Phonics Slap

Wendy Praise Sexton

OBJECTIVES:

PROCEDURE:

1. First, students make pairs. Each pair should sit face to face. They should put out both hands such that each hand is next to the opponent’s hand.

2. Next, students decide if they want to be “u” (as in “bus”) or “a” (as in “can”)

3. Then, the teacher would say a word, for example, “duck”.

4. Student “u” should try to slap the hand of his opponent, while Student “a” should try to avoid being slapped.

5. The teacher then says another word. I usually use words students already know. When they get better at discerning the differences, I would use difficult words or nonsense words to test their understanding.

6. When students get good at it, I usually ask them to change partners and move on to practice a new pair of sounds.

NOTES:

• You can use this little game to review any 2 sounds, a simple one would be “apple” and “boy”, and a difficult one would be “rice” and “lice”

• This is an adaptation of “Game No. 90 – big & pig” from “100 Exciting Activities” (Bunkeido, 2000), p.106

Editor’s note: make sure you discuss this activity with the homeroom teacher before trying it and monitor students so they keep the slapping at a playful, fun level. Err on the side of caution.