongue twisters. (Check each as completed.)

in turn each team comes to board, writes tongue twister on board and chooses another team to read it.

After team tries whole class can try.

(Scoring can be done in this activity too but it can take too long.)

Notes

1. This is an ideal lesson to use immediately after the Spring Break for the first lesson back. It gets the students back into speaking English without needing any new grammar or a big vocabulary.

2. Lesson can be used at all levels by selecting more or less complicated tongue-twister examples.

Junior Levels

Round 1: 

A big blue bear bit Bill.

Any enemy anywhere.

Busy buzzing bumble bees.

Lucy loves lemon lollipops

He sees three trees.

Can cats catch rats?

Red lorry, yellow lorry

She threw three free throws

Billy bought a buttered biscuit

The swan swims, the swans swam

Pretty Polly pecked the pepper

Which watches are Swiss watches?

Round 2: 

Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal runs.

Seven smiling serpents slither slowly by.

She sells sea shells on the sea shore.

Betty's butter's bitter, Billy's butter's better
Fresh fried fish free on Friday
The kitten and the chicken in the kitchen

Round 3: 

The sixth sheik’s sixth sick sheep.
A proper cup of coffee in a copper coffe cup.

Senior Levels

Round 1: 

A big blue bear bit beautiful Betty.

Any enemy anywhere, anywhere an enemy.

Busy buzzing bumble bees buzzing busily.

Lucy loves lemon lollipops, Lilly loves lime.

He sees these three free trees.

Can fat cats catch fat rats?

Round 2: 

Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal runs.

Seven secret smiling serpents slither slowly by.

She sells sea shells on the sea shore.

Round 3: 

The sixth sheik’s sixth sick sheep's asleep.