Les Planètes Phoniques
Lesson 22 : the ‘th’ sound
Links to the KS3 Framework (2009 version) :
1.1
Understanding and responding to the spoken word
Identify gist and some detail in face-to-face exchanges, spoken passages,
stories and songs.
1.5
Presenting and narrating
ii. Speak clearly, audibly and with accurate pronunciation.
4.1
Letters and Sounds
Apply knowledge of common letter strings, sound patterns,
accents and other characters.
5.1
Identifying patterns in the target language
Identify patterns of pronunciation.
5.6
Reading aloud
Read aloud texts with increasing fluency, accuracy and expression,
showing awareness of meaning.
Activity
Teaching sequence
Starter activity
Ask the pupils if they can think of any French words that start with ‘th’ (you
may need to prompt them about a famous footballer perhaps – Thierry Henry).
Try to draw out words such as thé, Thierry, thon.
Resource: Planète ‘th’ Powerpoint slide 1
Listen to the correct
pronunciation of
some words with
the ‘th’ sound in
Show slide 2 and explain that today we are going to visit ‘la Planète th’. Show
slide 3 and look at some words which begin with ‘th’, and listen to the correct
pronunciation. Ask pupils what the difference is between the pronunciation of ‘th’
in French and in English. Explain that French people find it very difficult to say ‘th’
in English. Ask them if the know how French people say words such as ‘the’ and
‘these’. Let the pupils practise saying these words in English with a French
accent to reinforce that French people have difficulties in pronouncing some
English sounds as well.
Resource: Planète ‘th’ Powerpoint slides 2 and 3
Les Planètes Phoniques
Activity
Teaching sequence
Speaking practice
Pupils look at the tongue twister and practise saying it in pairs.
Théo fait le thé pour Timothé mais Timothé n’aime pas le thé.
(Theo makes tea for Timothy but Timothy does not like tea.)
Some volunteers can say this in front of the class. This would be a good
opportunity to record pupils speaking or video them, and play the
recordings back for self and peer assessment (two stars and a wish).
Resource: Planète ‘th’ Powerpoint slide 6
More speaking
practice
Sight unseen words:
Ask pupils to read out the following new words, using their knowledge
of how ‘th’ is pronounced:
theatre, théière
Then show the next slide with the correct pronunciation, so that pupils can
hear if they were correct. If appropriate, ask pupils to repeat the words.
Resource: Planète ‘th’ Powerpoint slides 7 and 8
Plenary: circle game
to practise thinking
about several
different sounds
If appropriate, you could revise some of the previous sounds covered
(e.g. ‘on’, ‘oi’, ‘in’, ‘ch’, ‘ou’).
Give out a series of flashcards covering language that the pupils know and that
have been used in previous ‘Planètes Phoniques’ lessons. These could cover
different topics, such as colours, animals and parts of the body or numbers 1-20.
You can either do this with the whole class together, or with half the class, and
have the rest of the pupils watching, and then swap round. Pupils should each
be given a flashcard. They should stand in a circle holding their card, and face
outwards, not into the circle. The teacher should stand in the middle and
say a sound e.g. ‘oi’. The idea is that the pupils are not looking at the teacher’s
mouth action for clues or at each other, but they are listening carefully and
focussing on the sound only. If they think their word has the sound in they should
throw it over their heads into the circle. The teacher should then pick them up,
the pupils can turn to face inside the circle and the teacher should go through
each word and ask pupils for the pronunciation and check that the sound does
appear in it. The teacher can then give out the pictures (pupils should change
these from time to time) and then game can be played again.
Resources: Flashcards (there is a large choice on the CD in sections such as
animals, food, numbers, colours and parts of the body).