Step040.htm/20DEC2001

Step 40: th,

Good speech helps good spelling. Remind that th is another letter‑group with an h in it, so there will be a blow in the way you sound it. In th the t stands for tongue so have the child put the tip of his tongue out and then blow, to make the sound of th

Go back over a few pairs of letters, t/d p/b k/g, and have the pupil put his hand on his throat, to feel that with the first of a pair there is no tremble, but when we say d,b,g (in go), our throat vibrates (and they learn what 'vibrate' means) because they are voiced. The t must be just t and not ter, for this to work. (ter is two sounds, t and er, and the er is voiced.)

Today's letter‑group can be both voiced (with tremble) and unvoiced. Have the pupil say the first words with unvoiced th, then voiced, in this, then, that.

For THE say, “ tee aitch ee says the."

The pupil will sound out 'bath', but when he realises its meaning, may change it to "bah ... th" or "barth" if he lives in the south, or to "baff" (all over England, now). SO we must explain that there is no such word as baff, that for th we must put out the tip of the tongue (Think: 't for tongue, h for blow'), but for f we bite the bottom lip. Have the pupil say clearly, deaf (cannot hear) and death; three (3) and free (we did not have to pay for it). For a class, have the whole class say these words very distinctly, and for the next fortnight check that the th is being properly pronounced. Against the influence of Estuary English on TV, you will have to battle hard. Can we rid our language of this wrong speech in this generation?

Marva Collins is a splendid teacher who aims for the stars, in a Chicago ghetto school. An elegant black lady teaching mostly black children, she says, "I'm opposed to teaching black English because it separates black children from the rest of society; it also implies that they are too inferior to learn standard English usage." Read her book, "Marva Collins' Way" (ISBN 0‑874‑77310‑5). We should give all our learners, children and adult, Standard English from the start. We should equalise up, not down.

bath

ba__ __is

pa__ __at

wi__ __en

__ink __em __e

Have the pupil find the pictures for the words teeth bath. He has now found all the pictures in this step, and can now say the word for each picture, choose the correct column and write the word. Check that the pupil is saying teeth, not teef, and so on.

We have now had oo, ee, sh ch th, and it is time to use (make) more games, Pairs, Bingo, dice game, and "Is it?" book, using all five letter‑groups.

Words for bingo: been chips chop chunk cheek feed fetch fish food good green hood look much pool sheep shop sweet shot shut ship seem spoon teeth tooth sheets tree think this thick that week.

You can also dictate them one at a time, and have the child choose the column (teeth could go under ee or th). Remind the writer not to press on too hard. Check the pencil‑grip.

Jokes: 1) What is the biggest moth? A mam‑moth.

2) What do you get when you plant a gun? Lots of shoots.

3) What is long, has a pink hat, and lies in a box? A match.

Get the pupil to sound the sounds of the new words.

Say the word from each picture. Listen to the word, and write it in the column with the matching sound.(Click here)

Choose Activities from the Contents page.