The Internet TESLJournal

ESL Pronunciation Practice - Alphabet Radio Game

Matthew W. Blake (Shanghai, China)
mw_blake[at]yahoo.com

Teacher Notes  

It's important that the students are familiar with the alphabet song.  This Alpha-to-Zulu way of spelling out letters (for the benefit of those communicating by radio, primarily) has proven quite useful in my classes.  When you ask a student to spell a word, they spell it using this system and confusion with letters which rhyme (such as B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, Z [in American English]) can be avoided.

• Aim          
To practice the English alphabet and practice the sounds of each letter in a fun and interesting way
• Skills
  
• Speaking, listening
• Level           
• Basic level
• Age
  
• Children (5-7)
• Resources   
• Alphabet flashcards (A-Z); Copies of radio handout.; blackboard
• Time           
• 45 minutes
• Requirements 
• Students should be familiar with the alphabet. 

Introduction – 10 Minutes

• Sing the "Alphabet song" with the class.  Repeat.
• Teacher uses the alphabet flashcards and goes over the alphabet with the children.  A flashcard is shown, the teacher says the letter, and the students then say it.  This is repeated for each letter.
• Students then practice the alphabet with a partner.
• Student then all stand up and meet 5 classmates.  When they pair up, they will play the 'rock, scissors, paper' game. If they lose, they will say the alphabet to this partner.

Building the Lesson - 15 Minutes

• In order to assist each student with their pronunciation, the teacher will use the flashcards A-Z, but after each letter will add a word.
• Students then repeat the words after the teacher.  Repeat the words three times.
  

The words for each letter are:

• Alpha               
• Bravo
• Charlie                
• Delta
• Echo                
• Foxtrot
• Golf                
• Hotel
• India                
• Juliet
• Kilo                
• Lima
• Mike                
• November
• Oscar                
• Papa
• Quebec               
• Romeo
• Sierra                
• Tango
• Uniform            
• Victor
• Whisky               
• X-ray
• Yankee                
• Zulu

Main Activity - 15 Minutes

• Give out the handout.
• The handout is a piece of paper with an image of a walky-talky.
• You can make your own handout using this image or a similar image.
  
• http://www.wm8c.com/images/Walkie%20Talkie%202.gif
• Give each student one letter and one word to write on their handout. (For example, the first student gets A – alpha)
• Students then play 'rock, scissors, paper game' with other students.  The winner of the game will say the letter and then the word on their hand-out and move on.
• When a student says their word 10 times they sit down.

Extension: If the class is smaller than 26 students, give the best student two letters and
two words.

Conclusion - 5 Minutes

• Teacher sings the alphabet song with the students.
• Students save their “walkie talkie" worksheets for possible later use.

---

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XI, No. 12, December 2005
http://iteslj.org/

---

http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Blake-Alphabet.html