Lost

This activity is a free sample from  PronPack 4: Pronunciation Poems.

Teaching Objective: To familiarize students with the pronunciation of –ed endings and linking in connected speech.

Minimum Level: Pre-intermediate

Activity: Chanting

Printing: Print one copy of the worksheet for each student.

Activity

1. Give out the worksheet. Explain that the text is a poem, but the first two verses (double spaced) are printed as they are pronounced, not in normal correct spelling. Say the poem twice (the way it is written on the worksheet – but see corrected print version below) or play the audio and ask students to listen and read. The bolded syllables show where the beat falls.

I walked in the park in the middle of the night

I hurried in the dark ‘cause there wasn’t any light

I stopped and I listened and I looked all around

I couldn’t see a thing and I couldn’t hear a sound

I switched on my phone and I used it for a light

I looked to the left and I looked to the right

I started feeling worried and decided to go back

I looked all around but I couldn’t see the track

You’re lost, you’re lost

You’ll never find the track

You’re lost, you’re lost

You’re never coming back!

2. Write the first line of the poem on the board, as it appears on the worksheet. Underline the two parts which are wrongly printed:

            I walk tin the par kin the middle of the night

Explain that this is how the line is pronounced. The –ed of walked sounds like a t, and it joins to the following word in to make tin. The –k of park seems to join to the following word in to make kin.

3. Tell students to read the rest of verses 1 and 2 and correct the other places where the words are printed incorrectly. Check the answers. The corrected segments are underlined in the text of the poem printed above.

4. Say the first two verses of the poem, pausing after each line to give students time to repeat. Remind them to be careful to pronounce the words as they are on the worksheet. You may need to repeat the lines, or small parts of the lines, several times to give them more opportunity to practice.

5. Ask the class to say the poem together in chorus over the top of the audio.

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