Apostophes Lesson Plan and Resources

(All credit for the above cartoon goes to Judy Horacek. Visit her website here.)

Teaching punctuation can be a chore, but it needn't be! I've included a fun lesson on apostrophes to give you some inspiration. This lesson demonstrates how punctuation lessons can be dynamic and fun. This lesson will appeal to your visual and kinesthetic learners in particular.

Package includes:
Lesson Plan
Apostrophe Matching Game
Apostrophe Search Activity
Apostrophe Search Answers
Apostrophe Sildes
Real-life Apostrophe Mistakes Worksheet

Download the lesson plan, Powerpoint presentation and worksheets

IPA Flash Cards!

I have recently been working with a student from China, who is learning English for the first time. She is having a hard time differentiating between different sounds (e.g., /I/ (ship) and /I:/ (sheep)). I have been teaching her IPA so that she understands that the number of possible sounds in English are not as infinite as they seem! She is doing really well, and these flashcards really seem to help. To use them, print out both sets of cards (word cards and IPA cards) and stick them back to back on a piece of cardboard. You can laminate them if you like. The cards are in corresponding order, so no need to panic if you can't match them up by yourself! I have provided sets for vowels and consonants. I like to do my vowels in one colour and my consonants in another. Enjoy!

Download Consonant Word File
Download Consonant IPA File
Download Vowel Word File
Download Vowel IPA File

IPA Charts for Classes or Teachers

I'm currently studying phonetics myself and thought I would upload these charts for any teachers doing the same. I find that using IPA can sometimes be useful when demonstrating the difference between two sounds when teaching second language learners. In the pdf I've included a regular chart with all of the symbols on it and a second one which also includes my doodles (which help me to remember which vowel is which!). Hope that this is useful for some of you! 

Download the charts here

Homemade Erasable Mini Whiteboards

Mini whiteboards are a great way to engage your students. Unfortunately it can be expensive to buy them for a whole class. That's why I came up with this idea. Each whiteboard is simply a piece of laminated paper. You can customise your whiteboards by laminating lined or patterned paper. I find these mini whiteboard very useful for plenary activities. Give your class a mini quiz and gauge their understanding by having them show their answers on a whiteboard.

Download the lined template here for free.