This activity is a pronunciation and memory game. It works best if you split the class into small groups. You will need to produce a set of cards for each group with one word on each card. The sets of cards should be made up of lots of rhyming pairs of words. For example:

• house, mouse
• die, cry
• cook, book
• wheat, sheet

Example cards 39k

Procedure

• Ask each group to place all of their cards face down on the table.

• Students must take it in turns to turn over two cards. They must say the two words out loud to see if they rhyme. If the two cards rhyme, they can keep them.

• When there are no cards left on the table, each student counts how many cards they have to see who is the winner.

• For this activity students need to recognise that some words have a similar pronunciation even though the spelling is very different. For higher levels, include lots of difficult pairs of words. For example:
  • town, noun
  • turn, earn
  • though, low
  • square, air
  • paw, store
  • some, thumb
  • lake, break

• You can also play this game with homophone pairs instead of rhyming pairs. Begin by explaining what a homophone is. You can give examples in the students' own language and in English, emphasising that the words have the same sound, but not the same spelling or meaning. For example:
  • some, sum
  • threw, through
  • so, sew
  • pair, pear
  • right, write
  • hare, hair

Kate Joyce, British Council

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