Having fun with tricky words

Words are more than just the sum of their letters, but sometimes it’s precisely the combination of letters and the sounds they create that make them so appealing. In our second article dedicated to the topic of phonics, Tracey Chapelton suggests how we might make the most of tricky text and wearisome words to work on pronunciation skills with our 2nd and 3rd cycle Primary pupils.

Prickle, gooey, plunge, knobbly, mucky, wriggle, scoop, wallowing, crumble, laughter, meddling, squirted… are just some of the words that you might find in any number of children’s story books. They look a bit scary and complicated, but if we ignore them because we think our pupils won’t understand them, we haven’t covered that verb tense in class yet or that the words would be too difficult to remember, then we’re missing a wonderful opportunity to work on pronunciation. The words out of context may not appear to be that useful, but used within the framework of a good story, accompanied by appealing visuals to help with some of the trickier meanings, they are the building blocks for good reading skills and are invaluable in terms of learning the basics of English pronunciation. They are also lots of fun to work with!

Here are some simple games and activity ideas for working with these fun yet tricky words. You can use any words you like, though you may like to choose words from texts that you are reading or from stories, poems or songs to give the words a context.

Rhyming snap

                               
Draw up a blank chart (eg 2 columns x 10 rows) and photocopy it onto card, making enough copies for your class. Write a list of 10 rhyming pairs on the board (eg try/buy, light/white, more/floor, eight/late, hair/bear, eat/feet, etc) and tell the pupils they are going to copy these words onto the chart and draw a small picture or symbol to illustrate the meaning of the word. When finished, the pupils cut out their cards so that each person in the class has a set of cards. Put the pupils into pairs. Tell them to shuffle their cards. Each pair takes turns at placing a card face up on the table, saying the word as they go. When a pupil sees a rhyming pair (or two words that are the same) they shout ‘Snap!’ and take all the cards in the pile so far. When there are no more cards to place on the table the pair with the most cards wins. As an alternative you can make the word cards yourself and all the pupils need to do is cut them up. You can make different rhyming pair cards so that each pair has a different set of rhyming cards.

Spelling lists and spelling tests

                             
Tell pupils to designate a section of their notebook for regular spelling tests. Each week, make a classroom display of that week’s spelling words. Encourage pupils to consult it and explain to them that they are to learn the words for homework. Get them to practise with their friends; they need to be able to relate the sound of the word to how it is written, so pronunciation and listening skills are vital (and children love correcting each other!). You can even put them into groups of four and explain to them that one of them is going to be the teacher. When ‘the teacher’ has finished dictating and has corrected the group’s words, another pupil in the group has a turn at being the teacher. Then test the pupils a few days later (consisting of five to ten words depending on how difficult the words are).

Letters alive!

                                             
Distribute two sets of alphabet flashcards around the class. Call out a word (from a story, spelling list, etc). The pupils with the letters which make up that word come out to the front of the class and form the word holding up their letters for everyone to see. If two pupils with the same letter run out then the pupil who came out last has to sit down. Encourage everyone to get involved in the correcting process by asking the class ‘Is this correct?’ If the word is spelt incorrectly, ask a pupil to come out and correct it by putting their classmates in the correct order, taking some away or adding new ones.

Rhyming word posters

                                   
Copy lists of rhyming words onto posters and display them around the room. Leave space at the bottom of each list for pupils to add more rhyming words as they learn them.

We dedicate most of our class time to learning what words mean; why not take a little time to have fun with the words themselves? 

Tracey Chapelton is a teacher, teacher trainer, author and translator of educational materials. She contributed materials to Bugs World 3 and 4 (Macmillan, 2009) and is the co-author of the Find Out about Science and Art (Macmillan, 2007) workbook and the Busy Bugs Bank (Macmillan, 2005).