ESL Level: Intermediate+

Language Focus: Pronunciation of ‘s’ sounds (plural nouns)

Class Time: 40 minutes (or one hour if you watch the video)

Materials: A worksheet for each student, a tongue twister for each student

Lesson Plan Download: plural-pronunciation-worksheet.docx

Lesson Plan Description

Firstly, you’ll have to teach your students to recognize which plural nouns end with a /s/, /z/, or /iz/ sound. There’s a great video on plural sounds online by Elemental English. Instead of teaching it yourself, you can just show your students the video.

Next, review the rules quickly for each plural sound.

Part 1: Grouping Plural Nouns

Then give your students the hand-out below (download the file above). For the first part, as per the instructions, the students can (individually or with a partner) put the plural noun into the correct column according to the sound of its ending.

When finished, they can read the story to each other. You, the teacher, should take up the answers as well.

Part 2: Tongue Twisters

Beforehand, you should cut up one tongue twister (from below) for each student. There are only 4 tongue twisters; it’s okay that multiple students have the same one. The tongue twisters also test the pronunciation of other sounds, but there are some plural nouns as well.

Give a tongue twister to each student. Have them practice it for a minute. Then, get them to stand up and mix around. Have them say their tongue twisters to each other. When they hear a tongue twister, they should write it down at the bottom of their worksheet (on page 1). Remind them to

• actually say the tongue twister (instead of just showing the paper to their partner)
• ask questions for repetition (“Can you say that again?”) or spelling (“How do you spell ‘chopstick’?”)

Once the students have heard and written down the other three tongue twisters, the pronunciation lesson is complete.

—

In my experience, students always enjoy tongue twisters. Give it a shot and have fun in your ESL class.

– Matthew Barton / Creator of Englishcurrent.com